I.

Stratification
Stratification is the layering that occurs in most sedimentary rocks and in those igneous rocks formed
at the Earth’s surface, as from lava flows and volcanic fragmental deposits. The layers range from several
millimeters to many meters in thickness and vary greatly in shape. Strata may range from thin sheets that
cover many square kilometers to thick lens like bodies that extend only a few meters laterally.
Planes of parting, or separation between individual rock layers, are termed stratification planes. They
are horizontal where sediments are deposited as flat-lying layers, and they exhibit inclination where
the depositional site was a sloping surface. The bottom surface of a stratum roughly conforms to
irregularities of the underlying surface; the stratification plane above the stratum, however, tends to be
nearly horizontal.
Stratification in sedimentary rocks may result from changes in texture or composition during
deposition; it also may result from pauses in deposition that allow the older deposits to undergo changes
before additional sediments cover them. A sequence of strata, therefore, may appear as alterations in
mineral composition, or merely as layers of similar aspect separated by distinct planes of parting. No
direct relationship exists between the thickness and extent of strata and the rate of deposition or the
time represented; for example, a stratum of limestone 2.5 cm (1 inch) thick may take longer to form than
a stratum of sandstone 3 m (10 feet) in thickness. The most common cause of stratification is variation
in the transporting ability of the depositing agent. Water and wind sort sediments according to size,
weight, and shape of particles, and these sediments settle in layers of relative homogeneity. Difference
in sediment brought about by change in agents of deposition, also lead stratification.

Where layers have been deformed, the record of past movements of the Earth’s surface is preserved in
the stratification, making possible the interpretation of geologic events and permitting such practical results
as the location of mineral deposits, petroleum fields, and groundwater reservoirs.
Stratification in sedimentary rocks varies greatly both in degree of prominence and in details of structure.
In general, it is best developed in fine-grained sediments and is least apparent and least persistent in coarse-
grained materials such as conglomerates. Two important and distinctive structural types are recognized as
characteristic of particular environments. These are cross-bedding, which is common in fluvial or eolian
deposits, and graded bedding, which reflects transport by density (or turbidity) currents or, in certain cases,
varved deposits.
 Stratification in volcanic rocks differs in some respects from that in sedimentary rocks. Fragmental
volcanic material becomes sorted in flight under the influence of gravity, particle size, and wind. Falling to
the ground, it may form well-sorted layers. If it falls into lakes or the sea, it becomes layered like any other
waterborne detrital matter. Stratification also may result from successive flows of liquid lava or alternations
between flows and ashfalls.
Not all sedimentary deposits are stratified. Those transported by ice alone, landslide deposits, and
residual soils, for example, exhibit no stratification. Original stratification may be destroyed by plants or
animals, by recrystallization of limestones, or by other disturbances subsequent to deposition.

Determining the age of the Stratified Rocks

• In 1869 John Wesley Powell, who was to head the U.S Geological Survey, led a pioneering expedition
down the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon. Powell realized that the evidence for an
ancient Earth is concealed in its rocks. Like the pages in a long and complicated history book, rocks
record the geological events and changing life forms of the past.
• In the mid-1600s, James Ussher, Anglican Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of all Ireland, published a
work that had immediate and profound influence on people’s view of Earth’s age.
• During the 17th and 18th centuries the doctrine of catastrophism strongly influenced people’s thinking
about earth, catastrophists believed that earth’s landscapes had been developed primarily by great
catastrophes, produced by sudden and often worldwide disasters triggered by unknowable causes
that no longer operate.
• Modern geology began in the late 1700s when James Hutton, a Scottish physician and gentleman
farmer, published his Theory of the Earth. Hutton put forth a fundamental principle that is a pillar of
geology today: uniformitarianism, it simply states that the physical, chemical, and biological laws
that operate today have also operated in the geologic past. To understand the ancient rocks, we must
first understand present-day processes and their results. This idea is commonly expressed by saying,
“The present is the key to the past”.
• In determining the age of the earth, geologist have developed technique in determining the age the
earth:
o Relative Dating means placing rocks in their proper sequence of formation, first, second,
third, and so on. Relative dating cannot tell us how long ago something took place, only that
it followed one event and preceded another. Numerical dating methods did not replace these
techniques; they simply supplemented them. To establish a relative time scale, a few basic
principles or rules had to be discovered and applied.
▪ Law of Superposition
Nicolaus Steno, a Danish anatomist, geologist, and priest (1636-1686), is credited
with being the first to recognize a sequence of historical events in an outcrop of
sedimentary rock layers. The law simply states that in an undeformed sequence of
sedimentary rocks, each bed is older than the one above it and younger than the one
below.
▪ Principle of Original Horizontality
Simply stated, it means that layers of sediment generally deposited in a horizontal
position. Thus, if we observe rock layers that are flat, it means they have not been
disturbed and thus still have their original horizontality. However, if the layers are
folded or inclined at a steep angle, they must have been moved into that position by
crustal disturbances sometime after their deposition.

▪ Principle of Cross-Cutting Relationships

When a fault cuts through other rocks, or when magma intrudes and crystallizes,
we can assume that the fault or intrusion is younger than the rocks affected. In the
image below, faults and dikes clearly must have occurred after the sedimentary layers
were deposited.
▪ Inclusions
Inclusions are pieces of one rock unit that are contained within another. The basic
principle is logical and straightforward. The rock mass adjacent to the one containing
the inclusions must have been there first in order to provide the rock fragments.
Therefore, the rock mass containing the inclusions is the younger of the two.
▪ Unconformities
When we observed layers of rock that have been deposited essentially without
interruption, we call them conformable. An unconformity represents a long period
during which deposition ceased, erosion removed previously formed rocks, and then
deposition resumed. In each case uplift and erosion are followed by subsidence and
renewed sedimentation. There three basic types of unconformities:
o Angular conformity
It consists of tilted or folded sedimentary rocks that are overlain by
younger, more flat lying strata. An angular conformity indicates that during the
pause in deposition, a period of deformation (folding or tilting) and erosion
occurred.
o Disconformity
When contrasted with angular unconformities, disconformities are more
common, but usually far less conspicuous because the strata on either side are
essentially parallel.
o Nonconformity
Here the break separates older metamorphic or intrusive igneous rocks from
younger sedimentary strata. For a nonconformity to develop, there must be a
period of uplift and the erosion or overlying rocks. Once exposed at the surface,
the igneous or metamorphic rocks are subjected to weathering and erosion
prior to subsidence and the renewal of sedimentation.