Lesson 8:Geologic Time Scale

Learning Outcomes:

a. Explain how relative and absolute dating were used to determine the subdivisions of
geologic time

b. Describe how index fossils (also known as guide fossils) are used to define and identify
subdivisions of the geologic time scale

Discussion :

 The geologic time scale is the “calendar” for events in Earth history. It subdivides all time into named
units of abstract time called—in descending order of duration—eons, eras, periods, epochs, and ages.
 Geologic Time and Dating

When looking at the history of the earth and the record of time preserved in the rock or what is called
the ROCK RECORD, two types of dating are distinguished. ABSOLUTE DATING puts a date on an
event in years.
 For example, something may be dated at 11,500 years BP (before present) plus or minus 500 years.

 Absolute dating is determined in a number of ways that will not concern us in this lab.

 The second type of dating is called RELATIVE DATING. Relative dating dates one event in
relationship to another event. Something happened before or after something else.

 Absolute dating is exemplified by when you give your age, but relative dating is exemplified when you
look at two adults and recognize that one is older than another but you do not know when they were
born.
 Relative time ("chronostratic") -- subdivisions of the Earth's geology in a specific order based upon
relative age relationships (most commonly, vertical/stratigraphic position). These subdivisions are
given names, most of which can be recognized globally, usually on the basis of fossils.
 Absolute time ("chronometric") -- numerical ages in "millions of years" or some other measurement.
These are most commonly obtained via radiometric dating methods performed on appropriate rock
types.
 The law of superposition and the law of cross cutting relations are both concerned with relative dating.
 The calendar of earth history is called the GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE. On the geologic time scale, the
oldest events are found at the bottom and the youngest events are found at the top. 

 Index fossil, any animal or plant preserved in the rock record of the Earth that is characteristic of a
particular span of geologic time or environment. A useful index fossil must be distinctive or easily
recognizable, abundant, and have a wide geographic distribution and a short range through time. Index
fossils are the basis for defining boundaries in the geologic time scale and for the correlation of strata.
In marine strata, index fossils that are commonly used include the single-celled Protista with hard body
parts and larger forms such as ammonoids. In terrestrial sediments of the Cenozoic Era, which began
about 65.5 million years ago, mammals are widely used to date deposits. All of these animal forms
have hard body parts, such as shells, bones, and teeth, and evolved rapidly.
 Index fossilViviparus glacialis, a mollusk that serves as an index fossil for the Early Pleistocene in
Europe, collected from Rosmalen Borehole, The Netherlands.

 Index Fossils - Provide information about the age of rock layers ,must have lived for a
relatively short period of time ,lived in many places around the world ,and NOT all fossils
are index fossils

 If geologists identify an index fossil in a rock layer, they can estimate when that rock layer
was formed.