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Evidence Of The Dynamic Changes Of Earth 's Surface Through Time

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ESS Goal 4 Guided Notes

Evidence of the dynamic changes of Earth’s surface through time is found in the geologic record.

2 Types of Age
Absolute Age: The number of years since the something formed
Ex. 150 million years old or 10 thousand years old
Relative Age: The age compared to the ages of other rocks
Ex. Older than this rock or younger than that rock
Note: Relative age is much easier to figure out and can be found using clues on Earth. Absolute age is very difficult to calculate and can often be impossible to get an exact value.

Relative Dating
Relative dating does not establish a specific age of a something. In geology, scientists analyze the rock layers above and below a specific segment of rock to determine its relative age.
Absolute Age
Radiometric Dating (often called radioactive dating) is a technique used to date materials such as rocks or carbon, usually based on a comparison between the observed abundance of naturally occurring radioactive isotope and its decay products, using known decay rates
Half-Life: the time required for half of an element’s atoms in a sample to change to the decay product.
Law of Superposition
Sedimentary rocks form when new sediments are deposited on top of old layers of sediment. As the sediments accumulate they are compressed and harden into sedimentary rock layers.
Scientists use the Law of Superposition to determine the relative age of a layer of sedimentary rock.
*The Law of Superposition is that an

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