Subject: G11 Earth Science

Date: November 15, 2022

Module 10 part 1

Content: Chapter 4: History of the Earth

Topic: Major Events in the Earth’s Past

Major Subdivisions of Geologic Time
Geologic History / How the Planet Earth Evolved
Relative & Absolute Dating
 Opening Prayer
Let us now pause for a moment and feel the presence of God in
our midst.
In the name of the Father …
Heavenly Father, we praise and thank you for the gift of life, for
all the blessings we receive everyday.
Thank you Lord for keeping us safe and healthy and bringing us
together in this class. We pray that You will send forth the Holy
Spirit to guide, enlighten and to focus our attention to our
discussion in order to understand fully and learn the lesson
well.
As we pray … Hail Mary … Holy Mary Mother of God …
In the name of the Father …
Good Day Everyone …
2
Simple Recall / Discussion

Students will discuss the following:

- What is the difference between
exogenic and endogenic processes?
- What is plate movement and what
causes it?

3
 OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, you shall be able to:
describe how layers of stratified rocks are formed;
describe the different methods (relative and absolute
dating) of determining the age of stratified rocks;
explain how relative and absolute dating were used
to determine the subdivision of the geologic time
scale;
describe how index fossils (also known as guide
fossils are used to define and identify subdivisions of
geologic time scale); and
describe the history of the Earth through geologic
time.
4
INPUT

5
 Earth’s Geologic
History

How do we determine the

chronology of earth’s events?
Archaeology is the study of the ancient and recent
human past through material remains.

Archaeologists might study the million-year-old

fossils of our earliest human ancestors in Africa.

Or they might study 20th-century buildings in

present-day New York City.
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human
activity through the recovery and analysis of
material culture.

The archaeological record consists of artifacts,

architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and
cultural landscapes.

Archaeology can be considered both a social

science and a branch of the humanities.
Paleontology is the study of ancient life,
from dinosaurs to prehistoric plants,
mammals, fish, insects, fungi, and even
microbes.

Fossil evidence reveals how organisms

changed over time and what our planet
was like long time ago.
Paleontology, also spelled palaeontology
or palæontology, is the scientific study of
life that existed prior to, and sometimes
including, the start of the Holocene epoch.

It includes the study of fossils to classify

organisms and study their interactions
with each other and their environments.
Geology is also known as 'geoscience' or
'Earth science’. It is the study of the
structure, evolution and dynamics of the
Earth and its natural mineral and energy
resources.
Geology investigates the processes that
have shaped the Earth through its 4500
million years existence (approximate!).
Vocabulary

 Uniformitarianism  Correlation
 Relative Time  Unconformity
 Original Horizontality  Index fossils
 Superposition
 Intrusions
 Extrusions
 Inclusions
 Uniformitarianism
 Processes going on today also took
place in the past
 Ex. - Weathering, erosion, deposition,
earthquakes, volcanoes
 The processes layering sedimentary
rocks today also occurred in the past
Uniformitarianism, also known as the Doctrine of
Uniformity or the Uniformitarian Principle, is the
assumption that the same natural laws and
processes that operate in our present-day
scientific observations have always operated in
the universe in the past and apply everywhere in
the universe.
Relative Age of Layers
 Original
Horizontality –
sediments are
deposited in
parallel, horizontal
layers.

 Superposition-
undisturbed layers
will have the oldest
on the bottom and
youngest on top
 The relative geologic time scale

The oldest time interval is at the bottom and the

youngest is at the top.

Long before geologists had the means to recognize

and express time in numbers of years before the
present, they developed the geologic time scale.
The Principle of Original Horizontality was proposed
by the Danish geological pioneer Nicholas Steno
(1638–1686).

This principle states that layers of sediments are

originally deposited horizontally under the action of
gravity.

The principle is important to the analysis of folded

and tilted strata.
Law of superposition is a major principle of
stratigraphy stating that within a sequence of layers
of sedimentary rock, the oldest layer is at the base
and that the layers are progressively younger with
ascending order in the sequence.

It is one of the great general principles of geology.

Intrusive rock is formed when magma penetrates
existing rock, crystallizes, and solidifies underground to
form intrusions, such as batholiths, dikes, sills,
laccoliths, and volcanic necks.

Intrusion is one of the two ways igneous rock can form.

The other is extrusion, such as a volcanic eruption or
similar event.
Intrusions

 Magma forcing its way into cracks and

solidifying into igneous rocks.
 The surrounding rock is older than he
intrusion.
Extrusion In geology is the breaking-out of igneous
rock from below the Earth's surface.

Any volcanic product reaching the surface becomes

extrusive material whether it is ejected through a
volcano's cone or through pipe-like channels or
fissures in its crust.
Extrusions
 Magma that surfaces and solidifies
 The rock layers below the extrusion are
older than the extrusion.
 Another layer of deposition can lay more
sedimentary rock above the extrusions…
which would then be younger than the
extrusion
How can the older layers end up
on top?
 Faulting
 Folding
 Crustal Uplift
What is the sequence of events?
1. Formation of sedimentary rock layers
2. Movement / uplift along the fault
3. Intrusion of igneous magma into the sedimentary rock
4. Contact metamorphism where magma meets
sedimentary rock layers
Order of events:
Name them oldest to youngest:
 1 Shale is older
than basalt
intrusion

 2 Shale is older
than sandstone

 3 An unconformity
exists directly
under the shale.
Sediments and cracks
 Sediments have been weathered,
eroded and deposited before they
became part of a larger rock.

 The sediments must

be older than the rock.

 Cracks, joints and veins

form after the rock
Inclusions
 If a sediment falls into lava, it may
become included if it does not melt. The
inclusion is older than the lava.
 Correlation
( co-relation)

 Matching rocks in one area with rocks in

another area helps determine history of
events on Earth.
– Comparison of rocks –walking the outcrop
– Matching up layers of rock separated over
time
Correlation

 Volcanic Ash or
Meteorite Debris
– A thin layer of fine
sediment spread
over the Earth
that settles and is
trapped between
layers of rock
Correlation

 Index fossils
– Similar fossils that existed for a brief period of time
but appear in layers of rock (strata) all over the
world .
Matching
up index
fossils
helps
correlate
layers of
rock and
age them.
Volcanic Ash layer
Layer of Meteorite Debris
VOLCANIC ASH LAYER AT THE SAME TIME AS THE
DINOSAURS BECAME EXTINCT LEAD SCIENTISTS
TO LOOK FOR METEORITE CRATER
Chicxulub Crater 65 mya 170 km. Wide
Unconformities – something is missing

 Layers of exposed rock get eroded and

leave gaps in the geologic record
 Four steps to unconformity:
– Uplift
– Erosion
– Subsidence (submergence)
– Deposition
Four steps to unconformity
Missing info in the rock layer
Types of unconformities

 Angular – tilted or folded layers that

have been eroded and recovered
 Parallel – also called disconformities,
parallel layers separated by an
erosional surface
 Nonconformities – sedimentary layers
deposited on top of eroded igneous
layers
Grand
Canyon
Geology
Values Integration

Guide Question:
How will you relate the topic to your
life?

48
Values Integration

Scientists rely on fossils to provide

evidence about Earth’s past.

AWARENESS
OF THE PAST GEOLOGIC EVENTS
THAT SHAPED
THE EARTH

49
In the name of the Father …
We thank you Lord
for the knowledge we learned today.
Please help us to become worthy students
and apply this knowledge
in our daily life activities.
Glory be to the Father …
In the name of the Father …
Goodbye and God bless everyone!
50