Age of the Earth
| One of many articles on |
| The main players |
| Critics |
| Supporting actors |
The consensus view of scientists in relevant fields is that the Age of the Earth and solar system is roughly 4.54 billion (4.54 × 109 ± 1%) years [1][2], an age primarily derived by radiometric dating. Due to conditions on Earth such as the molten state of the early Earth, erosion, and subduction of tectonic plates moving surface material into the Earth's mantel, radiometric dating of materials originating on Earth provides a range of lower limits for the age of the Earth of approximately 3.8 to 4.2 billion years.
The best estimates of the age of the Earth are calculated from the ratios of lead and uranium in meteorites found on Earth. These estimates are verified by helioseismic dating.
Young earth creationists criticize radiometric dating as producing wildly inconsistent ages, from which they infer that Goddidit.
Contents |
[edit] Formation of the solar system
The original formation of the Earth was a violent process that resulted in an early Earth that was in effect, constantly molten. Therefore, we do not and perhaps can not know exactly how old the Earth is. However, science has determined that our Solar System was formed roughly 4.54 billion years ago. This age is based on radiometric evidence from meteorites found on Earth. Lunar rock, which is collected from a body that does not have a fluid mantle or crust and so has therefore remained constant, dates to 3.8 - 4.2 billion years. Other evidence includes a meteorites that have landed on Earth, which date to a slightly older 4.5 - 4.6 billion years. Though not yet perfected, recently developed technology to study the sun, helioseismolgy, provides excellent independent verification of the age of the solar system [3]
Use of meteorites to date the Earth relies on assumptions required by various hypotheses of the formation of the Earth and other planets from the accretion disk created by the Jeans collapse of the material that formed our sun. On its own, analysis of any particular meteorite may depend on the assumption of uniform rates of decay of radioactive isotopes, which creationists attack as unsound based on the necessary consequence of their dogmatic view that the Bible must trump science, and the uniform distribution of lead isotopes in the solar system. Taken together, analysis of various meteorites correlates ages of the early solar system, and therefore the Earth, to a high degree of statistical significance.
A common creationist criticism of radiometric dating is that it provides inaccurate results. The claim is frequently due to attempts to analyze contaminated specimens or the use of methods inappropriate to the analysis of specific materials. The claim may also be due to a misunderstanding and inaccurate interpretation of scientific literature on the subject.[4] When used properly, radiometric dating provides results that are known to be accurate from their close correspondence with other methods of dating the Earth and solar system.
[edit] Formation of the Earth
Due to the nature of our own Earth, and the fact that the mantle is fluid and the crust has in fact undergone many stages in its formation, it is nearly impossible to find rocks that were actually created when the Earth was formed. However, recently a few samples of lead, believed to be formed during the Archaean, have been dated to 4.40 billion years[5], fitting perfectly into a theory of formation at the same time as the rest of the Solar System, at 4.5 billion years.
[edit] Other (religious) views
Simply because the concept of deep time is quite hard to wrap your head around, few cultures that existed prior to modern scientific scholarship have specifically posited an age of the Earth that expanded much beyond the longest time they could imagine – generally, thousands or perhaps tens of thousands of years.
[edit] Early Christian and modern Young Earth Creationist Views
By and large, Christianity has always held the idea that the Earth is only thousands of years old.
The biblical creation story and the supposedly detailed listing of generations (also known as the "begats") reinforce the idea that the Earth must have been created within the last 10,000 years or so. Similarly, Talmudic commentaries over the last 2000 years place Creation at roughly 7,000 years, give or take many thousands of years.
In the 17th century era of a new "rational" approach to the world, Christians, both theologians and scientists, attempted to define the Day of Creation more precisely. Isaac Newton, using the Bible as a template, worked out the year of creation of the Earth to be 4000 BC, Johannes Kepler, 3992 BC, and Bede at 3952.
The most famous date for the Day of Creation is the one proposed by James Ussher who determined that he could figure out the date of creation by compiling a chronology of all the events in the Bible. Without explaining how he knew at what age particular "begats" "begatted," Usher decided that the date of Creation was exactly Sunday, October 23, 4000 BC.[6] What a nice round number. Of course, learning that there was a miscalculation in the Gregorian calendar, and that Christ's birth is roughly 3 years off, he amended his date to Sunday, October 23, 4004 BC.
It is not at all surprising that all these dates spin near or around the 4000 BCE mark, as they are based on a contemporary Christian theological idea that the Earth only had a 6000 year life span. [7].
Though most of modern Christianity has set aside the clearly unscientific notion of "a few thousand years," there persists a group of Christians called "Young Earth Creationists" who set the date of Creation as some time within the last 10,000 years. They originally followed Ussher's dates; however, indisputable archaeological evidence of civilizations older than 6,000 years, generally pushes "YEC" types to say "up to 10,000 years."
[edit] Zoroastrian
The Zoroastrian religion is one of the few religions that provides a specific age in which the universe and the Earth was made. The life of the Universe is 4 units of 3,000 years each, for a total of 12,000 years. The universe as we know it ("all of Creation" is the term, so we will assume the Earth is part of Creation) was made after 3000 years of perfect balance. Thus making the age of the Earth somewhere between 6000-9000 years, depending on when it fell in the Age of Creation.
[edit] Hinduism
On the other hand, according to Hinduism the Earth is much older. Hinduism states that the Earth came into being with the god Brahma and after doing some calculations with units of time found in Hinduism we come up with an age of 155.5 trillion years.[8]
[edit] See also
- 101 evidences for a young age of the Earth and the universe
- Evidence against a recent creation
- Old Earth creationism
[edit] External links
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/age.html
- ↑ http://sp.lyellcollection.org/content/190/1/205
- ↑ Helioseismology, or the study of acoustic waves and their propagation in the sun, gives a more general date of 4.0 - 5.5 billion years. While not as precise as those provided by radiometric dating, these dates provide independent confirmation that radiometric dating is not providing wildly inaccurate dates.
- ↑ See, Radiometric dating.
- ↑ Zircons found in the Jack Hills area of Australia have returned an age of 4.4 billion, interpreted through crystallization. These same samples seem also to suggest that there was water on the Earth as early as 4.4 billion years ago. ref: wikipedia [1]
- ↑ Leaving science so envious that it can only at best give approximations
- ↑ Meaning, if you follow, we were all supposed to be dead just over 10 years ago
- ↑ Bhakti Yoga Meditation - Hinduism: Age of the Earth according to Vedic chronology