Many different techniques were used during the 1800's to determine the age of the Earth. One technique was to determine the volume of the ocean basins and divide this by the amount of sediment that is being delivered to the oceans each year (by rivers, glaciers, wind, etc.). This calculation indicates that the earth cannot be more than 3 million years old, or else the oceans would now be full of sediment! Why does this technique give an age that is much too young? (Note: there are at least 2 reasons that we discussed in class)