which type of dating do index fossils provide the most help for?

For example, the distinctive spiral shell of the ammonoid makes it easy to recognize, which is why ammonoids are considered ideal index fossils. Knowing the half-life of 14C, the age of dead plant or animal tissue can be calculated by measuring the amount of 14C left in a sample. These rare events take place slowly and are known as magnetic reversals. They were affected by geological processes that occurred after the layers were originally deposited. Fossils alone cannot provide us with numerical ages of rocks, but over the past century geologists have acquired enough isotopic dates from rocks associated with fossil-bearing rocks such as igneous dykes cutting through sedimentary layers to be able to put specific time limits on most fossils. This is called relative dating. Some isotopes, however, have an unstable nucleus and are radioactive.

WHICH TYPE OF DATING DO INDEX FOSSILS PROVIDE THE MOST HELP FOR? / morphy.info

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