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Carbon-14 (Radiocarbon) dating Christopher Ullman Christian Life College

Carbon-14 (Radiocarbon) dating Christopher Ullman Christian Life College

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Page 1: Carbon-14 (Radiocarbon) dating Christopher Ullman Christian Life College

Carbon-14 (Radiocarbon) dating

Christopher Ullman

Christian Life College

Page 2: Carbon-14 (Radiocarbon) dating Christopher Ullman Christian Life College

Carbon-14Dating

Cosmic rays bombardupper atmosphere...........

.....producing fastmoving neutrons

These neutrons collidewith atmosphericnitrogen atoms..........

.....producing carbon-14

C-14, like ordinary carbon, combines with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide. Vegetation absorbs carbon dioxide during photosynthesis.

Loss by decay

Since animals feed on vegetationIt is added to their bodies. At presentAbout 1 in 1 trillion atoms = C-14. Loss by decay

After death this ratio will slowly decrease, since whileC-14 continues to decay, it is not replenished by feeding.The amount of C-14 in a dead animal shows how long itHas been dead (if one can be sure of the amount of C-14 in it when it died)

Page 3: Carbon-14 (Radiocarbon) dating Christopher Ullman Christian Life College

One part of the

Vollosovitch mammoth

carbon dated at

29,500 years and another

part at 44,000.

Troy L Pewe, Quanternary Stratigraphic Nomenclature in

Unglaciated Central Alaska, Geological Survey Professional Paper 862, U.S. Government printing office,

1975, p. 30

Page 4: Carbon-14 (Radiocarbon) dating Christopher Ullman Christian Life College

If a C-14 date supports our theories, we put it in the main

text. If it does not entirely contradict them, we put it in a

footnote. And if it is completely ‘out of date’, we

just drop it.

If a C-14 date supports our theories, we put it in the main

text. If it does not entirely contradict them, we put it in a

footnote. And if it is completely ‘out of date’, we

just drop it.T. Save-Soderbergh and I.U. Olsson (Institute of Egyptology and Institute of Physics respectively, Univ. of Uppsala, Sweden), C-14 dating and Egyptian chronology in Radiocarbon Variations and

Absolute Chronology”, Proceedings of the twelfth Nobel Symposium, New York 1970, p. 35

T. Save-Soderbergh and I.U. Olsson (Institute of Egyptology and Institute of Physics respectively, Univ. of Uppsala, Sweden), C-14 dating and Egyptian chronology in Radiocarbon Variations and

Absolute Chronology”, Proceedings of the twelfth Nobel Symposium, New York 1970, p. 35

Page 5: Carbon-14 (Radiocarbon) dating Christopher Ullman Christian Life College

The troubles of the radiocarbon dating method are undeniably deep and serious.

Despite 35 years of technological refinement and better understanding, the

underlying assumptions have been strongly challenged, and warnings are out that radiocarbon may soon find itself in a

crisis situation. Continuing use of the method depends on a “fix-it-as-we-go” approach, allowing for contamination

here, fractionation there, and calibration whenever possible . . .

The troubles of the radiocarbon dating method are undeniably deep and serious.

Despite 35 years of technological refinement and better understanding, the

underlying assumptions have been strongly challenged, and warnings are out that radiocarbon may soon find itself in a

crisis situation. Continuing use of the method depends on a “fix-it-as-we-go” approach, allowing for contamination

here, fractionation there, and calibration whenever possible . . .

Page 6: Carbon-14 (Radiocarbon) dating Christopher Ullman Christian Life College

It should be no surprise, then, that fully half of the dates are rejected. The

wonder is, surely, that the remaining half come to be accepted . . . No matter how “useful” it is, though, the radiocarbon method is still not capable of yielding

accurate and reliable results. There are gross discrepancies, the chronology is uneven and relative, and the accepted

dates are actually selected dates.

Robert E. Lee, “Radiocarbon Age in Error,” Anthropological Journal of Canada, Vol. 19, No. 3, pgs. 9, 29.

It should be no surprise, then, that fully half of the dates are rejected. The

wonder is, surely, that the remaining half come to be accepted . . . No matter how “useful” it is, though, the radiocarbon method is still not capable of yielding

accurate and reliable results. There are gross discrepancies, the chronology is uneven and relative, and the accepted

dates are actually selected dates.

Robert E. Lee, “Radiocarbon Age in Error,” Anthropological Journal of Canada, Vol. 19, No. 3, pgs. 9, 29.

Page 7: Carbon-14 (Radiocarbon) dating Christopher Ullman Christian Life College

Every sample of coal, oil, wood or bone that has been tested for C-14 content – even if retrieved from rocks

supposedly millions of years old – always contains a measurable amount of Carbon-14