A Constant Decay Rate?

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To trust radiometric dating, scientists must assume the rate at which one type of atom decays into another is virtually unchanging. But if the decay rate was different in the past, the dates of millions of years can’t be trusted!

And there’s evidence the rate was totally different in the past. The radioactive decay of crystals in uranium from New Mexico gave a radiometric age of one point five billion years.

Now, the decaying uranium also produced helium. Yet only six thousand years worth of helium has leaked out. So the one-point-five-billion-year age can’t be right!

The decay rate was much faster in the past, making the dates we get today unreliable.

Dig Deeper

• Radiometric Dating: Back to Basics
• Radiometric Dating: Problems with the Assumptions