Difference between relative and absolute dating methods

Share facts or photos of intriguing scientific phenomena. Did You Know? Although both relative and absolute dating methods are used to estimate the age of historical remains, the results produced by both these techniques for the same sample may be ambiguous. Geological specimens that are unearthed need to be assigned an appropriate age.

The main difference between absolute and relative dating is that the absolute dating is a technique to determine the numerical age of a rock or a fossil whereas the relative dating is a technique that determines the relative age. Furthermore, absolute dating can be done with the use of radiometric dating while relative age is determined with respect to other layers. The four techniques used in absolute dating are radiometric dating, amino acid dating, dendrochronology, and thermoluminescence. Figure 1: Radiocarbon Date Calibration Curve. Relative dating is the technique used to determine the age by comparing the historical remaining to the nearby layers. It is a less advanced technique when compared to absolute dating.

Geologists often need to know the age of material that they find. They use absolute dating methods, sometimes called numerical dating, to give rocks an actual date, or date range, in number of years. This is different to relative dating, which only puts geological events in time order.

What is the difference between relative and absolute dating techniques? In relative dating, something is determined to be older or younger than something else without determining an exact age. According to the laws of superposition, a strategic layer that is higher has been deposited more recently. The oldest strata are at the bottom of the sequence.