Which absolute dating method would be most appropriate for establishing the age of a volcanic ash layer from an early hominid site in eastern Africa?
A. Principle of faunal succession
B. Radiocarbon Dating
C. Potassium - Argon Dating
D. Dendrochronology
Answer is B. Radiocarbon Dating
Rationale: Chronometric dating method for organic materials, based on decay rate of 14C (Carbon 14)
a) Useful for 500ybp -50,000 ybp
b) Charcoal is best choice (almost completely carbon)
c) Burned or unburned bone second best choice (collagen contains a lot of carbon)
d) The less carbon a thing contains, the more of it has to be destroyed to use this method
(1) All living plants and animals absorb same amount of 14C in their bodies (from atmosphere, food). An organism's intake of 14C stops when it dies. From then on, the carbon begins to radioactively decay into nitrogen
(2) Radioactive decay occurs at a known rate, so measuring the amount of 14C remaining in an organism reveals how long it has been dead
(3) Must be careful to avoid contamination of fossils!
You might also like to view...
The ingestion of a meal high in fat content would cause which of the following to occur?
A) This type of food would cause secretion of gastrin to cease, resulting in faster gastric emptying. B) Increased production of trypsinogen. C) Bile would be released from the gallbladder to emulsify the fat in the duodenum. D) The acid secretions from the stomach would be sufficient to digest this food but may cause heartburn.
Severe demands are placed on a person's ability to regulate body temperature if body water loss exceeds
A. 0.5% B. 1% C. 1.5% D. 2%
Which of the following represents an exchange reaction?
A) AB + CD ? BA + DC B) AB + CD ? AD + BC C) A + B ? AB D) AB ? A + B
Whole blood for testing in a clinical laboratory is usually collected from
A) the heart. B) a superficial artery. C) a superficial vein. D) a capillary. E) an arteriole.