Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Geologic Time PDF
Geologic Time PDF
1
The Concept of Geological Time
There are two ways of dating geological materials
Relative ages
assign order to
events.
Numerical ages
assign exact
dates to events.
2
Logical tools for defining Relative age
1. The principle of uniformitarianism
Physical processes we observe today also operated in the past
at roughly comparable rates
3
Logical tools for defining Relative age
3. The principle of original horizontality and continuity
A sequence of sedimentary rock layers that is steeply inclined from
the horizontal, must have tilted after deposition and lithification
4
Logical tools for defining Relative age
3. The principle of original horizontality and continuity
A layer of sediment extends laterally in horizontal sheets...
...until it thins and pinches out or terminates
against the edge of the depositional basin
5
Logical tools for defining Relative age
5. The principle of inclusions
Inclusions - rock fragment within another rock
Igneous xenoliths – Country rock that fell into magma.
Weathering rubble – Debris from pre-existing rocks
6
Logical tools for defining Relative age
6. The principle of baked contacts
An igneous rock metamorphoses or “bakes” surrounding rock
7
Relative Age
Determining relative ages empowers geologists to easily unravel
complicated geologic histories
Geologic History
Deposition of horizontal strata below sea level in order 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7, and 8 (oldest to youngest).
8
Geologic History
Geologic History
9
Geologic History
Geologic History
10
Geologic History
Intrusion of a dike
Dike cross-cuts the normal fault
Geologic History
11
Geologic History
Relative ages help to unravel a complicated history
Simple rules permit one to decipher this diagram
Fossil Succession
Fossil remnants, or traces of once living organisms, are often
preserved in sedimentary rocks
Fossil are useful for relative age determination
Several types of fossils will occur as an assemblage
Fossils are time markers
12
Fossil Succession
Species evolve, exist for a time, and then go extinct
First appearance, range, and extinction dates rocks
Fossils succeed one another in a known order
A time period is recognized by its fossil content
Fossil Succession
Fossil range – First and last appearance
Each fossil has a unique range
Overlapping ranges provide
distinctive time markers
Permit correlation of strata
Locally
Regionally
Globally
13
Unconformities
Unconformity – a time gap in the rock record
…a period of nondeposition and possibly erosion
Unconformities
1. Disconformity
Parallel strata bracketing nondeposition
…due to an
interruption in
sedimentation
14
Unconformities
1. Disconformity
Parallel strata bracketing nondeposition
…may be difficult
to recognize
Unconformities
2. Nonconformity
Metamorphic or igneous rocks overlain by sedimentary strata
Crystalline
igneous/metamorphic
rocks were exposed by
erosion
15
Unconformities
3. Angular unconformity
Represents a huge gulf in time
Horizontal marine sediments deformed by orogenesis.
High mountains are eroded away to below sea level.
Sediments deposited horizontally on the erosion surface.
Unconformities
3. Angular unconformity
Mountains created
Mountains completely
erased by erosion
16
Unconformities
3. Angular unconformity
“Hutton’s Unconformity” on Siccar Point, Scotland, is a common
destination for geologists
Types of
unconformities
Unconformities
Earth history is
recorded in strata.
Missing strata =
missing history.
The Grand Canyon.
Thick layers of
strata.
Numerous gaps.
A partial record of
geological history.
17
Unconformities
Formations are
separated by contacts
Unconformities
If a formation contains
more than one rock
type we use the word
“formation” in the
name e.g. Toroweap
Formation
If a formation consist
of only one rock type,
we may incorporate
that rock type in the
name e.g. Muav
Limestone
18
Unconformities
Several related
formations in a
succession may be
lumped together as a
“group”
Stratigraphic Correlation
Stratigraphic columns depict strata in a region
Drawn to scale to
accurately portray
relative thicknesses.
Rock types are depicted
by graphical fill patterns.
19
Stratigraphic Correlation
In 1793, William “Strata” Smith was the first to note that
strata could be matched across distances.
Similar rock types in a similar order.
Stratigraphic Correlation
Lithologic correlation is based on rock type
Sequence – The relative order in which the rocks occur
20
Stratigraphic Correlation
Example - National parks of Arizona and Utah
Formations can be traced long distances
Overlap is seen in the sequences of rock types.
Overlapping rock columns are used to build a composite.
21
The Geological time scale
It was constructed by determining
the relative ages of stratigraphic
columns for around the world
22
The Geological Column
The Phanerozoic is subdivided into
eras:
23
Isotopes
Atoms of the same atomic number but different mass
Isotopes
Some are “stable” (non-radioactive) – require energy to
change nuclear configuration
Radioactive
decay
Parent isotope – the isotope that undergoes decay
Daughter isotope – radioactive decay product
24