Age of the Earth
a. The Earth has a very long history — 4.6 billions of years of
history.
b. The age of the Earth is based from the radioactive isotopic
dating of meteorites.
c. The oldest dated rock from the Earth is only ~3.8 billion years
old.
Rocks and Fossils
a. The history of the Earth is recorded in rocks but the rock
record is inherently incomplete. Some of the "events" do not
leave a record or are not preserved. Some of the rock record
may have also been lost through the recycling of rocks (Recall
the rock cycle)
b. Preserved in rocks are the remains and traces of plants and
animals that have lived and died through-out Earth's History —
fossils. The fossil record provides scientists with one of the
most compelling evidence for Charles Darwin's Theory of
Evolution. (increasing complexity of life through
time).
Rocks, Fossils and the Geologic Time Scale
a. The Geologic Time Scale – the time line of the History of the
Earth, is based from the rock record.
b. Geologic time is subdivided into hierarchal intervals, the
largest being Eon, followed by Era, Period, and Epoch,
respectively. Subdivision of Geologic time is based from
significant events in the Earth’s History as interpreted from the
rock record.
c. The mass extinction event which lead to the extinction of the
dinosaurs occurred around 66.4 million years ago marks the
boundary between the Mesozoic Era (Age of the Reptiles) and
the Cenozoic Era (Age of Mammals). This mass extinction event
may have been pivotal in the rise in dominance of the
mammals during the Cenozoic Era.
GEOLOGIC TIME
a. One of the first to recognize the correspondence of between
rocks and time is Nicholas Steno (1638-1686). Steno’s
principles – superposition, original horizontality, and lateral
continuity became the foundation of stratigraphy – the study
of layered rocks.
b. Since the Geologic Time Scale is based on the rock record,
the first order of business is to establish the correct succession
of rocks. Initially, this was done using relative dating
techniques.
c. One of the earliest attempts to subdivide the rock record
into units of time was made by Abraham Gottlob Werner, a
German geologist. Werner divided the rock record into the
following rock-time units (from oldest to youngest): Primary,
Secondary, Tertiary, and Quaternary. Werner used the
Principle of Superposition extensively to establish temporal
relationship among the rock units.
d. Fossils are also useful in determining relative ages of rocks.
William “Strata” Smith (1769 – 1839), while working in a coal
mine, observed that each layer or strata of sedimentary rock
contain a distinct assemblage of fossils which can be used to
establish equivalence (correlation) between rock units
separated by long distances. Moreover, he observed that
these fossils succeed each other vertically in a definite order.
e. Whereas William Smith used fossils primarily to identify rock
layers, Charles Lyell (1797 – 1875), British Lawyer and
Geologist, recognized the utility of fossils in subdividing
Geologic Time on the basis of fossils. He was able to subdivide
the Tertiary by examining the proportion of living vs. extinct
fossils in the rocks.
f. The underlying reason for this definite and orderly
succession of fossils in the rock record is organic evolution.
The Precambrian or Cryptozoic Era (4.6 Ga – 540 Ma)
a. Represents 80% of Earth’s history
b. Eon of “Hidden Life” – fossil record obscure. Ask the
students why there is very little record of life
during the Precambrain
Hadean Eon (4.56 -3.8 Ga)
a. From “Haedes” Greek god of the underworld
b. Chaotic time, lots of meteorite bombardment
c. Atmosphere reducing (Methane, Ammonia, CO2)
d. Start of the hydrologic cycle and the formation of the world
oceans
e. Life emerged in this “hostile” environment
Archean Eon (3.8 – 2.5 Ga)
a. Anaerobic (lack of oxygen)
b. No Ozone
c. Photosynthetic prokaryotes (blue green algae) emerged and
started releasing oxygen to the
atmosphere
d. Life forms still limited to single celled organisms without a
nucleus (prokaryotes) until 2.7 Ga when
Eukaryotes emerged.
Proterozoic Eon (2.5 Ga to 540 Ma)
a. Oxygen level reaches ~ 3% of the atmosphere
b. Rise of multicellular organisms represented by the Vendian
Fauna
c. Formation of the protective Ozone Layer
Phanerozoic Eon (540 Ma to Present)
a. Eon of “visible life”
b. Diversification of life. Many life forms represented in the
fossil record
c. Life forms with preservable hard parts
Paleozoic Era (540 – 245)
d. Age of “Ancient Life”
e. Rapid diversification of life as represented by the Cambrian
Fauna (Cambrian Explosion)
f. Dominance of marine invertebrates
g. Plants colonize land by 480 ma
h. Animals colonize land by 450 ma
i. Oxygen level in the Atmosphere approaches present day
concentration
j. Massive Extinction at the end (End of Permian Extinction)
Mesozoic Era (245 – 65 Ma)
a. Age of Reptiles
b. Dominance of reptiles and dinosaurs
c. Pangea starts to break-apart by 200 ma
d. Early mammals (220 mya)!
e. First birds (150 ma)! e. Corrosion/solution involves dissolution by weak acids such
f. First flowering plants (130 ma)! as when the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is dissolved into
g. Mass Extinction at the end of the Cretaceous (65 ma) water turning it into a weak carbonic acid. Several rocks (e.g.,
Cenozoic Era (65 ma to present) Limestone) are vulnerable to this acidic water and will dissolve
a. Age of Mammals into it. The rate of dissolution is affected by the concentration
b. Radiation of modern birds of carbonates & other minerals in the water. As it increases,
c. Early Primates 60 ma! dissolution becomes slower.
d. Continents near present-day positions (40 ma)!
e. First hominids (5.2 ma)
f. Modern humans (0.2 ma) 2. Sediment movement along coasts
g. Global ice ages begin (2 Ma)! As wave crashes on the shore, the water pushes sediment up
the beach and then pulls it back down the beach as the water
Natural Hazards, Mitigation and Adaptation slides back down. If the waves do not come in parallel to the
beach longshore transport (littoral drift) of sand occurs. When
a. What is hazard adaptation? waves approach the beach at an angle, the part of the wave
Hazard adaptation is knowing how to adjust or cope with an that reaches shallow water earliest slows down the most,
existing environmental condition in particular those pertaining allowing the part of the wave that is farther offshore to catch
to areas with potential hazards brought about by up. In this way, the wave is refracted (bent) so that it crashes
hydrometeorological phenomenon. on the shore more nearly parallel to the shore. You will never
see a wave wash up on a beach at a very high angle from the
b. What is risk reduction? line of the beach except perhaps at an inlet or where the shore
Measures to reduce the frequency or severity of losses makes a sudden right angle bend.
brought about by the effects of hazards. It is also a measure of
reducing the exposure of people to the effects of hazards.

c. What is disaster mitigation?

These are measures or methods or strategies that eliminate or
at least reduce the impacts and risks of hazards. There must be
proactive measures done prior to a disaster to prevent loss of
lives and properties. One very common mitigation measures
against floods are river channel dikes.

The dominant coastal processes:

1. Coastal Erosion
Coastal Erosion is the wearing away of the land by the sea and
is done by destructive waves.

Five common processes that cause coastal erosion:

a. Corrosion is when waves pick up beach materials and hurl
them at the base of a cliff

b. Abrasion happens when breaking waves containing

sediment fragments erode the shoreline,
particularly headland. It is also referred to as the sand paper
effect.

c. Hydraulic action. The effect of waves as they hit cliff faces,

the air is compressed into cracks
and is released as waves rushes back seaward. The
compressing and releasing of air as waves
presses cliff faces and rushes back to sea will cause cliff
material to break away.

d. Attrition is the process when waves bump rocks and pebbles

against each other leading to
the eventual breaking of the materials.