GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -To establish the age of a rock or a fossil, researchers use some type of clock to determine the date it was formed. Geologists commonly use radiometric dating methods, based on the natural radioactive decay of certain elements such as potassium and carbon, as reliable clocks to date ancient events.

Detailed explanation-2: -The age of the fossils is determined by the Radioactive carbon dating technique in which the half-life of carbon and found radioactive elements is determined to calculate the age of a fossil.

Detailed explanation-3: -Several different physical and chemical processes create fossils, according to the New York State Geological Survey. Freezing, drying and encasement, such as in tar or resin, can create whole-body fossils that preserve bodily tissues.

Detailed explanation-4: -Four types of process contribute to the formation of a fossil. These are mineralization, carbonization, encrustation and distillation. They occur once an organism has become trapped within the surrounding sediment, and primarily depend on the mineral composition of silt and water.

Detailed explanation-5: -Once the organism dies, it stops replenishing its carbon supply, and the total carbon-14 content in the organism slowly disappears. Scientists can determine how long ago an organism died by measuring how much carbon-14 is left relative to the carbon-12.