Scientists use a technique called radioactive dating to estimate the ages of rocks, fossils and the earth. Many people believe that radioactive dating has proved that the earth has a history of billions of years. This makes many Christians reevaluate the biblical records, especially the meaning of the word "day" in the first chapter of Genesis. When we pay special attention to this special form of radioactive dating (carbon dating), we will understand that carbon dating strongly supports the young earth.
basis
Before we discuss how to use radioactive dating in detail, we need to review some preliminary concepts in chemistry. It is believed that atoms are the basic modules of matter. Atoms are made up of smaller particles. They are called protons, neutrons and electrons. Protons and neutrons form the center of an atom (nucleus), and electrons form the shell around the nucleus. The number of protons in the nucleus determines the types of elements. For example, all carbon atoms have six protons, all nitrogen atoms have seven protons and all oxygen atoms have eight protons. For different types of atoms, the number of neutrons in the nucleus varies with the specific type of atoms. So, a carbon atom may have 6 neutrons, or 7 neutrons, or 8 neutrons, but it always has 6 protons. "Isotope" is any of several different forms of elements, each of which has a different neutron number. Some isotopes of some elements are unstable. In a process called radioactive decay, they will naturally become another kind of atom. Because this process happens at a known speed, scientists try to use it as a "clock" to know how long ago rocks or fossils were formed. Radiometric dating has two main applications. One is to date fossils (once living things) with carbon-14, and the other is to date rocks and the earth.
Carbon-14 dating method
Carbon-14( 14C) is also called radioactive carbon. Some people claim that this is a reliable dating method to determine the age of fossils between 50 thousand and 60 thousand years. If this statement is true, then the biblical record of the young earth (about 6,000 years) is questionable. Because tens of thousands of years of 14C is common. When scientists' interpretation of data is inconsistent with the clear meaning of the Bible, we should never reinterpret the Bible. God knows what he wants to express. His understanding of science is correct and ours is wrong. Then we should never think it necessary to change his words. The first chapter of Genesis defines the day of creation as a literal day (the word "day" always means a normal day with numbers in the Old Testament, and "there is morning and there is evening" further defines this day as a literal day). Since the Bible is inspired by God, we should ask the following questions to check the validity of the standard interpretation of 14C dating method:
Does the interpretation of data come from empirical observation science or interpretation of past events (historical science)?
Are there any assumptions about dating?
Is the age provided by 14C dating consistent with what we have observed?
Is the 14C dating method recognized by the whole science reliable and accurate?
All radioactive dating methods use current scientific procedures to explain past events. The procedure used here is not without doubt. The secular (evolutionary) worldview explains the universe and the world for billions of years. The Bible teaches the young universe and the earth. What kind of worldview does science support? Can carbon-14 solve which world view is more accurate?
The use of carbon-14 dating method is often misunderstood. Carbon-14 is mainly used to determine living bodies (organisms). It cannot be used to directly date rocks. However, it can be used in some organisms, such as diamonds (diamonds contain carbon-14). Because the decay rate of carbon-14 is very fast, it can only be dated for thousands of years, not millions of years.
Carbon naturally produces three different types (isotopes): 12C, 13C and 14C.
Carbon-14 is used for dating because it is unstable (radioactive), while 12C and 13C are stable. Radioactivity means that carbon-14 will decay (emit rays) over time and become different elements. In this process (called "beta decay"), neutrons in carbon-14 atoms will be converted into protons. Due to losing a neutron and gaining a proton, carbon-14 becomes nitrogen-14( 14N = 7 protons and 7 neutrons).
If carbon-14 continues to decay, will the earth eventually consume all carbon-14? The answer is no. Carbon-14 is continuously added to the atmosphere. Cosmic rays (including high energy) from outer space hit the atmosphere above the earth. These cosmic rays collide with atoms in the atmosphere, causing them to split. Neutrons generated by these debris atoms collide with nitrogen-14 atoms (the atmosphere is mainly composed of nitrogen and oxygen) and convert them into carbon-14. Once carbon-14 is produced, it will combine with oxygen in the atmosphere (12C behaves like 14C. Similarly, it will combine with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide (CO2). Because CO2 will be mixed with plants (meaning that the food we eat contains 12C and 14C), the proportion of 12C and 14C in all living things should be the same, just like the air we breathe).
How does the carbon-14 dating process work?
Once a creature dies, the dating process begins. As long as the organism is alive, it will continue to attract14c; ; However, when it dies, it will stop. As 14C is radioactive (decayed to nitrogen-14), the amount of 14C in dead organisms will become less and less as time goes by. Therefore, the process of dating includes determining the number of 14C (the part that still exists after decay). Scientists now use a device called Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (AMS) to determine the numbers from 14C to 12C, which improves the accuracy of the hypothesis to about 8000 years. In order to actually measure age, we need to know other things, two of which include the following questions:
How fast does 14C decay?
What is 14C when the living thing dies?
The decay rate of radioactive elements can be described by half-life. The half-life of an atom refers to the time it takes for half an atom in a sample to decay. The decay period of 14C is 5730. For example, a jar filled with 14C atoms at the beginning (at time zero) will have half of 14C atoms and half of 14N atoms at the end of 5730 (half life). At the end of 1 1460 (two half-lives), there will be 1/4 14C atoms and 3/4 14N atoms in the tank.
Since the half-life of 14C is known (its decay rate), the only part to be determined is the number of fossils starting from 14C. If scientists know the original number 14C when a creature dies, they can determine the current number and then calculate how many half-lives have passed.
Since no one has measured the number of 14C at the time of biological death, scientists need to find a way to determine how much 14C has decayed. For this reason, scientists used the main isotope of carbon-called carbon-12( 12C). Because 12C is a stable carbon isotope, it will remain unchanged. However, the amount of 14C contained in organisms will decrease after death. All living things get carbon from food and breath (14C and 12C). Therefore, the ratios of 14C and 12C in organisms are the same as those in the atmosphere. This ratio will generate one 14C atom for every 3 billion carbon-12 atoms. Science can use this ratio to determine the number starting from 14C.
When the organism dies, this ratio (1 to 10 12) will start to change. The number of 12C will remain the same, but the number of 14C will be less and less. The smaller the ratio, the longer the organism dies. The figure below shows the age estimated using this ratio.
The most important assumption
The most important hypothesis used in carbon-14 dating is related to this ratio. Some people think that the ratio between 14C and 12C is always the same (1 to10/2). If this hypothesis is established, the validity of AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometer) dating method will reach 800,000 years. Besides this figure, the tools used by scientists can't find enough 14C (useful in dating). This is the most important assumption in dating. If this assumption is wrong, then this carbon-14 dating method will give an incorrect age. What will cause this ratio to change? If the productivity of 14C in the atmosphere is not equal to the loss rate (mainly through decay), this ratio will change. In other words, the number of 14C produced in the atmosphere must be equal to the number of steady states (also called "equilibrium states"). If this is not true, the ratio between 14C and 12C is not constant, which makes it difficult or impossible to accurately determine the number starting from 14C in the specimen.
Dr. Libby (Dr. Willard Libby is the founder of carbon-14 dating method. He assumed that the ratio was constant. His inference is based on the belief of evolution. This view holds that the earth must be billions of years old. The hypothesis of scientific community 33 is extremely important. If the initial assumption is wrong, then all the estimates based on this assumption may be correct, but the wrong conclusions will still be drawn.
In Dr. Libby's original work, he noticed that the atmosphere seemed unbalanced. For Dr. Libby, this is a difficult concept to understand, because he thinks that the earth has a history of several billion years, and the time enough to reach balance has passed. Dr. Libby's estimation shows that if the earth didn't have 14C in the atmosphere at first, it would take 30,000 years to establish a stable state (balance). If cosmic rays (at the current intensity) have been around for 20,000 or 30,000 years, and if the carbon stored in the universe has not changed at all, there must be a complete balance between the decomposition rate of radioactive carbon atoms of all substances at present and the attraction rate of new radioactive carbon atoms in their life cycle.
Dr Libby chose to ignore this contradiction (unbalanced state) and attributed it to experimental error. However, this contradiction has become very real. The ratio between 14C and 12C is not constant. The unit productivity (SPR) of 14C is 18.8 atoms per minute per gram of carbon. The unit decay rate (SDR) is that only 16. 1 atom is decomposed per gram of carbon per minute. What does this mean? If it takes about 30,000 years to reach equilibrium and 14C is still unbalanced, then maybe the earth is not very old.
earth's magnetic field
Other factors will affect the productivity of 14C in the atmosphere. There is a magnetic field around the earth, which will protect us from radiation from outer space. This magnetic field is weakening. The stronger the magnetic field around the earth, the less cosmic rays reach the atmosphere. This will produce less 14C in the earth's past atmosphere. The reason for the long-term change of carbon-14 level is unknown. This change must be due to the change in the productivity of radioactive carbon cosmic rays. Cosmic ray flux and carbon-14 yield are not only functions of solar activity, but also functions of dipole moment of earth's magnetic field. Although the moment of the earth's magnetic field is complex, it is consistent with Barnes' basic hypothesis. His hypothesis is as follows: the earth's magnetic field always decays freely ... no matter how the magnetic field changes, it will always lose energy, so it is impossible to exceed 10000 years. Some scientists say that the earth's magnetic field is weakening. Today, it is weaker than that observed by German mathematician C.F.Gauss in 1845 10%.
Genesis flood
What role does Genesis possibly play in the generation of carbon number? Floods will bury a lot of carbon in living things (plants and animals), thus forming today's fossil fuels (coal and oil, etc.). The amount of fossil fuels shows that there must have been many more plants before the flood than today. This means that the carbon in organisms before the flood may be 500 times more than today. This will further dilute the amount of carbon-14 and lead to a smaller ratio between 14C and 12C than today.
If so, this carbon-14 will be evenly distributed in the biosphere. For example, the total amount of carbon in the biosphere is 500 times that of the world today. Therefore, the ratio between carbon-14 and carbon-12 is 1/500 in today's world ... When flood and magnetic field attenuation stand in the same consideration, it is considered that the equilibrium hypothesis is unreasonable. Because the age of 14C used before the flood is estimated to be much older than the real age, the age of the material before the flood may be 10 times the real age.
Discovery of rate group
1997, an eight-year scientific research project began to investigate and determine the age of the earth. This group of people is called the rate group (isotope and age of the earth). This group of scientists includes:
Larry Wardiman, Ph.D., Atmospheric Science
Russell Humphries, doctor of physics
Doctor of Physics Eugene Chaffin
John Baum Gardner, Ph.D. in Geophysics.
Donald Deyang, Ph.D. in Physics
Steven Austin, doctor of geology
Andrew Snelling, Ph.D. in Geology
Dr Steven Boyer, Hebrew and Homologous Studies.
The goal of this project is to collect information that has been ignored or deleted by evolution. Scientists reevaluate the assumptions and procedures used to estimate rocks and fossils. The results of carbon-14 dating method show that there are serious problems from the perspective of geological age. Evolutionists believe that the samples obtained from 10 different coal seams represent 10 different periods (Cenozoic, Mesozoic and Paleozoic) on the geological column. RATE group has obtained more than 10 coal samples from the coal sample library of the US Department of Energy. These coal samples were collected from major coal fields in the United States. According to the standard evolution time, these coal samples are estimated to be several million to several hundred million years old. Both contain a lot of 14C. This is a discovery of great significance. Because the half-life of 14C is quite short (5730), there should be no detectable 14C after 65438+ million years. The average estimated age of all coal seams in the above three periods is 14C, which is about 50,000 years. However, using the more realistic pre-flood ratio of 14C/ 12C will reduce the age to 5000.
These results show that the whole geological age is less than 654.38 million+years-probably younger. This not only confirms the reliability of the Bible, but also challenges the concept of evolution in the long geological age. Because the life of carbon-14 is so short, these AMS[ (accelerator mass spectrometer) measurements challenge the standard geological timetable. This timetable shows that the age of this part of the rock formation is between several million and several hundred million years.
Another remarkable observation of the RATE team is the amount of carbon-14 found in diamonds. Secular scientists use other radioactive dating methods to determine the age of diamonds from millions to hundreds of millions of years. These methods are also based on suspicious assumptions (we will discuss this topic in Chapter 9). Because diamonds are very hard (the hardest substance known), they are extremely resistant to pollution caused by chemical exchange. Since evolutionary criteria consider diamonds so old, it should be a relatively new creation to find that they contain carbon-14.
The RATE team analyzed 12 diamond samples to obtain the possible carbon-14 content. Similar to the results of coal, all 12 diamond samples contain detectable carbon-14, but their content is very high. These findings strongly prove that coal and fossils can't be millions to hundreds of millions of years old. We found carbon-14 in all fossil beds (on coal and diamonds) in geological times. This evidence confirms that the timetable of the earth in the Bible is thousands of years, not billions. Because the half-life of carbon-14 is very short, this discovery proves that the origin of carbon and the origin of the earth may not be so long ago.
conclusion
All radioactive dating methods are based on assumptions about past events. If these assumptions are accepted as true (usually in the process of evolutionary dating), then the results will be biased towards the ideal age. In the era recorded in textbooks and other publications, these evolutionary assumptions are questionable, although the results that have been inconsistent for a long time have been deleted. When these assumptions are wrong in the evaluation, the result will support the global flood and the biblical record of the young earth. Christians should not be afraid of radioactive dating. Carbon-14 dating method is actually a friend of Christians; It supports the young earth.
"Now is the key to the past" is considered to be a concept put forward by geologist Charles Lyell nearly two centuries ago. Scientists believe that this concept is unfounded for millions or hundreds of millions of years of earth history. Another interpretation of carbon-14 data is that the earth experienced a global flood disaster, leaving behind rock formations and fossils ... No matter what the source of carbon-14 is, it is a powerful challenge to the earth's antiquity in almost all tests in the world. Carbon-14 data now strongly support the historical view of the young earth.