What method is used to determine the age of a fossil by comparing its placement with fossils in other rock layers?

What method is used to determine the age of a fossil by comparing its placement with fossils in other rock layers?

• A. Relative dating
• B. Radiometric dating
• C. Carbon dating
• D. Dendrochronology

Answer: (A)

Relative dating uses the fossil’s position within layered rocks to estimate its age. By looking at where the fossil sits in the sequence of sedimentary layers and comparing it to other fossils whose ages are already placed in the stratigraphic record, you can tell whether it is older or younger than those organisms. The key idea is that, in undisturbed rock, older layers lie beneath younger ones, and matching layers across different locations with index fossils helps align time frames. This provides a relative order of ages rather than a specific calendar date. Radiometric dating and carbon dating give numeric ages by measuring radioactive decay, which isn’t about the fossil’s placement in layers. Dendrochronology dating relies on tree rings, not fossils in sedimentary rock layers, so it isn’t the method described.

Relative dating uses the fossil’s position within layered rocks to estimate its age. By looking at where the fossil sits in the sequence of sedimentary layers and comparing it to other fossils whose ages are already placed in the stratigraphic record, you can tell whether it is older or younger than those organisms. The key idea is that, in undisturbed rock, older layers lie beneath younger ones, and matching layers across different locations with index fossils helps align time frames. This provides a relative order of ages rather than a specific calendar date. Radiometric dating and carbon dating give numeric ages by measuring radioactive decay, which isn’t about the fossil’s placement in layers. Dendrochronology dating relies on tree rings, not fossils in sedimentary rock layers, so it isn’t the method described.