Aggradation

Vertical build up of a sedimentary sequence. Usually occurs when there

is a relative rise in sea level produced by subsidence and/or eustatic sealevel rise, and the rate of sediment influx is sufficient to maintain the
depositional surface at or near sea level (i.e. carbonate keep-up in a HST
[highstand systems tract] or clastic HST). Occurs when sediment flux =
rate of sea-level rise. Produces Aggradational stacking patterns in
parasequences when the patterns of facies at the top of each
parasequence are essentially the same (modified from Posamentier, 1999, Wilgus et al., 1988, Emery, 1996).

Aggradation

Aggradational Parasequence Set

A parasequence set in which successively younger parasequences

are deposited above one another with no significant lateral sifts. The
rate of accommodation approximates the rate of deposition.

Progradation

Lateral outbuilding, or progradation, of strata in a sea-ward direction.

Progradation can occur as a result of a sea-level rise accompanied by a
high sediment flux (causing a regression). This latter usually occurs
during the late stages of the development of a highstand systems tract
and/or an early lowstand systems tract.
A Progradational stacking pattern of parasequences refers to the pattern
in which facies at the top of each parasequence becomes progressively
more proximal (Posamantier, 1999, Wilgus, 1988, Emery, 1986).

Progradational Parasequence Set

A parasequence set in which successively younger parasequences are
deposited farther basinward; overall the rate of deposition is greater
than the rate of accommodation.

Retrogradation

The movement of coastline land-ward in response to a transgression.

This can occur during a sea-level rise with low sediment flux.
Retrogradational stacking patterns of parasequences refer to patterns in
which facies become progressively more distal when traced upward
vertically (Posamantier, 1999, Wilgus, 1988, Emery, 1996).

Retrogradational Parasequence Set

A parasequence set in which successively younger parasequences are

deposited farther landward in a backstepping pattern. Overall, the rate of
deposition is less that the rate of accommodation.

Transgression

A landward movement of the shoreline indicated by a landward

migration of the littoral facies in a given stratigraphic unit.

(Mitchum, AAPG Memoir 26)

Layers of the Earth

The Crust:
This region is thin compared to the other layers in the Earth. It varies in
thickness from 10km deep to 65km deep. The crust is made up of lighter rocks
that "float" on top of the mantle. This layer includes the continents as well as
the rock under the oceans. The thickness of the crust might be a little
deceiving... to put it into perspective, we have built many deep mines but
NONE have yet reached the mantle!
The Mantle:
This region lies under the crust and is approximately 2900km thick. The
mantle is much denser than the crust (which is why the crust floats on top)
and has a texture much like tar. The rock in this region is rich in compounds
made from iron, magnesium, and silicon which accounts for why it is denser
than the crust.
The Core:
This region is divided into two parts. The outer part is called the Outer Core.
It is about 2100km thick and made of liquid nickel and iron. The inner part is
called the Inner Core and it is the real centre of the Earth. This part is about
2800km in diameter and is made of solid iron and nickel.

Onlap

A base-disconrdant relation in which initially horizontal strata terminate

progressively against an initial inclined surface, or in which initially
inclined strata terminate progressively updip against a surface of greater
initial inclination

Downlap

A base-discordant relation in
which initially inclined
strata terminate downdip
against an initially
horizontal or inclined
surface.
(Mitchum, AAPG Memoir 26)

Topset
Horizontal deltaic deposit composed of coarse alluvial sediment.
Represents current or past surface of the delta

Horizontal deltaic deposit composed of coarse alluvial sediment.

Represents current or past surface of the delta

Termination of strata against an overlying surface mainly as a result of

non deposition (sedimentary bypassing) with perhaps only minor
erosion. (Mitchum, AAPG Memoir 26)

Baselap

A term describing termination of strata along the lower boundary of a

depositional sequence, used only where discrimination between onlap
and downlap is difficult or impossible (Mitchum, AAPG Memoir 26).

Truncation

Termination of strata or seismic reflections interpreted as strata along an

unconformity surface due to post-depositional erosional or structural
effects. Mitchum, AAPG Memoir 26)
(

Unconformity

A surface of erosion or non-deposition separating younger strata from

older rocks, along which there is evidence of subaerial erosional
truncation (and, in some areas, correlative submarine erosion) or
subaerial exposure, with a significant hiatus indicated. Exxon group
modified this definition to "a surface separating younger from older
strata, along which there is evidence of subaerial erosional truncation
(and, in some areas, correlative submarine erosion) or subaerial
exposure, with a significant hiatus indicated" (Seismic Stratigraphy, AAPG Memoir 26) .

Angular conformity: younger

sediments rest upon the eroded surface
of tilted or folded older rocks.
Disconformity: contact between
younger and older beds is marked by a
visible, irregular or uneven erosional
surface.
Paraconformity: beds above and
below the unconformity are parallel
and no erosional surface is evident; but
can be recognized based on the gap in
the rock record.
Nonconformity: develops between
sedimentary rock and older igneous or
metamorphic rock that has been
exposed to erosion.

Angular unconformity at Siccar Point in Scotland led James Hutton

to utter (ca. 1786), on
the enormity of geological time, " ...that we find no vestige of a
beginning, no prospect of an

Disconformity by San Juan River, Paradox Basin, Southeastern Utah.

Types of Stress
This is an example of the effect of Compression Stress:

Compression squeezes the rocks of the crust. This causes the rocks to take up less
space and become denser (they have more matter in a smaller volume).

This is an example of the effect of Tension:

Tension pulls the rocks,
causing them to stretch
over a larger area

This is an example of a Lateral Fault.

Shearing is when rock of the
crust pushes in two opposite
directions and usually results
in a simple bend or break.

AA break or planar surface in brittle rock

across which there is observable displacement.

Fault plane
A fault plane is a plane used to represent an actual fault, or a particular segment of
a fault. Faults are generally not perfectly flat, smooth planes, so this may not be a
true representation of the fault. However, since faults do typically act as planes
(even though some, in fact, are so physically complex that trying to draw their
structure would be cumbersome and confusing), defining a fault plane is the most
convenient way to represent and model a fault.
Horizontal plane
It is useful to have a reference plane when measuring the characteristics of faults.
The standard reference plane is the horizontal. It usually approximates the Earth's
surface, but does not vary. Here, the horizontal plane shown is that of sea level, but
a horizontal plane of any altitude or depth can be used for reference.
Surface trace (or Fault line)
The intersection of a fault plane with the Earth's surface produces what is known
as the surface trace of the fault. This intersection is also known as a fault trace, or
a fault line, since this is the line drawn to represent a fault on a standard map. The
traces of faults are not always obvious at the surface. Some, however, display
themselves quite plainly, particularly when the observer knows what to look for.

Trend
The trend of a fault trace is the general direction it takes across the Earth's
surface. Trend may be used to average out the small, localized bends of a long
fault and talk about its overall directionality. This direction is often similar to
the strike of a fault (see next page), but the two are fundamentally different,
and should not be interchanged.
Hanging wall
For a non-vertical fault, this is the part of the Earth's crust above the plane of
the fault. Its name originates from mining activities along large, ancient faults
which had since been "filled in" with mineral deposits. Miners could hang
their lamps from the wall above them, coining the term "hanging wall" for this
side of a fault.
Footwall
The counterpart of the hanging wall, the footwall is the part of the Earth's
crust below a fault. As with the hanging wall, the "footwall" was so named by
miners, since they would walk on the lower side of a mined-out fault.

A type of fault in which the hanging wall moves down

relative to the footwall, and the fault surface dip is steep,
commonly from 45o to 90o. Groups of normal faults can
produce horst and graben topography, or a series of
relatively high- and low-standing fault blocks, as seen in
areas where the crust is rifting or being pulled apart by
plate tectonic activity. A growth fault is a type of normal
fault that forms during sedimentation and typically has
thicker strata on the downthrown hanging wall than the
footwall.

This is a Normal
Fault

Reverse Fault is a type of fault formed when the hanging wall of fault
block moves up along a fault surface relative to the footwall. Such
movement can occur in areas where the Earth's crust is compressed. A
thrust fault, sometimes called an over thrust if the displacement is
particularly great, is a reverse fault in which the fault plane has a
shallow dip, typically much less than 45o.

This is a Reverse Fault

This is a Thrust Fault

A type of fault whose surface is typically vertical or nearly so.

The motion along a strike-slip fault is parallel to the strike of the
fault surface, and the fault blocks move sideways past each
other. A strike-slip fault in which the block across the fault
moves to the right is described as a dextral strike-slip fault. If it
moves left, the relative motion is described as sinistal. Local
deformation near bends in strike-slip faults can produce pullapart basins and grabens. Flower structures are another byproduct of strike-slip faults. A wrench fault is a type of strikeslip fault in which the faultA surface is nearly vertical

OBLIQUE-SLIP FAULT
Oblique-slip faulting suggests both dip-slip faulting
and strike-slip faulting. It is caused by a
combination of shearing and tension of
compressional forces.

Parts of a fold:
1.fold axis
2.axial plane
3.limb

1.symmetrical
2.asymmetrical
3.overturned - tipped in one direction so that one of the limbs is overturned
4.recumbent - lying on its side
5.dome
6.basin

Thrust development in mountain belts

Anticline - Syncline Animation

Overturned folds in the Baltimore

Gneiss
Baltimore County, Maryland
Ensor Mill Road, along stream, off
I-83.

Parent
Isotope

Stable Daughter
Product

Currently Accepted HalfLife Values

Uranium238

Lead-206

4.5 billion years

Uranium235

Lead-207

704 million years

Thorium232

Lead-208

14.0 billion years

Rubidium87

Strontium-87

48.8 billion years

Potassium40

Argon-40

1.25 billion years

Samarium147

Neodymium-143

106 billion years

The Divisions of Precambrian Time

Paleozoic Era

The chart at left shows the several

subdivisions of the Cenozoic Era. After the
column labelled "Cenozoic", the next
column shows the two periods, the Tertiary
and the Quaternary.

The right-hand column lists the six major

epochs into which the periods are divided.

http://www.kgs.ukans.edu/Dakota/vol1/petro/petro05.htm

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http://www.greatgeophysics.com/logginginfo.html#G. LOGGING OF LIMESTONE AND DOLOMITE