ComparativeEssay2
How Old is the Earth?
James C. Wood, Sr.
Liberty University
PHSC-210 – Elements of Earth Science
Instructor Mark Ivins
March 2, 2015
Introduction The scientific community has been split on many things and the age of the earth is one of the subjects in which it is split. There are some who believe that the earth is billions of years old based on scientific measurements and there are others who believe that the earth is only thousands of years old based off of what the Bible teaches. Radiometric dating is one of the methods that is used to find the age of certain materials on the earth and we will take a look at this method briefly to understand its use with the two groups. The Grand Canyon is also used by both sides to explain the age of the earth but the views between both are very different. Diving into these things will give an opportunity to understand each view in order to believe whether the earth is measured in thousands or billions of years.
Old-Earth Secular View The United States Geological Survey indicates that there is considerable amount of evidence that the earth is approximately 4.5 through 4.6 billion years old (The Age of the Earth, 2014). Many other old-earth advocates also believe that the earth is roughly the same age. One method of determining the age of various rocks and minerals found on the earth is the radiometric time scale (Radiometric Time Scale, 2001). “Radiometric dating is a way of determining the age of a sample of material using the decay rates of radio-active nuclides to provide a 'clock '” (Woolf, J., n.d.). By using this radiometric dating process, scientists have been able to determine the age of rocks and other items found on the earth that vary from just over two thousand years to over 3.6 billion years old (Radiometric Time Scale, 2001). Much of the old-earth community also have a belief that the Grand Canyon was created from the slow erosion of the Colorado River that took millions of years to occur
James C. Wood, Sr.
Liberty University
PHSC-210 – Elements of Earth Science
Instructor Mark Ivins
March 2, 2015
Introduction The scientific community has been split on many things and the age of the earth is one of the subjects in which it is split. There are some who believe that the earth is billions of years old based on scientific measurements and there are others who believe that the earth is only thousands of years old based off of what the Bible teaches. Radiometric dating is one of the methods that is used to find the age of certain materials on the earth and we will take a look at this method briefly to understand its use with the two groups. The Grand Canyon is also used by both sides to explain the age of the earth but the views between both are very different. Diving into these things will give an opportunity to understand each view in order to believe whether the earth is measured in thousands or billions of years.
Old-Earth Secular View The United States Geological Survey indicates that there is considerable amount of evidence that the earth is approximately 4.5 through 4.6 billion years old (The Age of the Earth, 2014). Many other old-earth advocates also believe that the earth is roughly the same age. One method of determining the age of various rocks and minerals found on the earth is the radiometric time scale (Radiometric Time Scale, 2001). “Radiometric dating is a way of determining the age of a sample of material using the decay rates of radio-active nuclides to provide a 'clock '” (Woolf, J., n.d.). By using this radiometric dating process, scientists have been able to determine the age of rocks and other items found on the earth that vary from just over two thousand years to over 3.6 billion years old (Radiometric Time Scale, 2001). Much of the old-earth community also have a belief that the Grand Canyon was created from the slow erosion of the Colorado River that took millions of years to occur
References: Hebert, J. (n.d.). Rethinking Carbon-14 Dating: What Does It Really Tell Us about the Age of the Earth? Retrieved March 2, 2015, from http://www.icr.org/article/7311 Hodge, B Radiometric Time Scale. (2001, June 13). Retrieved March 1, 2015, from http://pubs.usgs.gov /gip/geotime/radiometric.html The Age of the Earth. (2014, October 31). Retrieved March 1, 2015, from http://geomaps.wr.