Radiometric Dating

Geologists use radiometric dating to estimate how long ago rocks

formed, and to infer the ages of fossils contained within those rocks.

Radioactive elements decay.

The universe is full of naturally occurring radioactive elements.
Radioactive atoms are inherently unstable; over time, radioactive parent
atoms decay into stable daughter atoms.
When molten rock cools, forming what are called igneous rocks,
radioactive atoms are trapped inside. Afterwards, they decay at a
predictable rate. By measuring the quantity of unstable atoms left in a
rock and comparing it to the quantity of stable daughter atoms in the
rock, scientists can estimate the amount of time that has passed since
that rock formed.

Bracketing the fossils

Fossils are generally found in sedimentary rocknot igneous rock.
Sedimentary rocks can be dated using radioactive carbon, but because

carbon decays relatively quickly, this only works for rocks younger than
about 50 thousand years.
So in order to date most older fossils, scientists look for layers of
igneous rock or volcanic ash above and below the fossil. Scientists date
igneous rock using elements that are slow to decay, such as uranium and
potassium. By dating these surrounding layers, they can figure out the
youngest and oldest that the fossil might be; this is known as
bracketing the age of the sedimentary layer in which the fossils occur.

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) or electron spin

resonance (ESR) spectroscopy is a technique for studying materials
with unpaired electrons. The basic concepts of EPR are analogous to
those of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), but it is electron spins that
are excited instead of the spins of atomic nuclei. Because most stable
molecules have all their electrons paired, the EPR technique is less
widely used than NMR. However, this limitation also means that EPR
offers great specificity, since ordinary chemical solvents and matrices do
not give rise to EPR spectra.

Potassium-argon dating,

method of determining the time of

origin of rocks by measuring the ratio of radioactive argon to
radioactive potassium in the rock. This dating method is based upon the
decay of radioactive potassium-40 to radioactive argon-40 in minerals
and rocks; potassium-40 also decays to calcium-40. Thus, the ratio of
argon-40 and potassium-40 and radiogenic calcium-40 to potassium-40
in a mineral or rock is a measure of the age of the sample. The calciumpotassium age method is seldom used, however, because of the great
abundance of nonradiogenic calcium in minerals or rocks, which masks
the presence of radiogenic calcium.

The geologic time scale (GTS) is a system

of chronological measurement that relates stratigraphy to time, and is
used by geologists, paleontologists, and other earth scientists to describe
the timing and relationships between events that have occurred
throughout Earth's history. The table of geologic time spans presented
here agrees with the nomenclature, dates and standard color codes set
forth by the International Commission on Stratigraphy.
Evidence from radiometric dating indicates that the Earth is about 4.54
billion years old. The geology or deep time of Earth's past has been
organized into various units according to events which took place in
each period. Different spans of time on the GTS are usually delimited by
changes in the composition of strata which correspond to them,
indicating major geological or paleontological events, such as mass
extinctions. For example, the boundary between the Cretaceous period
and the Paleogene period is defined by the CretaceousPaleogene
extinction event, which marked the demise of the dinosaurs and many
other groups of life. Older time spans which predate the reliable fossil
record (before the Proterozoic Eon) are defined by the absolute age.

Continental drift theory:

In 1915, the German geologist and meteorologist Alfred Wegener first
proposed the theory of continental drift, which states that parts of the
Earth's crust slowly drift atop a liquid core. The fossil record supports
and gives credence to the theories of continental drift and plate
tectonics. Pangaea started to break up into two smaller supercontinents,
called Laurasia and Gondwanaland, during the Jurassic period. By the
end of the Cretaceous period, the continents were separating into land
masses that look like our modern-day continents. Eduard Seuss was an
Austrian geologist who first realized that there had once been a land
bridge connecting South America, Africa, India, Australia, and
Antarctica. He named this large land mass Gondwanaland (named after a
district in India where the fossil plant Glossopteris was found). This was
the southern supercontinent formed after Pangaea broke up during

the Jurassic period. Seuss based his deductions on the fossil plant
Glossopteris, which is found throughout India, South America, southern
Africa, Australia, and Antarctica.
Fossils of Mesosaurus (one of the first marine reptiles, even older than
the dinosaurs) were found in both South America and South Africa.
These finds, plus the study of sedimentation and the fossil
plant Glossopteris in these southern continents led Alexander duToit, a
South African scientist, to bolster the idea of the past existence of a
supercontinent in the southern hemisphere, Eduard
Suess's Gondwanaland. This lent further support to A.
Wegener's Continental Drift Theory.
The patterns of distribution are influenced by:
1. Environmental factors such as area, land, topography, soil, climate.
2. Innate factors such as adaptation of an organism to specific
environmental conditions.
3. Evolutionary factors explained by The Continental Drift Theory
explained by Alfred L Wegner in 1929.
According to continental drift, the following changes took place:
1. During carboniferous periods, all present day continents were in the
form of a single land mass called Pangaea.
2. It was surrounded by ancestral Panthalassa(Pacific) Ocean and
Tethys(Mediterranean sea) till bout 200 million years ago.
3. During the end of Triassic period, it split into 2.
i, Laurasia: N.America, Europe, Asia.
ii, Gondwana: S.America, Australia, Africa, India and Antarctica.
4. S.America separated from Africa during Jurassic period.
5. About 40 million years ago, Tibetian plateau and Himalayas uplifted
as a result of collision.
6. The size of the north Atlantic and Indian oceans increased due to
rotation of land masses.

7. During the end of Mesozoic era, N.America separated from Europe

and Madagascar isolated from eastern Africa.

The human ancestry

Evolution of humans:
Evolution of human is assumed to begin during Eocene of tertiary period
75-60 million years ago, unsure where exactly. Regardless of the place
of origin, ape and man started together from tree dwelling common
ancestors approximately 25-30 million years ago.
Characteristic features of humans:
1. large brain and cranial cavity/capacity
2. upright posture
3. bipedal locomotion
4. forelimbs
5. opposable thumb
6. orthognathous face, ape has prognathous
7. Intelligence
8. Binocular vision
9. Feeding habit : herbivorous -> omnivorous

10. breeding capacity

11. olfactory lobes less developed
12. hearing ability
13. loss of body hairs
14. social and cultural organization
Changes during evolution:
1. increase in size of skull and brain
2. forelimbs set free due to bipedal mode of locomotion
3. increase in length of hind limbs and shortening of forelimbs
4. perfection of thumb opposability
4.loss of opposabilty of great toe
6. upright posture
7. jaw power reduced
8. reduced size of incisors and canines due to change of feeding habits
into omnivorous
9. Pelvic girdle development and broadening of iliac bones
10. social organization and cultural evolution
Characteristic features of first apes:
short stature: 4 feet, walked erect, brain size: 500-700 cc, canine level
with other teeth, eyebrow over eyes, lived in small groups of few
individuals.

Homo habilis:
First tool maker, 1.75-2 million years ago
features : 1.2-1.5m tall, fully straight, brain 700-800 cc, food habit was
carnivorous and hunters, small communities or groups in caves
communicated with visual signs and simple audible sounds.

Homo erectus:

800000-30000 years old fossils

2 species
i, Java man : 5 feet tall, brain 940 cc, slightly bend body during
movement, erect and long limbs, prognathous face with low slanting
forehead, large and heavy jaws, flattened nose and thick protruding lips,
carnivorous and cannibal, first pre-historic man to use fire for cooking,
defense, and hunting.
ii, Peking man: 1.55-1.60 m tall, heavy bones, brain size 850-1200cc,
omnivorous and cannibals, used fire, lives in caves in communities,
rudimentary language.

Homosapiens:
Heidelberg man: Ape like lower jaw, all teeth like humans, cranial
capacity was 1300 cc.

Neanderthal man:
Cranial capacity 1300-1600 cc, deep jaws, no chin, thick skull bones,
stone tools, omnivorous and cannibal, used fire for cooking and warmth,
animal skin as clothing, followed rituals, practiced agriculture and
animal domestication.

Cro-Magnon man:
1.8 m, strong jaws, elevated nose and well developed chin, intelligent,
hardworking, cave dwellers, 1650 cc, tools and weapons, skin clothes,
painters.

Homo sapiens sapiens:

1450cc, straight limbs, arms shorter than legs, erect body, upright head,
complex brain, lived in groups, cultural and agricultural evolution,

domestication, extraction of metals, tool revolution, medicines,

scientific revolution.

Future man(homo futuris):

In future man could change due to gene mutation, gene recombination,
and natural selection.
Characters: Increased height, more developed cranium, dome shaped
skull, less developed body, life span will increase, reduced hair
distribution, reduced fifth finger.