Earth History- Table of Contents

• RELATIVE vs. ABSOLUTE

• LAWS

• UNCONFORMITIES

• GEOLOGIC SECTIONS
Which graph shows the relative duration of
geologic time for the Precambrian, Paleozoic,
Mesozoic, and Cenozoic time intervals?
 Who’s got the TIME?

• RELATIVE: order/sequence
known, but not the actual date of
occurrence. “Time Line”

• ABSOLUTE: actual date

determined by radioactive decay
“Clocks in Rocks”
 “How’d that get there?”
• In the 17th C., Nicolas Steno made an
important observation:

"Sediments are usually deposited in

horizontal layers."

He called this
“ORIGINAL HORIZONTALITY”
 Finding Relative Time
The LAW of...
• SUPERPOSITION: a sedimentary sequence will be
OLDEST on BOTTOM (if undisturbed – flat and level).
• CROSS-CUTTING:
a. Igneous intrusion is younger than rock it has
intruded (cut across). Pre-existing rock will undergo
CONTACT METAMORPHISM
b. Faults – younger than rock displaced
• FOLDS/TILTS: younger than rocks themselves
• INCLUDED FRAGMENTS: pieces of rock found
IN another rock must be OLDER (formed first).
Superposition- youngest

to

oldest
GRAND CANYON- LAW OF SUPERPOSITION

YOUNGEST ON TOP
OLDEST ON BOTTOM
 What is the geologic age of layer B?
(1) Cambrian (3)
Devonian
(2) Ordovician (4)
Cross Cutting
CROSS-CUTTING
Igneous Intrusion - Cross Cutting
Folds/Tilts
FOLDS - TILTS
Included Fragments
Included Fragments
What is the correct order of development from oldest to youngest?
 Unconformities – Buried Eroded
Surfaces
• Sometimes layers of rock are missing

• There is a break or gap of geologic time not represented

by the layers in an area. The gap represents an unknown
length of time

• No way of knowing exactly what happened but we do

know UPLIFT exposed rocks to weathering and erosion.

• Rocks above unconformity are younger – rocks below

older
Bedrock outcrops A and B are located at two different locations along the Genesee
River in western New York State. Rock layers 1, 2, and 4 are the same in both
outcrops.

Which statement best explains why rock layer 3 is missing from

outcrop B?
(1) A fault exists between outcrops A and B.
(2) Erosion created an unconformity between rock layers 2 and 4 in
outcrop B.
(3) A volcanic eruption destroyed rock layer 3 in outcrop B.
(4) Metamorphism of outcrop A created rock layer 3.
4 steps produce an unconformity
1. Uplift – area of crust uplifted above sea
level (deposition – under water)
2. Erosion – some time after
3. Submergence (subsidence) below sea
level
4. Deposition – new sediments deposited on
top of the buried eroded surface
1. Layers formed according to superposition
2. Something happens to uplift area
3. Erosion wears away the uppermost layers
4. Area submerges and deposition begins again

AT THE INTERFACE BETWEEN STEPS 3 AND 4 THERE IS

A BURIED EROSIONAL SURFACE AKA AN
UNCONFORMITY
 Practice: what happened here?

Unconformities are usually shown in block diagrams with a wavy

line to represent the buried eroded surface interface between layers
Upper Silurian
Carbonates

Tilted
Ordovician
Shales and
Sandstones

unconformity

Taconic Unconformity
 Applying Principles of Relative
Dating to Determine Geologic
History of an Area
• The process of matching rocks or geologic
events occurring at different locations of the
same age is called

CORRELATION
 Correlation of rock layers often
relies upon fossils
• William Smith (late l700’s) noted that rock layers
in widely separated areas could be identified and
correlated by their distinctive fossil content

• This led to the "principle of fossil succession“

• Fossils succeed one another in a definite and

determinable order, and therefore any time period
can be recognized by its fossil content
Which fossil might be found in Devonian rock
layers?
Eurypterus
NY State Fossil

Silurian index
fossil
 Index fossils – Page 8-9 ESRT
Index fossils - any animal or plant that is characteristic of
a particular span of geologic time or environment.

2 criteria must be met

• Life form lived over a wide geographic area –

horizontal distribution
• Life form existed for a short period of time – short
vertical distribution
 Location A Location B Location C

Rock layer 1 W W W Z

Rock layer 2 W Z Y Z

Rock layer 3 W X X X Z

Which letter would make a good index fossil?

 OTHER METHODS OF
CORRELATION
• Layers of bedrock exposed (outcrops) on
either sides of river valleys/excavations
“walking the outcrop”
• Volcanic ash – large eruption – widely
distributed – represents a small time interval
LIKE AN INDEX FOSSIL
 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