Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Facultad de Ciencias
Departamento de Geociencias

GEOLOGÍA HISTÓRICA
2015501 Grupo 01
Primer semestre 2019

PRINCIPIOS EN LOS QUE SE FUNDAMENTA

LA GEOLOGÍA HISTÓRICA
Basada en Levin (2013), Doyle et al (2001), Wicander y Monroe (2010)
entre otros.
The Science of Historical Geology

The study of events in the Earth’s past can often be used to predict future events.

The Earth and its inhabitants have undergone continuous change during the past
4.56 billion years. (4,560,000,000 years).

Physical geology examines the structure, composition, and processes that affect
the Earth today. Historical geology considers all past events on Earth.

The scientific method is a way to find answers to questions and solve problems. It
involves collection of information through observation and experimentation,
formulation of answers, and validation by testing.

The three most pervasive themes in the history of Earth are the immensity of
geologic time, plate tectonics, and biologic evolution.
Levin (2013)
A WAY TO SOLVE PROBLEMS: THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

Geologists, both physical and historical, employ the same procedures used by
scientists in other disciplines. Those procedures are called the scientific method.

The scientific method is a systematic way to uncover answers to questions,

solutions to problems, and evidence to prove or disprove ideas and beliefs.

A scientific investigation often begins with a question. It proceeds to the

collection of data (facts from observations and experiments), and is followed by
the development of a hypothesis that fits all the data and is likely to account for
observations in the future as well as the present.

A hypothesis then is tested and critically examined by other scientists, so it

subsequently may be confirmed, modified, or discarded.

A hypothesis that survives repeated challenges and is supported by accumulating

favorable evidence may be elevated to a theory.
Levin (2013)
The search for scientific truth does not end with the formulation of a theory. Even after a
theory has been firmly established, it must continue to survive rigorous testing derived
from advances in science and technology that its author could not have foreseen. If a
theory continues to triumph over every challenge, it can be raised to the level of a
scientific law, such as the law of gravitational attraction.

Levin (2013)

Typical steps in the scientific method.

An initial question stimulates the collection of data.
Scientists then study the data and build a hypothesis to
answer the question. Through exhaustive testing, the
hypothesis is accepted, revised, or rejected. A hypothesis that
consistently answers questions rises to the level of a scientific
theory. If the theory “works” in every known case over a
long period, it can attain the status of a scientific law or
principle.
AN EARLY SCIENTIST DISCOVERS SOME BASIC RULES

Niels Stensen (1638–1687), a Danish physician, was widely recognized for his
studies in anatomy. He moved to Italy, Latinized his name to Nicolaus Steno.

His observations of sedimentary rocks led him to formulate three basic principles of
historical geology: superposition, original horizontality, and original lateral
continuity. All three are common sense but valuable.

Principle of Superposition

The principle of superposition states that “in any sequence of undisturbed strata,
the oldest layer is at the bottom, and successively younger layers are
successively higher”.

The fact that superposition is self-evident does not diminish the principle’s
importance in determining the relative age of strata, oldest to youngest. The
superpositional relationship of strata is not always clear where layers are steeply
tilted or even overturned
Levin (2013)
2013
Principle of superposition. Example of
a superpositional sequence of undisturbed
Triassic and Jurassic strata in Capital
Reef National Monument, Utah.

Levin (2013)

Strongly folded strata in the Himalayan

Mountains of Tibet. It is often difficult to
recognize the original tops and bottoms of
rock layers. Geologists look for bedding
features to help them make the distinction.
Examples of some common way-up structures. Doyle et al. 2001
Principle of Original Horizontality

The principle of original horizontality states that “sediment is deposited in layers

that are originally horizontal”.

Steno reasoned this to be so because most sedimentary particles settle out of water or
air straight down, under the influence of gravity.

Levin (2013)

Undisturbed horizontal strata.

Erosion by the Colorado River in the
foreground has carved the canyon and
exposed the strata in this natural
geologic laboratory.
Principle of Original Lateral Continuity

The principle of original lateral continuity states that “a rock layer extends
continuously in all directions until it thins out or encounters a barrier”. Steno’s
third principle recognizes that, when sediment is deposited on the floor of an ocean or a
lake, it extends continuously in all directions until thinning at the margin of the basin.

Principle of original lateral continuity.

Cross-section A shows a sandstone layer
deposited within a low-lying area or
sedimentary basin. It received sediment that
was eroded from surrounding uplands.
B shows the same area after erosion has
exposed the sandstone on hillsides. Note that
the stratum continues horizontally until it
stops at the margin of a basin or other
obstruction, or until it grades into different
sediment.
Also, strata may terminate abruptly as a
result of erosion or faulting, but originally
Levin (2013) they were laterally continuous
NEPTUNISTS AND PLUTONISTS CLASH

Historical geology is a lively profession, filled with controversy and conflicting

ideas. Historical geologists debate the causes of extinctions (like the one that
killed off the dinosaurs). They investigate and debate questions about how life first
appeared on Earth, how continents and ocean basins have changed through time,
and the cause of ancient episodes of global warming or cooling.

Vigorous debates about geology began even when the science was in its infancy. An
example is a controversy about the fundamental question of the origin of rocks.

Professor Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749–1817 insisted that all rocks were
deposited or precipitated from a great ocean that once enveloped the entire planet.
Because of this, Werner and his many followers were called Neptunists (after
Neptune, the Roman god of the sea). Primitive rocks-Transition rocks-Alluvium.

Levin (2013)
Geologists with this opposing view were called Plutonists (after Pluto, the Roman god
of the underworld). Plutonists said that “fire” (heat), rather than water, was the key to
the origin of “primitive” igneous rocks. These rocks were not formed in Werner’s
steamy sea.

James Hutton of Scotland, a prominent Plutonist, correctly stated that rocks such as
the lava and granite “formed in the bowels of the Earth of melted matter poured into
rents and openings of the strata.”

Levin (2013)

The present is key to the past.

James Hutton, Scottish physician, farmer, and geologist,
recognized that studying present processes (weathering,
erosion, deposition of sediment, volcanism, etc.) provides the
means of interpreting ancient rocks. The idea became
established as the principle of uniformitarianism. (The Granger
Collection, New York)
UNIFORMITARIANISM: JAMES HUTTON RECOGNIZES THAT THE
PRESENT IS KEY TO THE PAST

James Hutton (1726–1797), an Edinburgh physician and geologist, saw Earth as a

dynamic, everchanging globe where new rocks, lands, and mountains arise slowly but
continuously to balance their loss to erosion and weathering.

His dynamic view opposed Werner’s static concept of an Earth that had changed very
little from its beginning. Hutton also believed that “the past history of our globe
must be explained by what can be seen to be happening now.” In other words,
the present is key to the past.

Uniformitarianism

This simple yet powerful idea was later named uniformitarianism because it says that
geologic processes are uniform through all time. Specifically, what is “uniform” are
the physical and chemical laws that govern nature. Hence, uniformitarianism
says that Earth’s history may be deciphered by observing events today and assuming
that the same phenomena have operated in the same way throughout geologic time.
Levin (2013)
Uniform, But. . .

The uniformitarianism concept works well for solving many geologic problems.
However, the geologic past actually was sometimes quite unlike the present. For
example, before Earth evolved its present oxygen-rich atmosphere, oxidation was not
the major rock-weathering agent that it is today. Other chemical reactions weathered
rocks instead.

Also, life originated in a primordial, oxygenless atmosphere under conditions

that have no present-day counterpart. Yet another example is meteorite
bombardment of Earth’s surface.

Today, large meteorites that reach the surface are rare. But 3 billion years ago, large
meteorites bombarded the surface mercilessly.

At the same time, we must be constantly aware that in the past, the rates of change
and intensity of processes often varied from those we are accustomed to seeing today,
and that some events of long ago simply have no modern counterpart.
Levin (2013)
Actualism

To emphasize the importance of natural laws in the concept of uniformitarianism,

many geologists prefer the term actualism. Actualism is the principle that natural
laws governing both past and present processes on Earth have been the same.

Hutton’s friend John Playfair (1748–1819) provided an eloquent statement of

actualism in 1802:

Amid all the revolutions of the globe, the economy of Nature has been uniform, and
her laws are the only thing that have resisted the general movement. The rivers and
rocks, the seas and the continents have changed in all their parts; but the laws that
describe those changes, and the rules to which they are subject, have remained
invariably the same.

In addition to uniformitarianism, Hutton’s Theory of the Earth (1785) brought

together many concepts from naturalists who preceded him. He showed that rocks
recorded events that had occurred over immense periods of time.
Levin (2013)
Unconformities

In his homeland of Scotland, at Siccar Point on the North Sea coast, Hutton observed a
remarkable positioning of the rocks. Steeply inclined older strata are covered by flat-lying
layers. It was clear to Hutton that the lower rocks had been deposited, then tilted, then
partly removed by erosion, and finally the younger rocks were deposited on top.

The erosional surface separating the lower, sloping layers from the overlying horizontal
beds indicated a time gap (hiatus) in the rock record. Because the flat-lying upper rocks did
not “conform” to the tilted lower rocks, another geologist named the relationship an
unconformity. Hutton was the first to understand and explain the geological significance
of this feature.

Hutton’s life was absorbed in investigating Earth. He scrutinized every rock exposure and
soon became so familiar with certain strata that he could recognize them at different
localities. But what he could not do was determine if dissimilar-looking strata at
different locations were roughly equivalent in age. He had not discovered how to correlate
beds that differed in composition and/or texture (lithology). This problem was soon to be
resolved by William Smith.
Levin (2013)
Strata at Siccar Point on the southeast coast of Scotland reveal an angular unconformity.
At this location, James Hutton perceived that the steeply tilted layers were formed when originally
horizontal beds were deformed by mountain building. These older strata were then eroded, and were
subsequently covered by younger, flat-lying rocks. Hutton had clearly recognized the significance of
unconformities in Earth history. (Marli Bryant Miller) Levin (2013)
Unconformities

Unconformities allow the recognition of a relative chronology of events, but also indicate
the presence of time gaps within rock sequences: These gaps may span very long or very
short intervals of time. Four types of unconformity can be recognised in the
stratigraphical record, eách formed under different circumstances.

The four types are: (1) Angular unconformity, (2) Disconformity, (3) Nonconformity, and
(4) Paraconformity.

Angular uncomformity: the rock units above and below the plane of unconformity have
diferent angles of dip. The history.of this unconformity, involves the following sequence of
processes: deposition – deformation – uplift – erosion - re-deposition.

Doyle et al. (2001)

The cycle of events which leads to an angular unconformity. The diagram shows the four
phases in the production of an angular unconformity: (1) the deposition of horizontaliy bedded
sediments; (2) folding and uplift of the sedimentary strata; (3) the erosion of the folded strata;
(4) the deposition of new sedimentary rocks on top of the eroded surface. Doyle et al. (2001)
A disconformity occurs where the unit above and below the plane of
unconformity have the same angle of dip, but are separated by a surface which has
undergone erosion. Here, the older sequence of rocks has not been folded, but has
been subject to erosion before the deposition of the younger rocks above the
unconformity. This type of unconformity may occur because of a fall in sea level
which exposes the rocks of the sea floor to subaerial erosion, before a subsequent sea
level rise leads to the deposition of new sedimentary rocks on top of erosional
surface.

Doyle et al. (2001)

Where bedded sediments overlie an exposed an eroded crystalline basement,
the term nonconformity is used. Often this is indicative of a landscape
formed by erosion of intensely deformed and metamorphosed rocks produced
during continental collision, although it can be produced when a large
igneous intrusion es exposed by erosion. Deposition of horizontally layered
sedimentary rocks, during a rise in sea level, or by river systems, produced the
nonconformity.

Doyle et al. (2001)

Paraconformity. In these cases the sediment sequence is not exposed to
subaerial erosion, and recognition of the existence of the paraconformity is
carried out purely on the absence of time significant fossils, or indeed, on the
accumulation of such fossils with very little background sediments in
condensed deposits.

Doyle et al. (2001)

The four main types of unconformity. Doyle et al (2001)
THE PRINCIPLE OF FOSSIL SUCCESSION

William Smith was the Englishman employed to locate routes of canals, to design
drainage for marshes, and to restore springs.

He knew that different types of stratified rocks occur in a definite order. He knew they
can be identified by their lithology, the soils they form, and the fossils they contain. Thus,
he predicted the types and thicknesses of rock that needed to be excavated for canals used
to transport coal from mines to markets.

Smith’s use of fossils was particularly significant. Prior to his time, collectors rarely
noted the precise rock layer from which a fossil was taken. But Smith carefully recorded
the occurrence of fossils and quickly became aware that certain rock units could be
identified by their fossil assemblages. He explained this relationship in “Strata Identified
by Organized Fossils”.

Smith used his knowledge to trace strata from place to place. Even if the layer he was
tracing changed to a different composition (for example, from a very coarse sandstone to
a finer siltstone), he knew the layers were “correlative” because of their similar fossils.

Levin (2013)
Ultimately, this knowledge led to formulation of the principle of fossil succession. This
principle stipulates that the life of each age in the Earth’s long history is unique for
particular intervals of geologic time. Thus, extinct animals and plants have definite
duration causing those living at one time to differ from those of another. This condition
permits geologists to assemble scattered fragments of the rock record into a chronological
sequence.

Interestingly, Smith did not know why each rock unit had a particular fauna. It was over
40 years before Charles Darwin would publish On the Origin of Species.

Today, we recognize that different animals and plants succeed one another over time
because life evolves continuously. Because of this continuous change, or evolution, only
rocks that formed during the same age can contain similar fossil assemblages.

William “Strata” Smith (1769–1839),

“Father of English geology.” Smith discovered
that successive rock formations have
distinctive fossils that can be used in
correlation as indicators of relative age of
rocks. (Science Photo Library/Photo
Researchers, Inc.) Levin (2013)
THE GREAT UNIFORMITARIANISM–CATASTROPHISM CONTROVERSY

Baron Georges Leopold Cuvier (1769–1832), an expert in comparative anatomy, became

the most respected vertebrate paleontologist of his day. Cuvier and his colleague Alexander
Brongniart validated Smith’s findings that fossils display a definite succession of types
within a sequence of strata, and that this succession remains more or less constant even in
widely separated locations.

Cuvier recognized that certain large groupings of strata were often separated by
unconformities. Scanning from a lower group of strata across an unconformity to an
overlying group, he often observed a dramatic change in animal fossils. From this, Cuvier
concluded that the history of life was marked by frightful catastrophes involving flooding of
the continents and crustal upheavals. He wrote that each calamity completely
extinguished life and was followed by the appearance of new animals and plants.
This theory was soon to be labeled catastrophism.

But many geologists of the time, including But many geologists of the time, including the
eminent Charles Lyell, did not buy Cuvier’s hypothesis. They thought that Earth’s record
of past life reflected continuous uniform change down through the ages (Hutton’s
uniformitarianism view).
Levin (2013)
THE GREAT UNIFORMITARIANISM–CATASTROPHISM CONTROVERSY (Cont.)

Thus began a controversy between catastrophism and uniformitarianism that

rivaled the earlier Neptunist–Plutonist debates.

Uniformitarians argued that seemingly abrupt changes in fossil fauna were actually
caused by missing strata or other imperfections in the geologic record. They surmised
that other apparent breaks in the fossil record were not sudden and that each animal
group’s fossil ancestors would be found in underlying beds.

Today, geologists accept that both uniformitarianism and catastrophism operate on

our planet. Uniformity prevails in day-to-day geologic processes. But occasionally,
catastrophic events punctuate the daily routine.

Geologists recognize that rampant volcanism, asteroid impacts, or the onslaught of

exceptionally harsh climatic conditions have indeed caused mass extinctions at
various times in the geologic past.
Levin (2013)
THE PRINCIPLE OF CROSS-CUTTING RELATIONSHIPS

In the early 1800s, the English geologist Sir Charles Lyell (1797–1875) authored a
classic five-volume work, Principles of Geology.

In his famous book, Lyell described how a geologic feature—like a mineral vein or a
molten rock injected into other rocks—cuts across existing rock.

This means that the penetrating rock must be younger than the rock that is being
penetrated. Put another way, the feature that is cut is older than the feature that does
the cutting. This principle of crosscutting relationships applies not only to rock
bodies, but also to geologic structures like faults and unconformities.

Sir Charles Lyell. His five-volume work, Principles of

Geology, expanded on Hutton’s idea, presented important
geologic concepts of the day, and became an indispensable
handbook for English geologist. (The Natural History
Museum/The Image Works) Levin (2013)
 Levin (2013)

Determining the sequence of geologic events from cross-cutting relationships and superposition. From first to last,
the sequence indicated in the cross-section is deposition of 1, then faulting 2, then intrusion of igneous rock mass 3,
then erosion to produce the unconformity 4, then deposition of 5, and finally erosion 6. Strata labeled 1 are oldest,
and strata labeled 5 are youngest.
Another of Lyell’s Principles regards rock fragments. In Figure, along the granite-sandstone
rock contact line, fragments of one rock appear in the other. These fragments are called
inclusions. Lyell discerned that fragments within larger rock masses are older than the rock
masses in which they are enclosed. Thus, whenever two rock masses are in contact, the one
containing pieces of the other will be the younger of the two.

Inclusions.

(A) Granite inclusions in

sandstone indicate that
granite is the older unit.
(B) Inclusions of sandstone
in the granite indicate that
Levin (2013)
sandstone is the older unit.
Example of cross-cutting field relatioships. Doyle et al. 2001
EVOLUTION: HOW ORGANISMS CHANGE THROUGH TIME

William Smith and others recognized that strata often contain specific fossils and that a general
progression toward more modern-looking shells occurs in higher (younger) strata. But why?
Charles Darwin (1809–1882) provided a hypothesis that accounted for the changes seen in the
fossil record.

Darwin’s hypothesis was based on logical observations and conclusions. He observed that all
living things tend to reproduce at prodigious rates. Yet, despite their reproductive potential to
do so, no single group of organisms has overwhelmed Earth’s surface. In fact, the size of any
given animal or plant population remains fairly constant over long periods of time. Because of
this, Darwin concluded that not all the individuals in a given generation can survive.

Charles Darwin as a young man. Darwin is shown shortly

after he returned to England from his world voyage on the
H.M.S. Beagle. Observations made during this voyage helped
him formulate the concept of evolution by natural selection.
(Bridgeman Art Library/New York) Levin (2013)
In addition, Darwin recognized that individuals of the same kind differ from one another in
various features of morphology (formand structure) and physiology (organs and functions).

He concluded that individuals with variations that are most favorable for survival and
reproduction in a given environment would have the best chance of surviving and
transmitting these same favorable traits to the next generation. Hence the term natural
selection.

In those pioneering days, even the most brilliant scientists were handicapped by not knowing
key facts or hearing about discoveries of others. In Darwin’s case, he had no knowledge of
genetics. Therefore, he did not know the cause of the variations in plants and animals that
were so critical to his hypothesis.

Gregor Mendel’s 1865 report of experiments in heredity had escaped Darwin’s attention.
Nevertheless, in the decades following Darwin’s death, geneticists established
that the variability essential to Darwin’s hypothesis of natural selection derives from new
gene combinations that occur during reproduction and from genetic mutation.

Darwin was reluctant to face the controversy that his hypothesis would provoke, so he did
not publish his findings immediately. Levin (2013)
Próxima clase:

TIEMPO Y GEOLOGIA