Carbon-14 Cries Creation & Catastrophe

            Radiocarbon dating is one of my all-time favorite geology subjects, so it is with mixed feelings that I write this final Clue about it for this series.  But, I have so much more information that I believe you, the reader, must hear about radioisotope dating methods before you become weary of this topic.  As creationists, we have lots of information in support of a young earth in the realm of radioisotope dating today, in 2012, thanks especially to the work of the RATE project.  RATE, which stands for “Radioisotopes and the Age of The Earth”, was the eight-year research project of a team of seven well-trained scientists, including three physicists, two geologists, a geophysicist, and an atmospheric scientist.  The book, Thousands . . . Not Billions, by Dr. DeYoung of the RATE project is a simplified, straightforward articulation of the RATE findings.

         Coal is formed when vegetation like leaves and tree bark are mixed together in a bunch of water (Aka, Noah’s Flood) and squeezed down by the pressure exerted by the layers of sediment that  sit above it and the water (from the flood).  This is why most Billions of years advocates say that coal is formed where an ancient swamp once sat.  It’s also part of the reason why they say that coal takes a long time to form.  RATE decided to put this to the test with Radiocarbon dating, using the typical, advanced, scientifically accepted methods.   After dating samples ranging from the Paleozoic Era (conventionally thought to be 300-311 million years old) to the Cenozoic Era (conventionally thought to be 34-55 million years old) in a variety of locations, they came up with a total average of 0.247 percent Modern Carbon.  This means that about .25% of the carbon-14 proportions in the atmosphere today were present in coal tested by the RATE team.  There should not be any detectable radioactive carbon in this coal if it really is 300 or even just 34 million years ago.

This wasn’t the end of RATE’s radiocarbon research though, as they discovered something even more astounding – traces of radiocarbon in diamonds.  Diamonds form well below earth’s surface, and are later moved upward by magma that acts like elevators called Kimberlite Pipes.  They are thought to be one of the oldest substances on earth, but as a creationist, I believe that most diamonds formed about the time of creation, approximately 6,000 years ago.  These diamonds couldn’t even be one million years old because radioactive carbon can’t be detected at in less than 100 thousand years worth of decay.  Always remember that radiocarbon dating does not- and absolutely cannot- prove that the earth is billions of years old and that the Bible is wrong in the creation account in Genesis.  Rather, let radiocarbon remind you of how reliable and infallible the Bible is, and how trustworthy the Author of both the Bible and the universe is.