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Table
of Contents

Lesson 1
Planet Earth
Lesson 2
The Ground We Stand Upon
Lesson 3
The Earth’s Surface
Lesson 4
Erosion / Deposition
Lesson 5
Sediments / Fossilization
Lesson 6
Volcanism / Deformation of rocks / Continents
Lesson 7
Metamorphism / Radioisotope Decay
Lesson 8
Ways to date the Earth
Lesson 9
Great geologic events of the past
Lesson 10
Questions people ask

The Geology Book

The Geology Book
by Dr John D Morris

Lesson 7

Metamorphism / Radioisotope Decay

Textbook:

The Geology Book

Text:

pp. 48-53

Scripture:

Psalm 18

Vocabulary Words:

  • isotope
  • heavy radioactive atoms
  • radioisotope dating

Questions:

  1. In your own words, describe the different ways metamorphic rocks are thought to form.
  2. What are unstable atoms called? What is the most well-know radioactive atom?
  3. Why can’t the process of carbon-dating be used to date most fossils?
  4. What is the difference between a parent isotope and a daughter isotope?
  5. What are three assumptions made when using radiometric dating to give an age of a rock?

Additional resources:

Answers:

  1. Heat and pressure recrystallizing the minerals in rock into new mineral combinations. Some believe it happened over long periods of time, others believe it happened over short periods of time.
  2. Radioactive; uranium
  3. The fossil must have once been living and must still contain carbon.
  4. The daughter isotope is formed from the decay of the parent isotope.
  5. Rate of decay has not changed; system has been closed from the beginning; there was no daughter material present in the beginning