How Do We Know the Age of a Fossil?

• Geologic Time, a competent introduction from the US Geological Survey.
  BUT here are several slightly different time scales:
  • Geological time scale, up to date, in tabular form rather than graphical.
  • The Geological Society of America time scale
  • Unraveling Geological Time, with an attached simple time scale.
  • But wait! Here's the newest time scale from www.stratigraphy.org

  This means (in my mind at least) that there's no point memorizing exact numbers in millions of years for any particular geological boundary: they are going to change. What is important is to have the sequence in your head, together with a reasonable understanding of the approximate dates of the boundaries.

• An activity to teach Relative Dating
• "A Christian Perspective on Radiometric Method of Dating". Do not be put off by the title. This is a serious, no-holds-barred analysis of dating methods, which concludes that the methods are reliable and that the earth's age is well known and very old.

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Page last revised June 7, 2004

Links checked September 30, 2005.