Did-u-know Carbon- 14 dating is based on an assumption that may not be true? Various kinds of isotope dating methods are generally used to validate vast ages for the earth. C-14 is used to date objects that are thought to be less than 100,000 years old. It is based on the assumption that the formation of C-14 has been constant in the atmosphere for at least 70,000 years. Is this a valid assumption? You see C-14 is formed by cosmic radiation entering the atmosphere and striking nitrogen-14 changing it into C-14. C-14 is unstable, ½ of the C-14 atoms break down every 5,730 years. Factors that may have changed the production rate of C-14 in the past are:

1st. The magnetic field around the earth was a lot stronger in the past. A stronger magnetic field in the past would have blocked some of the cosmic radiation entering the earth's atmosphere. This would have slowed the production of C-14

2nd. More volcanic activity for a period of time in the past would have placed a higher amount of particles in the atmosphere that would have blocked some of the cosmic rays and slowed the production of C-14.

The previous changes in the earth's atmosphere would cause living organisms at the time of these conditions to appear much older than they really were. Carbon -14 dating is only reliable if that original assumption is correct. (1)

(1) Dennis Petersen, Unlocking the Mysteries of Creation , p. 64

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