Geo 4103

Stratigraphy

Syed Saqib Razzaq

Lecturer of Geology

Week 2 – Lecture 3
Principles of Stratigraphy
Institute of Geology, University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Muzaffarabad
 Historical Background
• Nicolaus Steno (born Niels Stensen; 1638–1686), who should be
considered the father of stratigraphy, recognized not only the
significance of fossils but also the true nature of strata. His thinking has
been summarized in the form of Steno’s Laws (although “principles”
would be a better choice of word than “laws”):

o superposition: younger rocks are deposited on older rocks

o original horizontality: strata were close to being horizontal when they were originally
deposited.
o original lateral continuity: strata were originally laterally extensive relative to their
thickness when they were deposited.
• In the earliest 1800s, William Smith in England and Georges Cuvier in
France used the successions of faunas in stratified rocks for mapping.
This led to the development of the principle called the law of faunal
succession: distinct faunas succeed one another regularly in the
rocks. Why fossil faunas work this way was not well understood,
however, until the middle 1800s, as a result of the work of Darwin and
Wallace.
Stratigraphy GEO 4103 University of AJ&K
 Historical Background
• The whole record of stratified rocks was well worked out by the
middle of the 1800s, and almost all of the periods and subdivisions
thereof we use today had been established. But the modern
approach to the detailed stratigraphy of individual areas did not
develop until the early 1900s. Later on, after some more preparation,
we’ll deal with another of what might be called the great principles
of stratigraphy: Walther’s law of facies.

Stratigraphy GEO 4103 University of AJ&K

 Principle of Superposition
In an otherwise
undisturbed
sequence of
sedimentary
strata, or rock
layers, the
layers on the
bottom are
the oldest and
layers above
them are
younger.

Lower strata are older than those lying on top of them.

Stratigraphy GEO 4103 University of AJ&K
 Principle of Original Horizontality

Layers of rocks
deposited from above,
such as sediments and
lava flows, are originally
laid down horizontally.
The exception to this
principle is at the
margins of basins,
where the strata can
slope slightly downward
into the basin.

strata deposited as horizontal.

Stratigraphy GEO 4103 University of AJ&K
 Principle of Lateral Continuity
Within the depositional basin, strata are continuous in all directions until they
thin out at the edge of that basin. Of course, all strata eventually end, either by
hitting a geographic barrier, such as a ridge, or when the depositional process
extends too far from its source, either a sediment source or a volcano. Strata
that are cut by a canyon later remain continuous on either side of the canyon.

Lateral continuity
Stratigraphy GEO 4103 University of AJ&K
 Principle of Fossil (Faunal) Succession
Evolution has produced a
succession of unique fossils
that correlate to the units of
the geologic time scale.
Assemblages of fossils
contained in strata are
unique to the time they lived,
and can be used to correlate
rocks of the same age across
a wide geographic
distribution. Assemblages of
fossils refers to groups of
several unique fossils
occurring together.

Fossil succession showing correlation among strata.

Stratigraphy GEO 4103 University of AJ&K

 Grand Canyon Example

The Grand Canyon of Arizona

Stratigraphy GEO 4103 University of AJ&K
 Grand Canyon’s Three Sets of Rocks

The rocks of the Grand

Canyon
 Grand Canyon Example

The red,
layered
rocks of the
Grand
Canyon
Supergroup
overlying
the dark-
colored
rocks of the
Vishnu
schist
represents a
type of
unconformit
y called a
nonconform
ity.

Stratigraphy GEO 4103 University of AJ&K