The brief published in last Monday’s issue of The Miami Hurricane entitled “UM prof questions Earth’s age” was inaccurately titled; Peter Swart, professor at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, did not question the Earth’s age whatsoever.
“I can’t understand where this idea came from,” said Swart, author of the original article which describes his findings in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. “[My] article does not even address the earth’s age.”
Swart’s article did, in fact, question whether the amount of organic carbon buried in the Earth’s sedimentary record is accurately recorded by the ratio of the two stable isotopes of carbon, carbon-13 and carbon 12. This has implications for the reconstruction of the history of carbon dioxide throughout the Earth’s history.