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Relative Age- is basically the determination of the relative order of past events without knowing their absolute age. This is done through the observation of fossils, lithology's, and the Law of superposition. These observations can be used to correlate one stratigraphic column with another. For example if you find an Index Fossil (which is a fossil used to identify geologic periods) such as Bathyurus extans in a stratigraphic layer then you can conclude that the layer was deposited during the Ordovician period between 488 and 433 million years ago. Also through the Law of superposition you can conclude that any rock layer above will be younger than 433 million years and any rock layer below will be older than 488 million years.

Absolute age- is the determination of an approximate computed age using physical or chemical properties of a rock. Some examples are Radiocarbon dating and Potassium-Argon dating. These dating techniques give an actual computed value for the age of a rock. These values are usually associated with an error correction. For example on the Geologic Time Scale the Early Cambrian period is assigned a value of 542.0 +/- 1.0 in millions of years on the geologic time scale.

Relative Age is allot more commonly used than absolute dating because absolute dating is expensive and time consuming. The ages obtained from relative dating are more than sufficient to support the geologic analysis of an area.

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Q: What are the comparative uses of relative versus absolute age in determination of rock units?
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