dating: References & Edit History
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Additional Reading
Surveys of methodologies of ascertaining geologic time include James G. Ogg, Gabi Ogg, and Felix M. Gradstein, The Concise Geologic Time Scale (2016); M. Walker, Quaternary Dating Methods (2005, reprinted 2008); and I. McDougall, Geochronology and Thermochronology by the 40 Ar – 39 Ar Method, 2nd ed. (1999, reprinted 2010). Stratigraphic geology as the basis of relative age measurement is discussed in Sam Boggs, Jr., Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy, 5th ed. (2012); Gary Nichols, Sedimentology and Stratigraphy, 2nd ed. (2009); Octavian Catuneanu, Principles of Sequence Stratigraphy (2006); Arthur Holmes, Holmes Principles of Physical Geology, 4th ed. reproduced by D. Duff (1994); and Derek V. Ager, The Nature of the Stratigraphical Record, 3rd ed. (1993).
The development of methods of absolute age measurement is examined in Gunter Faure and Teresa M. Mensing, Isotopes: Principles and Applications, 3rd ed. (2005); John M. Hanchar and Paul W.O. Hoskin (eds.), Zircon (2003); Peter van den Haute and Frans De Corte, Advances in Fission-Track Geochronology (2011); S.V. Rasskazov, Sergei B. Brandt, and Ivan S. Brandt, Radiogenic Isotopes in Geologic Processes (2010); T.J. Dunai, Cosmogenic Nuclides: Principles, Concepts, and Applications in the Earth Surface Sciences (2010); A.P. Dickin, Radiogenic Isotope Geology, 2nd ed. (2005); F. Vanhaecke and P. Degryse (eds.), Isotopic Analysis: Fundamentals and Applications Using ICP-MS (2012); and Robert Bowen, Isotopes in Earth Sciences (1994).
Article Contributors
Primary Contributors
- Edwin A. Olson
-
Thomas Edvard Krogh
Director, Geochronology Laboratory, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.
- Paul M. Karabinos
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Article History
| Type | Description | Contributor | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add new Web site: Social Sci LibreTexts - Dating Methods and Artifact Analysis. | May 11, 2026 | ||
| Added cross-references and top questions. | Dec 03, 2025 | ||
| In the first paragraph, changed “chronlogy” to “chronology.” | Jul 06, 2022 | ||
| Revised and updated the section Absolute dating. | Jan 02, 2019 | ||
| Article revised and updated. | Apr 11, 2013 | ||
| Article revised and updated. | Apr 11, 2013 | ||
| Media added. | Dec 28, 2011 | ||
| Text added that describes the frequency of named epochs in the geologic time scale. | Dec 28, 2011 | ||
| Add new Web site: Fact Monster - Science - Dating. | Nov 28, 2011 | ||
| Changed one word in text from "bgeans" to "oceans." | Jan 27, 2010 | ||
| Article revised and updated. | Nov 16, 2007 | ||
| Article revised. | Sep 25, 2000 | ||
| Article added to new online database. | Oct 01, 1998 |