AGE OF THE EARTH & CHANGE OVER TIME

Physical evidence supports scientific theories that Earth has changed

over geologic time due to natural processes. The Earth is believed to be 4.6
billion years old. How is it possible for scientists to determine the age of the
Earth if they were not present at its creation? The answer is they gather
evidence about the past based on events currently happening in the present
time. Scientists believe that the processes we observe today such as plate
tectonics, volcanic and earthquake activity, erosion, weathering and deposition
occurred in the past as well and created the planet as we know it today.
Scientists use radioactive dating (absolute dating) to date rocks and
fossils found on Earth. Elements that are radioactive tend to be unstable and
break down over time. When they break down they change into more stable
elements. By comparing the amount of stable to unstable elements in a sample,
scientists can determine the age of the sample. The time is takes for half the
unstable atoms in the element to decay (breakdown) is called the half-life.
Elements with very long half-lives, such as uranium (4.5 million yrs) can be
used to date objects that are millions of years old. Carbon can also be used to
date samples that are less than 50,000 years old.
Relative dating is a way scientists can determine the age of Earth and
its parts by comparing position or sequence in rock layers. Fossils are often
found in layers of sedimentary rock. If the rock layer has not been overturned
or disrupted by earthquakes or other geologic processes it would be safe to say
that fossils found in the bottom layers would be older than those found in the
top layers. This is referred to as the Law of Superposition.
The law of superposition must be used with care because certain events
can disturb the positions of rock layers. These forces may create folds or
faults. Therefore the older layers MAY be pushed on top of younger layers. In
general, a rock layer is older than any fault or fold that appears in it because the
rock had to already exist in order to be folded or faulted.
The Earths tectonic plates float around on the mantle like ice floats on
a pond. The movement of the plates is incredibly slow, but since the plates are
so big, when they bump into and rub against each other, we get massive events
like volcanoes and earthquakes. Along these plate boundaries, we find faults.
Faults are cracks in the Earth's crust where movement occurs.
We often think of rock as hard, brittle material. But under the right
conditions, rock can actually 'flow' in a way that keeps it from breaking. When
rock deforms in such a way that it bends instead of breaking, we call this a
fold. Folds come from pressure on rocks that occur over very long periods of
time (think millions of years!).