40% of Americans belive the world was created 6000-years ago

[Mr Cheese]

what are you talking about?

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dear Lava, fundamentalist christians who believe the world is only a few thousand years old...

often believe that things like dinosaur bones were put in the ground by God or Satan to fool scientists and make them doubt the bible.

In summary, stupidity knows no bounds.

 

[Man of Faith]

they look amazingly great

The Oldest ROcks in the Grand Canyon

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Do we have another earth to compare to make sure that is what an old rock is supposed to look like? For example, another earth that is a few thousand years old that we can say, that rock looks 6,000 years old not a billion?

 

[Mr Cheese]

Do we have another earth to compare to make sure that is what an old rock is supposed to look like? For example, another earth that is a few thousand years old that we can say, that rock looks 6,000 years old not a billion?

no but we have dating systems....

that may not be fully accurate, but heck, they can be accurate with figures ranging from 6000 years and 3 million+ years.... or in other words, we can pretty much tell that things are older than 6000 yrs....

 

[.lava]

Do we have another earth to compare to make sure that is what an old rock is supposed to look like? For example, another earth that is a few thousand years old that we can say, that rock looks 6,000 years old not a billion?

i am unsure if i understood you correctly but we don't need another planet. we need other rocks for comparison and we have them on this planet

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[.lava]

dear Lava, fundamentalist christians who believe the world is only a few thousand years old...

often believe that things like dinosaur bones were put in the ground by God or Satan to fool scientists and make them doubt the bible.

In summary, stupidity knows no bounds.

i was not aware of this explanation of fundamentalist Christians. maybe religious people should consider that there is a difference between time here and time there. 1000 years on the other side may appear as a million on physical plane.

no need for harsh words, friend. nobody's stupid

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[Man of Faith]

i am unsure if i understood you correctly but we don't need another planet. we need other rocks for comparison and we have them on this planet

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We would need a comparison to determine what an old rock looks like as in comparison to a young one. Or else how can we look at a rock and tell its age?

 

[Mr Cheese]

nobody's stupid

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I like your sentiment, but I would disagree....

many people ARE stupid
also many people are ignorant
which are very different things.

 

[AzraelsTear]

What hope for the world when 40% of Australians will believe any statistics that they hear?

well, that is a rough figure i heard myself.

i got it more detailed, that roughly close to 50% of the american people deny evolution and think the world is less then 10 000 years old, and this is based on several opinionpolls around the country.

as none-americans we got two options, either americans are indeed some of the most ignorant people on the planet, OR they want to TRICK US into believing they are this backwards and stupid and just appear to be the uneducated and xenophobic people they are so they can come close to us, perhaps afraid that if we knew their real SUPER INTELLIGENCE we none-americans would feel threatened.

i am aiming for option two, would be just soooo awesome.......

 

[AzraelsTear]

We would need a comparison to determine what an old rock looks like as in comparison to a young one. Or else how can we look at a rock and tell its age?

we measure the age of it, using magic called "science".

 

[.lava]

We would need a comparison to determine what an old rock looks like as in comparison to a young one. Or else how can we look at a rock and tell its age?

OK, so i got it right. if we are talking about the age of rocks then we would need rocks that's formed in different times. there are young rocks, younger rocks and older rocks and they are all in this planet. we are able to say one rock is million years old because there are other rocks that's much more younger. if we are talking about age of Earth alone, that's all we need to compare

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[.lava]

I like your sentiment, but I would disagree....

many people ARE stupid
also many people are ignorant
which are very different things.

won't you agree if i say we all say or do silly things sometimes and since nobody knows everything everyone is ignorant at certain level? we might be different and it is OK. i rather give no negative names to people considering i have the potential to do something similar for different reasons

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[tumbleweed41]

Do we have another earth to compare to make sure that is what an old rock is supposed to look like? For example, another earth that is a few thousand years old that we can say, that rock looks 6,000 years old not a billion?

We would need a comparison to determine what an old rock looks like as in comparison to a young one. Or else how can we look at a rock and tell its age?

We have rocks formed on our own planet ranging from 3.6 million years old to one day old.
http://geology.about.com/cs/basics_roxmin/a/aa011804a.htm

 

[.lava]

We have rocks formed on our own planet ranging from 3.6 million years old to one day old.
http://geology.about.com/cs/basics_roxmin/a/aa011804a.htm

well, you said what i tired to say with lots of words in just one sentence. now, what can i do for you?

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[Man of Faith]

OK, so i got it right. if we are talking about the age of rocks then we would need rocks that's formed in different times. there are young rocks, younger rocks and older rocks and they are all in this planet. we are able to say one rock is million years old because there are other rocks that's much more younger. if we are talking about age of Earth alone, that's all we need to compare

.

Well my original question, is how do we know how old a rock is by looking at it?

 

[Man of Faith]

We have rocks formed on our own planet ranging from 3.6 million years old to one day old.
About Igneous Rocks

Thank you.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

We would need a comparison to determine what an old rock looks like as in comparison to a young one. Or else how can we look at a rock and tell its age?

Several ways. Off the top of my head:

- radiometric dating. Through various methods, you can directly measure the time that's passed since the rock cooled from molten material.

- stratigraphy. Looking at how rock is arranged in layers will tell you the order in which these layers were created.

- for sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, knowledge of the processes that created them. Sedimentary rock formation takes time... lots of time; this can give you a minimum age for a particular rock. Depending on the specific type of rock, metamorphic rock formation takes either time, specific conditions, or both. If the proper conditions haven't occurred in that area for X million years, then we can conclude that the rock formed at least that long ago.

- crystal direction. As I've pointed out to you in other threads, the crystal structure of many rocks will align with the Earth's magnetic field when it forms. This can tell you which direction was north when the rock was formed, which tells you what orientation the continent had at the time, which can be used to figure out when this was.

So... except for the first method, it's not normally just a matter of plunking a rock down on a lab bench and saying "how old is this?" Generally, it's a matter of looking at a rock in the context of the other rocks around it and its larger environment.

 

[.lava]

Well my original question, is how do we know how old a rock is by looking at it?

there are layers. each layer represents a process that begins and ends. even if there was a layer missing, it would be noticed. content of a layer gives data you need

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[tumbleweed41]

Well my original question, is how do we know how old a rock is by looking at it?

Actually, your original question was...

What does an old rock look like?

But in answer to your new question, the first hint is the location of the rock. The area it was found. The type or rock it is, mineral content.
All these can then be compared to other rocks and minerals in the area. Known variations in the strata, historical volcanic activity, etc, etc, etc...
Verifications and further study are done through geochronology involving various radiometric tests and mineral analysis.

So, while a good geologist may be able to simply "look" at a rock and estimate the age, that is not the end of the dating process. All data is verified multiple times before assigning an actual age to a rock or mineral.

 

[LittleNipper]

Tricky God. Making thing appear old to all scientific tests.
What a prankster.
:jester3:

GOD isn't the prankster, the scientists assured of such dates are simply niave of to their own limitations.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

GOD isn't the prankster, the scientists assured of such dates are simply niave of to their own limitations.

Indeed. How can they know of the Noodly Appendage manipulating their instruments when that Appendage is, by definition, invisible?