Notes
Law of Inclusion
Earth Science
Module 12: Rock Dating and Geologic Time
Lesson 1
Methods of Dating Rocks
Rocks are composed of layers or
features called “Strata” (Singular,
Stratum).
Ways to Determine the Age of Rocks
Relative Rock Dating
This is used to determine the
comparative or relative age of the rock.
ONLY used to arrange geological events
based on rock strata.
Relative rock dating is guided by
three basic laws, Steno’s Law,
authored by Nicolaus Steno.
a. Law of Superposition
This law states that the older
stratum lies below the younger
layer.
b. Law of Crosscutting
This law states that any feature
such as fault that cuts across a
sequence of rocks is younger
than everything it cuts.
c.
This law states that any rock,
fragment, clast, or intrusion that
is included inside of another rock
is older than the rock in which it is
included.
Absolute Rock Dating
Also known as “Radiometric Dating”, is
used to determine the absolute age of
the rock. Decay rate of radioactive
isotopes that are embedded in the rock
are measured.
Types of Absolute Dating
a. Carbon Dating
Radiocarbon dating (also referred
to as carbon dating or carbon-14
dating) is a method for
determining the age of an
object containing organic
material by using the
properties of radiocarbon, a
radioactive isotope of carbon.
The method was developed in
the late 1940s at the University of
Chicago by Willard Libby.
b. Potassium Dating
Potassium-argon dating, method
of determining the time of
origin of rocks by measuring
the ratio of radioactive argon
to radioactive potassium in the
rock. This dating method is
based upon the decay of
radioactive potassium-40 to
radioactive argon-40 in minerals
 and rocks; potassium-40 also
decays to calcium-40.
c. Uranium Dating
The oldest known crystal on earth
is the zircon crystal from
Australia. It remained intact for an
incredible 4.4 billion years which
is almost the same age as the
planet earth. The radioactive
isotope used to determine the
absolute age of zircon crystal
was uranium which decayed into
lead atoms.
Younger rocks can be dated using
carbon-14. Igneous rocks contain the
radioactive isotopes which make them
good for radiometric dating. In
sedimentary and metamorphic rocks,
scientists will look for the presence of
igneous rocks embedded in them to
determine their absolute ages.
Lesson 2
Rock Ages and Geologic Time
Chronostratigraphy
The branch of stratigraphy that studies
the ages of rock layers or features in
relation to geologic time.
Scientists use Geologic Time Scale or
GTS to explain which event on earth
occurred first and which event occurred
last.
This GTS is a chart that marks as a
guide on the earth’s major events in its
history. The discovery of the fossils and
the oldest rocks are the bases of these
markings in the GTS.
Geologic Time Scale is divided into
time spans called Eon (Largest Time
Span)
Eon: Era
a. Precambrian Era
● Divided by Hadean, Archean, and
Proterozoic events.
● This time span lasted from 4.6
billion to 541 million years ago.
● Half of the Earth’s deposits of
mineral rocks belong to this time.
● The appearance of the
multicellular organism.
● The first soft bodied invertebrates
appeared and the first bacteria
and blue green algae began to
free oxygen to the atmosphere.
b. Phanerozoic Era
● Divided into 3 eras: Paleozoic
era which means ancient life;
Mesozoic Era means middle
life; Cenozoic Era which means
present life.
Era: Periods
In The Paleozoic era, there are 6
periods, namely: Permian,
Carboniferous, Devonian, Silurian,
Ordovician and Cambrian periods.
Permian period is known as the “age of
amphibians”; Silurian period is where
the first insects appeared; jawed fish
and vascular plants also appeared in
this period; corals first appeared in
Ordovician period while the Cambrian
period is the age of trilobites.
The Mesozoic era has 3 periods and
these are Triassic wherein dinosaurs
are dominant in this period; Jurassic
period wherein birds first appeared in
this time and Cretaceous period which
is the mark of the extinction of
dinosaurs.

In the Cenozoic era of the Phanerozoic

eon, the ice age occurred.

Period: Epochs

A Period is further subdivided into

Epochs. An epoch is a time scale which
is longer than an age but shorter than
the period. In the Carboniferous period,
there are two epochs, namely:
Pennsylvanian and Mississippian. An
epoch is subdivided into Ages. The
Mississippian epoch has 3 ages. These
are Tournaisian, Visean and
Serpukhovian. Triassic, Jurassic and
Cretaceous periods of Mesozoic era is
the “age of Reptiles”; Devonian period
part of the Paleozoic era is the “age of
fishes” while Cenozoic era is the “age of
mammals.

Our current time where we are now

belongs to the Holocene Epoch of the
Quaternary Period of the Cenozoic era.

In order to identify the ages of the rocks

and fossils found in our planet through
exhumation, scientists use radiometric
dating which uses the radioactive
isotopes 10 present in the exhumed
artifacts. After determining the age of
the artifact, the age is compared to the
geologic time scale above.