Ancient coal and oil are C14 dated as only 50,000 years old (Talk.Origins)

Claim CD011.6:


 * Coal and oil are supposedly millions of years old. Effectively all of the carbon-14 in a sample would have decayed in that time. But carbon-14 still exists in coal, implying an age of only about 50,000 years.

Source:
 * Baumgardner, John, 2003. Carbon dating undercuts evolution's long ages. Impact #364 (Oct.),
 * Baumgardner, J. R., D. R. Humphreys, A. A. Snelling, and S. A. Austin, 2003. Measurable 14C in fossilized organic materials: Confirming the young earth creation/Flood model. In Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Creationism, R. E. Walsh, ed., Pittsburgh, PA: Creation Science Fellowship, pp. 127-142.

CreationWiki response:

Please take note that Talk.Origins omits one important reference from their sources for this claim.

Baumgardner, J. R., Snelling, A. A., Humphreys, D. R. & Austin, S. A., 2003. The enigma of the ubiquity of 14 C in organic samples older than 100 ka. Eos Trans. AGU, 84(46), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract xxxxx-xx,

However according to the cited sources the results include corrections for all known sources of contamination. So contrary to Talk.Origins' claim, creation scientists do consider contamination in these studies. They are clearly not the dimwits that Talk.Origins would have their reader believe.

Also, Baumgardner responded to these criticisms on an AIG feedback article.

Additional references

 * Carbon-14 Dating Shows that the Earth is Young
 * Postscript to Carbon-14 Shows the Earth is Young
 * Glem, P. A., 2001. Carbon-14 Content of Fossil Carbon Origins 51: 6-30.
 * What About Carbon-14 Dating of “Old” Dinosaur Bones?