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To: Wurlitzer
Carbon dating is a tough call out to where oil and coal were formed. Best estimates for Midwestern (Illinois Basin) coal is 260 million years ago. Powder River Basin sub-bituminous is younger.
20 posted on 03/19/2012 7:21:25 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks (Beware the Sweater Vest)
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

Carbon-dating is only accurate to about 15,000 years before the present, if that. It also is often not all that precise because of infiltration of other materials, and atmospheric radioactivity interference.

For more ancient radiometric dating, potassium—>argon and uranium—>lead measurements are used, which are probably quite difficult to use in dating petroleum.


55 posted on 03/19/2012 8:08:45 AM PDT by cookcounty (Newt 2012: ---> Because he got it DONE.)
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