Radiometric Dating

Radiometric dating measures the decay of radioactive atoms to determine the age of a rock sample. It is founded on unprovable assumptions such as 1) there has been no contamination and 2) the decay rate has remained constant. By dating rocks of known ages which give highly inflated ages, geologists have shown this method can’t give reliable absolute ages.

From The New Answers DVD 1

Radiometric Clock

Many geologists claim that radiometric “clocks” show rocks to be millions of years old. However, to read any clock accurately we must know where the clock was set at the beginning.

Radiometric Dating and the Age of the Earth

Most people think that radioactive dating has proven the earth is billions of years old. After all, textbooks, media, and museums glibly present ages of millions of years as fact. Yet few people know how radiometric dating works or bother to ask what assumptions drive the conclusions.

Radiometric Dating Accurate?

Is the earth approximately four billion years old? This figure wasn’t established by radiometric dating of the earth itself. Most people are not aware of this.

Radiohalos

Radiohalos shouldn’t exist, according to conventional wisdom! Though they are very tiny, polonium radiohalos have a huge message that cannot be ignored. They point to a catastrophic origin for granites, consistent with the biblical timeframe for earth history and God’s judgment during the Flood.

Articles About Radiometric Dating

• Technical In-Depth Article

  Uranium-Lead (U-Pb) Radioisotope Dating Method Problems

  

  Jan. 23, 2020 from Answers in Depth

  Uranium-lead radioisotope dating is now the preferred absolute dating method among geochronologists. But there are several problems with this particular method.

• Technical Research Paper

  Problems with the U-Pb Radioisotope Dating Methods—3. Mass Fractionation

  

  Nov. 13, 2019 from Answers Research Journal

  The evidence for grossly accelerated radioisotope decay during a past cataclysmic event such as the Genesis Flood has been well established.

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• Semi-Technical Magazine Article

  How Reliable Are Dates for Human Fossils?

  

  Sept. 1, 2018 from Answers Magazine

  How much do we really know about all those human and ape fossils displayed in museums and textbooks? The dating methods aren’t as rock-solid as most people assume.

• Technical Research Paper

  Problems with the U-Pb Radioisotope Dating Methods—2. U and Pb Mobility

  

  June 13, 2018 from Answers Research Journal

  Since the amount of U and Pb mobility in most cases has been small, then the determinations can be used to provide useful relative ages.

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• Book Chapter

  The Dating Game

  

  Sept. 16, 2017 from Essays on Origins: Creation vs. Evolution

  Selected data and unprovable assumptions are a problem with all methods for determining the age of the earth, as well as for dating its fossils and rocks.

• Technical Research Paper

  Problems with the U-Pb Radioisotope Dating Methods—1. Common Pb

  

  July 26, 2017 from Answers Research Journal

  Problems remain in the interpretation of the measured Pb isotopic ratios to transform them into ages.

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• Book Chapter

  Radioactive Dating of Rocks: Questions Answered

  

  April 24, 2017 from How Do We Know the Bible Is True? Volume 2

  Let’s take a closer look at the radioactive dating method and the radiometric dating methods and see how reliable they really are.

• In-Depth Article

  Key Flaw Found in Radioisotope Isochron Dating

  

  March 27, 2017 from Answers in Depth

  NCSU’s recent research revealed an “oversight in a radioisotope dating technique used to date everything from meteorites to geologic samples.”

• Technical Research Paper

  Determination of the Decay Constants and Half-Lives of Uranium-238 (²³⁸U) and Uranium-235 (²³⁵U), and the Implications for U-Pb and Pb-Pb Radioisotope Dating Methodologies

  

  Jan. 18, 2017 from Answers Research Journal

  Without accurately known decay half-lives, all radioisotope ages cannot be accurately determined or be considered absolute ages.

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• Semi-Technical In-Depth Article

  Does the Earth’s Mantle Preserve Evidence of Its Origin?

  

  Oct. 27, 2016 from Answers in Depth

  New chemical analyses appear to show that some of the early mantle rock may have survived until today in rock formations called flood basalts.

• Technical Research Paper

  Determination of the Radioisotope Decay Constants and Half-lives: Potassium-40 (⁴⁰K)

  Aug. 3, 2016 from Answers Research Journal

  Dr. Snelling documents the methodology and history of determining present decay constants and half-lives of parent radioisotopes used for dating methods.

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• Technical In-Depth Article

  Helium Diffusion Rates Support Accelerated Nuclear Decay

  May 4, 2016 from Answers in Depth

  A significant fraction of the earth’s radioactive elements, particularly uranium and thorium, appear to be in the granitic rock of the upper continental crust.

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• Technical Research Paper

  Determination of the Radioisotope Decay Constants and Half-Lives: Samarium-147 (¹⁴⁷Sm)

  June 10, 2015 from Answers Research Journal

  Over the last 80 years numerous determinations have been made of the ¹⁴⁷Sm half-life.

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• Technical Research Paper

  Radioisotope Dating of Meteorites: IV. The Primitive and Other Achondrites

  May 6, 2015 from Answers Research Journal

  This paper documents radioisotope dating for meteorites, achondrites, angrites, aubrites, mesosiderites, and irons to further discuss significance of the data.

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• Semi-Technical Feedback Article

  Are the RATE Radiocarbon (¹⁴C) Results Caused by Contamination?

  May 6, 2015 from Feedback

  Internet posts continue to accuse the RATE team of ignoring clear evidence of contamination. But is this really the case?

• In-Depth Article

  The Latest on “Little Foot’s” Bid for Status as Humanity’s Most Ancient Ancestor

  April 16, 2015 from Answers in Depth

  The date evolutionists report for Little Foot is old enough to keep it in the running for human ancestor, but there is no reason to consider the dates reliable.

• Technical Research Paper

  Determination of the Radioisotope Decay Constants and Half-Lives: Rhenium-187 (¹⁸⁷Re)

  Feb. 25, 2015 from Answers Research Journal

  If the Re-Os dating method is calibrated against an uncertain “gold standard,” then it cannot be absolute and cannot be used to reject a young-earth timescale.

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• Technical Research Paper

  Radioisotope Dating of Meteorites: III. The Eucrites (Basaltic Achondrites)

  Dec. 31, 2014 from Answers Research Journal

  This third paper documents the radioisotope dating data for more meteorites, so as to continue the discussion of the significance of these data.

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• Technical Research Paper

  Determination of the Radioisotope Decay Constants and Half-Lives: Lutetium-176 (¹⁷⁶Lu)

  Dec. 3, 2014 from Answers Research Journal

  If the Lu-Hf dating method has been calibrated against the U-Pb “gold standard” with its own uncertainties, then it cannot be absolute.

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• Technical Research Paper

  Determination of the Radioisotope Decay Constants and Half-Lives: Rubidium-87 (⁸⁷Rb)

  Sept. 3, 2014 from Answers Research Journal

  In spite of numerous attempts for over 60 years to determine the ⁸⁷Rb half-life and decay constant, there is still no consensus.

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• Technical Research Paper

  Radioisotope Dating of Meteorites II: The Ordinary and Enstatite Chondrites

  Aug. 20, 2014 from Answers Research Journal

  This paper documents the radioisotope dating data for more meteorites, so as to continue the discussion of the significance of these data.

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• Technical Research Paper

  Radiohalos in Multiple, Sequentially Intruded Phases of the Bathurst Batholith, NSW, Australia: Evidence for Rapid Granite Formation during the Flood

  March 5, 2014 from Answers Research Journal

  There is evidence for rapid granite formation during the Flood.

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• Technical In-Depth Article

  Rocks Around the Clock: Do Zircons Contain Reliable Time Stamps and Early Earth’s Secrets?

  Feb. 26, 2014 from Answers in Depth

  Despite debate about the accuracy of the uranium “clocks” they contain, scientists say they’ve found a zircon with a confirmed age of 4.4 billion years.

• Semi-Technical Magazine Article

  Radiometric Dating: Back to Basics

  

  Feb. 19, 2014 from Answers Magazine

  Radiometric dating is often used to “prove” rocks are millions of years old.

• Feedback Article

  Feedback: Dating Rocks Helps Creation Scientists

  Nov. 22, 2013 from Feedback

  Dr. Andrew Snelling explains how radioactive dating methods may help us derive not absolute but relative ages of rocks.

• Semi-Technical Magazine Article

  Radiohalos—The Mysterious Vanishing Bullets

  

  July 1, 2012 from Answers Magazine

  Geologists have discovered a great mystery—tiny black circles, called radiohalos, formed by polonium decay. Where'd it come from, and where'd it go?

• Clock in the Rock

  Jan. 14, 2012 from News to Know

  Rockin’ around the clock’s assumptions

• Feedback Article

  Radiometric Dating and Proof

  Dec. 30, 2011 from Feedback

  Isn’t radiometric dating irrefutable proof that the earth is approximately four billion year old? Dr. Andrew Snelling, AiG—U.S., responds.

• Feedback Article

  Dating Techniques

  May 6, 2011 from Feedback

  Just how far off are the commonly accepted dating methods? Dr. Andrew Snelling explains.

• Semi-Technical Magazine Article

  Radiometric Dating: Making Sense of the Patterns

  

  March 16, 2011 from Answers Magazine

  Interpreted in a biblical framework, radiometric dating methods help us better understand the earth's history since creation six thousand years ago.

• Technical In-Depth Article

  Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth

  March 9, 2011 from Answers in Depth

  This article summarizes the purpose, history, and intermediate findings of the RATE project five years into an eight-year effort.

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• Solar Flares and Radioactive Decay Relationship

  Aug. 28, 2010

  Last year we mentioned research that showed a relationship between earth’s distance from the sun and the rate at which certain elements undergo radioactive decay—an eyebrow-raising linkage.

• Feedback Article

  Fallacious Refutations

  Aug. 27, 2010 from Feedback

  Dr. Andrew Snelling, AiG–U.S., explains how to deal with refutations of creationist material

• Semi-Technical Magazine Article

  Radiometric Dating: Problems with the Assumptions

  

  Aug. 4, 2010 from Answers Magazine

  Once you understand the basic science of radiometric dating, you can see how wrong assumptions lead to incorrect dates.

• Magazine Article

  Radiometric Dating

  April 1, 2010 from Answers Magazine

  Does radiometric dating show that rocks are millions of years old? No!

• Technical In-Depth Article

  Whole-Rock K-Ar Model and Isochron, and Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd, and Pb-Pb Isochron, “Dating” of the Somerset Dam Layered Mafic Intrusion, Australia

  March 24, 2010 from Answers in Depth

  The Somerset Dam layered mafic intrusion in southeast Queensland, Australia, has been conventionally dated as Late Triassic by the apparently successful application of radioisotopic dating techniques.

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• Technical In-Depth Article

  The Relevance of Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd, and Pb-Pb Isotope Systematics to Elucidation of the Genesis and History of Recent Andesite Flows at Mt. Ngauruhoe, New Zealand, and Implications for Radioisotopic Dating

  Jan. 6, 2010 from Answers in Depth

  Mt. Ngauruhoe in the Taupo Volcanic Zone of New Zealand erupted andesite lava flows in 1949 and 1954, and avalanche deposits in 1975.

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• Technical In-Depth Article

  The Cause of Anomalous Potassium-Argon “Ages” for Recent Andesite Flows at Mt. Ngauruhoe, New Zealand, and the Implications for Potassium-Argon “Dating”

  Dec. 30, 2009 from Answers in Depth

  Mt. Ngauruhoe is an andesite stratovolcano, rising above the Tongariro volcanic massif within the Tongariro Volcanic Center of the Taupo Volcanic Zone.

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• Technical In-Depth Article

  U-Th-Pb “Dating”: An Example of False “Isochrons”

  Dec. 9, 2009 from Answers in Depth

  As with other isochron methods, the U-Pb isochron method has been questioned in the open literature.

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• Technical In-Depth Article

  Radiohalos and Diamonds

  Sept. 9, 2009 from Answers in Depth

  We offer an explanation for the radiohalos and for the “tubes” in these diamonds in terms of a hydrothermal fluid transport model for Po radiohalo formation.

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• Semi-Technical In-Depth Article

  Radiohalos in the Cooma Metamorphic Complex, New South Wales, Australia

  Sept. 2, 2009 from Answers in Depth

  The Cooma granodiorite was generated as a consequence of the regional metamorphism that resulted from the catastrophic large-scale emplacement during the catastrophic plate tectonics of the Flood.

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• Technical In-Depth Article

  Radiohalos in the Shap Granite, Lake District, England

  Aug. 26, 2009 from Answers in Depth

  The Po radiohalos and other evidence associated with this granite thus remove objections to Flood geology and any need to place the Flood/post-Flood boundary in the lower Carboniferous.

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• Technical In-Depth Article

  Radiohalos—A Tale of Three Granitic Plutons

  Aug. 19, 2009 from Answers in Depth

  The origin and significance of radiohalos have been debated for almost a century, perhaps largely because their geological distribution has been poorly understood.

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• Technical Research Paper

  Implications of Polonium Radiohalos in Nested Plutons of the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite, Yosemite, California

  April 8, 2009 from Answers Research Journal

  Polonium radiohalos found in biotite flakes of granites in Yosemite National Park place severe time constraints on the formation and cooling of the granite plutons.

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• Magazine Department Article

  Time and Time Again

  

  Oct. 1, 2008 from Answers Magazine

  The chemical data used in the radiometric dating method requires interpretation, which is sure to be wrong if Biblical data is ignored.

• Technical Research Paper

  Testing the Hydrothermal Fluid Transport Model for Polonium Radiohalo Formation: The Thunderhead Sandstone, Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee–North Carolina

  March 26, 2008 from Answers Research Journal

  The regional metamorphism, the hydrothermal fluid flows, the cooling of the regional metamorphic complex, and the formation of the Po radiohalos all had to have occurred within a few weeks.

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• Feedback Article

  Questioning the Reliability of the RATE Group and Its Findings

  Nov. 16, 2007 from Feedback

  A feedback submitter suggests that the RATE team was dishonest because “[t]hey already know the truth [and] the facts that they find will reflect their presuppositions.”

• Semi-Technical In-Depth Article

  Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth

  Oct. 31, 2007 from Answers in Depth

  The RATE research project demonstrated that creationists could support a larger-scale collaborative research effort.

• Book Chapter

  Does Radiometric Dating Prove the Earth Is Old?

  Oct. 4, 2007 from The New Answers Book 1

  Many accept radiometric methods as proof that the earth is millions of years old, in contrast to the biblical timeline. Mike Riddle exposes the unbiblical assumptions used in these calculations.

• Radiometric Dating—Not Infallible

  June 1, 2007 from Responding to Protestors’ Propaganda

  There are plenty of indications that these radiometric dating methods are not as infallible as they would have you believe!