Talk:Carbon dating/Archive1

Anyone
Is there anyone who can confirm/deny HG's edit ? I don't know if its provable either way.Keepoff the grass 20:21, 29 July 2007 (CDT)
 * Only those on CP and the likes could confirm that garbage. Locke Random 20:29, 29 July 2007 (CDT)
 * As far as I know, C-14 fluctuations have been known about for years and modern dating is calibrated to incorporate known C-14 levels at different times.--MountainTiger 20:34, 29 July 2007 (CDT)

Well someone who knows revert it then. Keepoff the grass 20:38, 29 July 2007 (CDT)

Eggselent Mountain! Keepoff the grass 21:25, 29 July 2007 (CDT)


 * As far as I know, C-14 does fluctuate, but it has not yet stablized (actually evidence to some of a young Earth). If you do the differential equation, I think I remember that about 21 pounds created each day by the Sun, and the half life is 5700 years...calculate how many years and at what level C14 would stabalize, and it shows (from my understanding) that something doesn't add up.  Could be misapplication of math, some drastic change in the Sun's output of particles in the recent past, etc.  Anyway, I am pretty sure that C14 dating is not as simple and clean as evolutionists want to make it out to be.   20:43, 29 July 2007 (CDT)

Young Earth Creationists and C-14
A friend of mine (Young Earth Creationist) keeps mentioning an anomaly in the C-14 values as some sort of evidence for C-dating to be imperfect. He lacks the knowledge to go in depth, and I wondered if there was more information on this, as I think this should be included. InaVegt 18:35, 24 October 2008 (EDT)
 * Probably the fact that Carbon 14 production hasn't been constant throughout time and has to be calibrated using other means (tree ring dating etc) see Wikipedia for example. This is often used as a reason to disqualify C14 results by YECers.

A raw BP date cannot be used directly as a calendar date, because the level of atmospheric 14C has not been strictly constant during the span of time that can be radiocarbon dated. The level is affected by variations in the cosmic ray intensity which is in turn affected by variations in the earth's magnetosphere. In addition, there are substantial reservoirs of carbon in organic matter, the ocean, ocean sediments (see methane hydrate), and sedimentary rocks. Changes in the Earth's climate can affect the carbon flows between these reservoirs and the atmosphere, leading to changes in the atmosphere's 14C fraction.

Aside from these changes due to natural processes, the level has also been affected by human activities. From the beginning of the industrial revolution in the 18th century to the 1950s, the fractional level of 14C decreased because of the admixture of large quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere, the combustion production of fossil fuel. This decline is known as the Suess effect, and also affects the 13C isotope. However, atmospheric 14C was almost doubled for a short period during the 1950s and 1960s due to atomic bomb tests. CaycePattern 19:07, 24 October 2008 (EDT)