Final answer:
The rate of deposition is used in radiometric dating to estimate the absolute age of rocks, minerals, and fossils. By determining the parent-daughter atom ratio and knowing the decay rate of isotopes, geologists can calculate the geological material's age.
Step-by-step explanation:
The rate of deposition can be used to estimate the absolute age of geological materials through a process called radiometric dating. This technique involves analyzing the chemistry of geologic material to determine the ratio between parent and daughter atoms of a radioactive isotope. Since these isotopes decay at known and stable rates, this ratio can be used to calculate how many half-lives, or what fraction of a half-life, has passed since the rock or fossil was formed.
Using knowledge of the specific isotope system's rate of decay, geologists can accurately calculate the absolute age of the rock, mineral, or fossil. This method is reliable even if a site's stratigraphy has been disturbed, unlike relative dating techniques which depend on undisturbed layers of rock for sequencing events.
Furthermore, fossils can assist in radiometric dating by providing a biostratigraphic correlation, confirming the age of sedimentary rock layers that may have been deposited at the same time despite differing types of sediment.