Their ages
Scientists discovered that rocks farther away from the mid-ocean ridge were older than those closer to it through radiometric dating of the rocks. By analyzing the age of the rocks using isotopes with known half-lives, they were able to determine that the rocks get progressively older as you move away from the ridge due to the process of seafloor spreading.
Scientists most frequently use radiometric dating, in its various forms, to figure out the absolute age of fossils. Except for carbon dating (which is only useful for fossils less than ~70,000 years), scientists find the ratio of radioactive atoms, or isotopes, to stable atoms in rock samples. In carbon dating, the sample is taken directly from the fossil. The use variants of the continuous decay equation (P=e^rt) to figure this out. If you know the initial isotope ratio (which is the same as the atmosphere at the time) and the half-life of the element (the amount of time it takes for half of the amount of the radioactive element to decay), then the age is easy to find out. Paleontologists, from what I understand, generally use Potassium-Argon dating. There are other forms of dating that you could look up. Amino acid racemization is based off of the reversal of the chirality (handedness) of organic molecules. John Wells of Cornell University used coral rings to find the number of days in a year when the coral was alive, then used geologically sound calculations to find its age (the Earth's spin is slowing down, so there used to be more days in a year). Molecular clocks are sometimes used as a form of dating, and assume that species have a relatively constant mutation rate over their evolutionary history. And I'm sure there are plenty more. Geochronology is cool stuff.
Fossils found on the seafloor can be dated using techniques such as radiometric dating or stratigraphic correlation. By analyzing the rock layers and the types of fossils found in them, scientists can determine the age of the fossils and the seafloor where they were discovered. This helps in understanding the history of the ocean and the evolution of marine life.
Method of determining the age of a mineral that utilizes the damage done by the spontaneous fission of uranium-238, the most abundant isotope of uranium. In geology and archaeology, the process of determining an object's or event's place within a chronological scheme.
Scientists determine the age of basalt layers at Frenchman Coulee using radiometric dating techniques, such as potassium-argon dating or argon-argon dating. These methods measure the ratio of isotopes in the basalt samples to calculate how long it has been since the rock formed. By analyzing the radioactive decay of elements in the basalt layers, scientists can determine their age.
Their ages
Radiometric dating uses the known decay rates of radioactive isotopes to estimate the age of rocks or fossils. By measuring the amount of parent and daughter isotopes in a sample, scientists can calculate the age of the sample based on the rate of radioactive decay. This technique is commonly used in geology and archaeology to determine the age of rocks and archaeological artifacts.
To figure out how old something is based how long it takes elements in the sample to decay.
Scientists discovered that rocks farther away from the mid-ocean ridge were older than those closer to it through radiometric dating of the rocks. By analyzing the age of the rocks using isotopes with known half-lives, they were able to determine that the rocks get progressively older as you move away from the ridge due to the process of seafloor spreading.
Scientists most frequently use radiometric dating, in its various forms, to figure out the absolute age of fossils. Except for carbon dating (which is only useful for fossils less than ~70,000 years), scientists find the ratio of radioactive atoms, or isotopes, to stable atoms in rock samples. In carbon dating, the sample is taken directly from the fossil. The use variants of the continuous decay equation (P=e^rt) to figure this out. If you know the initial isotope ratio (which is the same as the atmosphere at the time) and the half-life of the element (the amount of time it takes for half of the amount of the radioactive element to decay), then the age is easy to find out. Paleontologists, from what I understand, generally use Potassium-Argon dating. There are other forms of dating that you could look up. Amino acid racemization is based off of the reversal of the chirality (handedness) of organic molecules. John Wells of Cornell University used coral rings to find the number of days in a year when the coral was alive, then used geologically sound calculations to find its age (the Earth's spin is slowing down, so there used to be more days in a year). Molecular clocks are sometimes used as a form of dating, and assume that species have a relatively constant mutation rate over their evolutionary history. And I'm sure there are plenty more. Geochronology is cool stuff.
Scientists use radioactive dating to determine the age of rocks and fossils by measuring the decay of radioactive isotopes. By analyzing the ratio of parent and daughter isotopes, scientists can calculate the age of the material. This technique is particularly useful for dating objects that are millions or billions of years old.
Radiometric dating techniques (and not just one) associated with investigation of materials originating on Earth and from space allow for the estimate of 4.567 billion years (4.567 × 109 years). A link can be found below which has more information on how the figure was arrived at. This estimate of the age of the Earth is broadly accepted by the vast majority of scientists and scientific organizations around the world.
Scientists determined the age of the 50,000 year old comet by analyzing the composition of the comet's material and using radiometric dating techniques to measure the decay of isotopes within the comet.
Any technique which dates a material based on the known decay rate of a radioactive component of the material is a form of radiometric dating. There are many radioactive elements and thus many applications of the basic principle. Examples: Archeologists may employ the well known method of carbon 14 dating. The technique measures the radioactivity of carbon 14 in a biological sample that may have been preserved for hundreds of years or tens of thousands of years. Knowing that the carbon 14 has a half life of 5,730 years allows the estimation of the age of the object based on the fraction of carbon 14 remaining. Uranium-lead dating is an established radiometric dating technique. Very old rocks have been dated by measuring the amount of lead in the mineral zircon (ZrSiO4) which forms with radioactive uranium that takes more than 4 billion years to decay. By this method, the age of the Earth has been estimated to be about 4.6 billion years. This figure is in good agreement with the age of meteorites and the age of the Moon as determined independently. See also related links.
Fossils found on the seafloor can be dated using techniques such as radiometric dating or stratigraphic correlation. By analyzing the rock layers and the types of fossils found in them, scientists can determine the age of the fossils and the seafloor where they were discovered. This helps in understanding the history of the ocean and the evolution of marine life.
Scientists determined the age of rocks in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge using radiometric dating techniques, specifically measuring the decay of isotopes like uranium to lead in volcanic rocks. They collected samples from various locations along the ridge, which revealed a pattern of younger rocks near the ridge crest and older rocks further away. Additionally, the age of the ocean floor was correlated with the magnetic reversals recorded in the rocks, providing a timeline of seafloor spreading. This combined approach allowed scientists to accurately estimate the age of the rocks and understand the geological processes at play.