How to translate text using browser tools
19 March 2020 Radiocarbon in Dinosaur Fossils: Compatibility with an Age of Millions of Years
Philip J. Senter
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

The recent discovery of radiocarbon in dinosaur bones at first seems incompatible with an age of millions of years, due to the short half-life of radiocarbon. However, evidence from isotopes other than radiocarbon shows that dinosaur fossils are indeed millions of years old. Fossil bone incorporates new radiocarbon by means of recrystallization and, in some cases, bacterial activity and uranium decay. Because of this, bone mineral – fossil or otherwise – is a material that cannot yield an accurate radiocarbon date except under extraordinary circumstances. Mesozoic bone consistently yields a falsely young radiocarbon “date” of a few thousand to a few tens of thousands of years, despite the fact that it is millions of years old. Science educators need to be aware of the details of these phenomena, to be able to advise students whose acceptance of biological evolution has been challenged by young-Earth creationist arguments that are based on radiocarbon in dinosaur fossils.

© 2020 National Association of Biology Teachers. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press's Reprints and Permissions web page, https://www.ucpress.edu/journals/reprints-permissions.
Philip J. Senter "Radiocarbon in Dinosaur Fossils: Compatibility with an Age of Millions of Years," The American Biology Teacher 82(2), 72-79, (19 March 2020). https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2020.82.2.72
Published: 19 March 2020
JOURNAL ARTICLE
8 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
carbonate
Collagen
creationism
dinosaurs
fossilization
radiocarbon
recrystallization
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top