The logical fallacy first, CTD:
We see the creation of rocks acknowledged, but yet credit is never given to anyone for the event.
This is the logical fallacy of equivocation, where "creation" is used to mean formation, and then it is taken to have meant specieal biblical creation.
We see rocks
made today with no need to acknowledge any special handling of material. You can actually do it in a lab. Ever made crystals? Ever seen a "commercial diamond"?
We also see new rocks
formed from lava at every volcano.
These are not bits of special creation, as far as I know.
The Devil's Hole and Radiometric AgeTo discuss radioactive decay and dating systems that are based on this concept we need a system that can be correlated over substantial time to validate the system.
http://water.usgs.gov/nrp/devilshole.htmlDevils Hole is a tectonically-formed subaqueous cavern in south-central Nevada. Vein calcite, which coats the walls of this cavern, has provided an extremely well-dated 500,000-year record of variations in temperature as well as other paleoclimatic parameters.
We have correlations between age, climate and temperatures, so how is this data evaluated?
http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1997/ofr97-792/Devils Hole is a tectonically formed cave developed in the discharge zone of a regional aquifer in south-central Nevada. (See Riggs, et al., 1994.) The walls of this subaqueous cavern are coated with dense vein calcite which provides an ideal material for precise uranium-series dating via thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS). Devils Hole Core DH-11 is a 36-cm-long core of vein calcite from which we obtained an approximately 500,000-year-long continuous record of paleotemperature and other climatic proxies. Data from this core were recently used by Winograd and others (1997) to discuss the length and stability of the last four interglaciations.
Carbon and oxygen stable isotopic ratios were measured on 285 samples cut at regular intervals inward from the free face of the core (as reported in Winograd et al. ,1992, and in Coplen et al., 1994). Table 1 lists only 284 samples because a sample taken at 114.28 mm was eliminated when post-1994 reanalysis of its delta 18O value indicated an error in the earlier determination. Carbon isotopic ratios are reported in per mill (footnote #1) relative to VPDB, defined by assigning a delta 13C of +1.95 per mill to the reference material NBS 19 calcite. Oxygen isotopic ratios are reported relative to VSMOW reference water on a scale normalized such that SLAP reference water is -55.5 per mill relative to VSMOW reference water. The oxygen isotopic fractionation factors employed in this determination are those listed in Coplen and others (1983). The delta 18O value of the isotopic reference material NBS 19 on this scale is +28.65 per mill. The ± 1 sd (standard deviation) error for the delta 18O and delta 13C analyses is ±0.07 and 0.05 per mill, respectively.
They measured the age with a radiometric decay system and also measured d
18O and d
13C as measures of climate. There is a table with the 284 samples by age with d
18O and d
13C values. For a correlation of that data to the age and climate information from another source we can compare the isotope ratios to those found in the antarctic ice cores:
http://water.usgs.gov/nrp/devils.htmlThe Devils Hole d18O record is an indicator of paleotemperature and corresponds in timing and magnitude to paleo-SST (sea surface temperature) recorded in Pacific Ocean sediments off the California and Oregon coasts. The record is also highly correlated with major variations in temperature in the Vostok ice core, from the East Antarctic plateau. The d13C record is thought to reflect changes in global variations in the ratio of stable carbon isotopes of atmospheric CO2 and/or changes in the density of vegetation in the groundwater recharge areas tributary to Devils Hole.
(See Winograd et al., 1996; Herbert et al., 2001; Winograd, 2002; Winograd, et al., 1997; Landwehr and Winograd, 2001; Landwehr, 2002; and Coplen, et al., 1994.)
As eminent a geochemist as W. Broecker has stated that "...the Devils Hole chronology is the best we have..." Since 1992, all core material has been uranium-series dated using thermal ionization mass spectrometric (TIMS) methodology. In 1997, the Devils Hole Thorium-230 dates were independently confirmed by non-USGS investigators using Protactinium-231.
(See Broecker, 1992; Ludwig, et al., 1992; Winograd, et al., 1997; and Edwards, et al., 1997.)
The correlations with actual age from the ice layers in Greenland and Antarctica can be covered later, for now we just note that the isotope ratios are "highly correlated" with those layers for the same ages derived by these radiometric methods.
So what exactly do we have here? Water dripping down a cave wall, depositing calcite and various other minerals and impurities, elements that are soluble in water, including trace levels of radioactive isotopes of uranium. Material that gets deposited as the water evaporates, forming layer after layer of similar deposits, each one trapping the material in their respective layers. The calcite forms a matrix that holds the impurities, minerals and trace elements in a position related to the time the calcite was deposited.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CalciteThe carbonate mineral calcite is a chemical or biochemical calcium carbonate corresponding to the formula CaCO3 and is one of the most widely distributed minerals on the Earth's surface. It is a common constituent of sedimentary rocks, limestone in particular. It is also the primary mineral in metamorphic marble. It also occurs as a vein mineral in deposits from hot springs, and also occurs in caverns as stalactites and stalagmites. Calcite is often the primary constituent of the shells of marine organisms, e.g., plankton (such as coccoliths and planktic foraminifera), the hard parts of red algae, some sponges, brachiopoda, echinoderms, most bryozoa, and parts of the shells of some bivalves, such as oysters and rudists). Calcite represents the stable form of calcium carbonate; aragonite will change to calcite at 470°C.
Radioactive elements decay into other elements, and some of these are not soluble, and thus the presence of these insoluble daughter elements is evidence of decay of the soluble parent elements. These daughter elements are still trapped in the layers of calcite that the parent elements were depositied in, so their position also relates to the age of the daughter elements in the calcite layers. We are interested in four isotopes of these matrix constrained elements, two radoactive - thorium-230 and protactinium-231 - and two not radioactive - oxygen-18 and carbon-13 - and what they can tell us about climate and age.
Thorium-230http://www.asa3.org/ASA/resources/Wiens.htmlTwo of the most frequently-used of these "uranium-series" systems are uranium-234 and thorium-230.
Like carbon-14, the shorter-lived uranium-series isotopes are constantly being replenished, in this case, by decaying uranium-238 supplied to the Earth during its original creation. Following the example of carbon-14, you may guess that one way to use these isotopes for dating is to remove them from their source of replenishment. This starts the dating clock. In carbon-14 this happens when a living thing (like a tree) dies and no longer takes in carbon-14 laden CO2. For the shorter-lived uranium-series radionuclides, there needs to be a physical removal from uranium. The chemistry of uranium and thorium are such that they are in fact easily removed from each other. Uranium tends to stay dissolved in water, but thorium is insoluble in water. So a number of applications of the thorium-230 method are based on this chemical partition between uranium and thorium.
On the other hand, calcium carbonates produced biologically (such as in corals, shells, teeth, and bones) take in small amounts of uranium, but essentially no thorium (because of its much lower concentrations in the water). This allows the dating of these materials by their lack of thorium. A brand-new coral reef will have essentially no thorium-230. As it ages, some of its uranium decays to thorium-230. While the thorium-230 itself is radioactive, this can be corrected for. The equations are more complex than for the simple systems described earlier, but the uranium-234 / thorium-230 method has been used to date corals now for several decades. Comparison of uranium-234 ages with ages obtained by counting annual growth bands of corals proves that the technique is highly accurate when properly used (Edwards et al., Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 90, 371, 1988). The method has also been used to date stalactites and stalagmites from caves, already mentioned in connection with long-term calibration of the radiocarbon method. In fact, tens of thousands of uranium-series dates have been performed on cave formations around the world.
As with all dating, the agreement of two or more methods is highly recommended for confirmation of a measurement.
At the Devil's Hole we are essentially dealing with one very large stalactite. The calcite was deposited after being dissolved in water, the Th-230 in the calcite could only come from the decay of the parent U-234, giving an accurate measurement of the age of the layers of calcite.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium(7). Thorium-230 has a half-life of 75,380 years.
Protactinium-231http://www.ead.anl.gov/pub/doc/protactinium.pdfProtactinium is a malleable, shiny, silver-gray radioactive metal that does not tarnish rapidly in air. It has a density greater than that of lead and occurs in nature in very low concentrations as a decay product of uranium. There are three naturally occurring isotopes, with protactinium-231 being the most abundant. ... The other two naturally occurring isotopes are protactinium-234 and protactinium-234m (the “m” meaning metastable), both of which have very short half-lives (6.7 hours and 1.2 minutes, respectively) and occur in extremely low concentrations.
Protactinium-231 is a decay product of uranium-235 and is present at sites that processed uranium ores and associated wastes. This isotope decays by emitting an alpha particle with a half-life of 33,000 years to actinium-227, which has a half-life of 22 years and decays by emitting an alpha or beta particle.
Protactinium is widely distributed in very small amounts in the earth’s crust, and it is one of the rarest and most expensive naturally occurring elements. It is present in uranium ores at a concentration of about 1 part protactinium to 3 million parts uranium. Of the three naturally occurring isotopes, protactinium-231 is a decay product of uranium-235, and protactinium-234 and protactinium-234m are decay products of uranium-238.
The U-235 to Pa-231 decay is from a different series than the U-234 to Th-230 decay, so the two are independent of each other. Again, as the Devil's Hole calcite was deposited after being dissolved in water, the Pa-231 in the calcite could only come from the decay of the parent U-235, giving an accurate measurement of the age of the layers of calcite.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protactinium(6). Protactinium-231 has a half-life of 32,760 years.
Radioactive DecayThe radiation decay curve is exponential, with different results for different decay constants - the half-lives of the radioactive isotopes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponential_decayA quantity is said to be subject to exponential decay if it decreases at a rate proportional to its value. Symbolically, this can be expressed as the following differential equation, where
N is the quantity and λ is a positive number called the decay constant:
N(t) = N(0)e^-λt
Here N(t) is the quantity at time t, and N(0) is the (initial) quantity, at time t=0.
If the decaying quantity is the number of discrete elements of a set, it is possible to compute the average length of time for which an element remains in the set. This is called the mean lifetime, and it can be shown that it relates to the decay rate,
T = 1/λ
The mean lifetime (also called the exponential time constant) is thus seen to be a simple "scaling time"
A more intuitive characteristic of exponential decay for many people is the time required for the decaying quantity to fall to one half of its initial value. This time is called the half-life, and often denoted by the symbol t(1/2). The half-life can be written in terms of the decay constant, or the mean lifetime, as:
t(1/2) = ln2/λ = Tln2
When this expression is inserted for
T in the exponential equation above, and ln2 is absorbed into the base, this equation becomes:
N(t) = N(0)2^-t/t(1/2)
Using the half-lives of thorium-230 (75,380 years) and protactinium-231 (32,760 years), we can now draw the exponential curves for these isotopes (with % on the y-axis and time in k-yrs on the x axis, thorium in blue and protactinium in red):
This means we have a series of data with three different pieces of information: calcite layer (relative) age, Thorium-230 content and Protactinium-231 content. We also note that Thorium-230 has a half-life of 75,380 years, while Protactinium-231 has a half-life of 32,760 years - less than half the half-life of Thorium-230. This means that layer by layer the ratio of Thorium-230 to Protactinium-231 is different:
Age ... THr=THf/THo .. PAr=PAf/PAo .. THr/PAr
---------------------------------------------------
..75,380 ... 0.5000 ..... 0.2029 ....... 2.46 .
.150,760 ... 0.2500 ..... 0.0412 ....... 6.07 .
.226,140 ... 0.1250 ..... 0.0084 ...... 14.96 .
.301,520 ... 0.0625 ..... 0.0017 ...... 36.86 .
.376,900 ... 0.0313 ..... 0.0003 ...... 90.82 .
.452,280 ... 0.0156 ..... 0.0001 ..... 223.77 .
.527,660 ... 0.0078 ..... 0.00001 .... 551.35 .
So for these dates to be invalid there would have to be a mechanism that can layer by layer preferentially change the ratio of these two {elements\isotopes} within the solid calcite vein, and if you change the rate of decay then you need to change the rate of deposition of the calcite
exponentially to match thickness for apparent age.
ConclusionsBased on this information alone we can conclude:
- The theoretical basis for radiometric dating is accurate and valid.
- The two different radiometric methods are equally valid - at least as far back as 567,700 yr BP.
- That there was no change in the behavior of radioactive materials in the last 567,700 years, and
- The world is older than 567,000 years and no global flood has occurred in that time.
Enjoy.
![[Linked Image]](http://razd.evcforum.net/Pictures/decay-curves.jpg)
