The Age of Fossils?

The age of early man and even dinosaurs could be significantly wrong! The age of these is often decided by the age of the rocks they are fossilised in, for example a rock said to be 10 million years old that contains a fossil may actually only be a few thousand or even a few hundreds years old! Please read this article below from MSN news August 2025 to reveal a shocking discovery:

                                                                The Actual Age of Rocks?

"Rocks take thousands to millions of years to be made, right? Wrong! Researchers have discovered that industrial waste has forged itself into rock over the course of just a few decades. This astounding discovery, made at Derwent Howe on the UK’s Cumbrian coast, challenges theories about how rocks are formed.

The rocks, which are a glassy texture and blue-grey colour, are made from slag, leftover from the iron and steel-making foundries that operated near Derwent Howe in the 19th and 20th centuries. Samples show the rocks contain many of the chemicals found in ordinary sedimentary rocks, but in this case hardened into solid rock within 35 years. An aluminium drinks tab dating to 1989 or later and a 1934 George V coin, fused into the new rock, are proof of its rapid formation".

                                                             The Article Goes on to Say:

"Reporting in the journal Geology, the scientists say the new rocks are evidence for a rapid anthropoclastic rock cycle - where human activity is altering the landscape. Such rocks are likely to be commonplace in industrial areas all over the world (Britain alone has 120km of coastal slag deposits) and are likely to be having an impact on marine ecosystems and coastal erosion. The researchers are now using drones and ground-penetrating radar to better understand the rock-making process and its effect on the environment.

•   This article was amended on 29 August 2025. An earlier version cited the study as saying this was proving we are in the Anthropocene era; however, the study said this was evidence for human activity altering the landscape, and could be used in the debate about geological epochs".

                                                         Old Age May be Young Age?

The debate about geological epochs (time periods attributed to fossil evidence) may need to be drastically revised, as the supposed ages of fossils is probably very wrong! Rocks can form around fairly modern items such as a drink can tab or a coin, therefor the rock must be as young as the item it has fossilised. The conclusion has to be seen as proof that deciding the age of a fossil by the age of the rock it is contained in cannot be relied on to be anywhere near accurate as the rock may well be very much younger than expected!

                               How Old Are the Dinosaurs?