The Geology of Pacific Northwest Streams, Lakes, and Deserts

GEO144 Online Activity 1: Geologic Time

Name:_______________________________Age:_______________
I.Introduction
Therearetwotypesofgeologictime,relativeandabsolute.Inthecaseofrelativetimegeologicevents
arearranged in their order of occurrence. No attempt is made to determine the actual time at which
theyoccurred.Forexample,inasequenceofflatlyingrocks,shaleisontopofsandstone.Theshale,therefore,
must by younger (deposited after the sandstone), but how much younger is not known. In the case of
numericaltime(sometimescalledabsolutetime)theactualageofthegeologiceventisdetermined.Thisis
usuallydoneusingaradiometricdatingtechnique.

II.RelativeGeologicAge
Inthissectionseveraltechniquesareconsideredfordeterminingtherelativeageofgeologicevents.For
example,foursedimentaryrocksarepiledupinthefollowingorder

Amusthavebeendepositedfirstandistheoldest.Dmusthavebeendepositedlastandistheyoungest.
ThisisanexampleofageneralgeologiclawknownastheLawofSuperposition.Thislawstatesthatinany
pile of sedimentary strata that has not been disturbed by folding or overturning since accumulation,
theyoungeststratumisatthetopandtheoldestisatthebase.

Asasecondexampleconsiderasandstonewhichhasbeencutbytwodikes(igneousintrusionsthatare
tabularinshape).

Thesandstone,A,istheoldestrocksinceitisintrudedbybothdikes.DikeBmustbeolderthandikeCsince
itiscutbydikeC.Thesequenceofevents,therefore,isdepositionofsandstoneAfollowedbyintrusionofdike
BandthendikeC.

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 The Geology of Pacific Northwest Streams, Lakes, and Deserts

GEO144 Online Activity 1: Geologic Time

As a third example, a sequence of sediments are deposited and then lithified. The resulting
sedimentaryrocksaredeformed(folded),erodedandthencoveredbyanocean.Subsequentdepositionof
carbonateshellmaterialleadstotheformationofamarinelimestone.

ThesedimentarysequenceAthroughD(oldesttoyoungest)musthavebeendepositedfirst.Thissequencewas
thenfoldedandsubsequentlyeroded(erosionsurfaceE).Aftererosion,marinelimestoneFwasdeposited.

Asafinalexample,considerthecaseinwhichafaultdevelopedafterformationofasequenceofrocks.

InthiscaserocksAandBareoffsetbyfaultD,sotheymusthavebeenformedpriortofaulting.Howeverrock
Cisnotoffsetsoitmusthavebeenformedafterfaultingoccurred.

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 The Geology of Pacific Northwest Streams, Lakes, and Deserts

GEO144 Online Activity 1: Geologic Time

Forthegeologiccrosssectiondrawnbelowestablishtherelativesequenceofoccurrencefortherocksor
eventsindicatedbytheletters.

Enterthesequenceofeventsinorderfromyoungestatthetopofthetabletooldestatthebottom.

RockorEvent Criteriausedtodeterminetherelativeposition
Youngest

Oldest
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 The Geology of Pacific Northwest Streams, Lakes, and Deserts

GEO144 Online Activity 1: Geologic Time

III.NumericalGeologicAge
PartA.
Thetimeofformationofarockormineralcanbedeterminedbymeasuringtheamountsofnaturally
radioactiveelements,suchasuranium,rubidium,orpotassium,intherockormineralandtheamountof
theirradioactivedecayproductsintherockormineral.Sincetherateofdecayofaradioactiveelementis
not changed by any natural process such methods provide accurate numerical ages. Some people
considerthesenumericalagesabsoluteages.
Numericalagesaredeterminedbyexaminingradioactiveelementsandtheirproducts.The
radioactiveelement,ortheelementthatissaidtodecay,istheparentisotope.Theelementthatisleft
behindaftertheparentdecaysiscalledthedaughterisotope.Becausegettinganaccurateradiometric
agerequiresknowingthepreciseamountsofboththeparentanddaughterisotopes,therockmusthave
formedinaclosedsystem.Specifically,allofthemineralsintherockmusthaveformedatapproximately
thesametime.Thismeansthatmostradiometricdatingcanonlybedoneonigneousandmetamorphic
rocks.Sedimentaryrocksmaybemadeofbitsandpiecesofrocksthatformedatdifferenttimes,and
hencemayhaveamountsofparentanddaughterisotopesthatareunrelatedtothetimethatthe
sedimentaryrockformed.Isotopesusedfordatingigneousandmetamorphicrocksandmineralsinclude
RbSr(rubidiumstrontium),UPb(uraniumlead),UTh(uraniumthorium),andKAr(potassiumargon).
Theseisotopepairscanbeusedtoagerocksthataregenerallyolderthan100,000years.
Anotherimportantradiometricdatingisotopepairis14C14N(carbon14nitrogen14).Carbonisan
importantcomponentoflifeonplanetearth,andso14Chasbecomeaveryeffectivewaytoagesome
fossils.Botharcheologistsandgeologistshavefoundthismethodveryusefultoageplantsandanimals,
whichhavebeenusedtoconstraintheagesofsomesedimentaryrocks.Thisisotopepairhasits
limitationsthough,asthefossilsmustbelessthan~40,000yearsold(duetothehalflifeof5,730years).
Thismethodofdatinghasplayedakeyroleinexaminingsomeoftheearthsmorerecentclimatechanges
(e.g.globalwarmingandiceages)andmajorgeologicevents(e.g.earthquakes,volcaniceruptions,and
tsunamis).
Someproblemscanarisewhiletryingtoradiometricallyestimatetheageofarock.Forexample,
sedimentaryrocksgenerallyhaveinheritedages,whichcomefrombeingmadeupofolderrocks.Heat
andpressurecancausesomeofthedaughterand/orparentisotopestoleakfromminerals,whichcan
causeinaccurateagesforigneousand/ormetamorphicrocks.Sometimesverylittleoftheparentisotope
remains,whichcausesdifficultyinaccuratelycalculatingaradiometricage.Insomeinstances,small
amountsofdatablematerialcanalsoleadtodifficultiesingettingaccurateradiometricages.Despite
theseproblems,numericalagesarestillsuccessfullyusedtosolvesignificantproblemsingeology.

BiotiteisseparatedfromdikeCshowninthesequenceofeventsproblem.Thebiotitecrystallizedfromthe
magmathatformedthedike.Theageofthebiotiteis15.5Ma.

1. WhatdoesthistellyouabouttheageofdikeC?

2. WhatdoesthistellyouabouttheageofrockB?

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 The Geology of Pacific Northwest Streams, Lakes, and Deserts

GEO144 Online Activity 1: Geologic Time

PartB.
1.Useacoinforthisexperiment.Takethiscoinandflipit10times.Eachtime,itlandwitheitherheadsor
tailsfacingupwards.Keeptrackofthenumberofheadsandthenumberoftails.Everytimeacoinlands
withtailsup,letsconsiderthatthisrepresentsaparentisotopethathasdecayedtoadaughterisotope.
Letsalsoconsiderthateachfliprepresentsaradioactivehalflife.
(a)Howmanyparentisotopesremain?________
(a)Howmanydaughterisotopes?________
Flipthecoinanothertentimes.Addyourresultstotheinitial10flips,foratotalof20flips.
(c)Howmanytotalparentisotopesremain?________
(d)Howmanytotaldaughterisotopes?________
(e)Howwelldothesetwoflipexercisesactuallyeliminatehalfoftheremainingparentisotopes?

(f)Would(d)beimprovedbymakingthesamplepopulationsmallerorlarger?Yes/NoWhy?

2.Sometimesnumericalagesarereferredtoasabsoluteagesbecausetheygiveaquantifiableagetothe
rock.Whymightthesenumericalagesnotalwaysbeabsoluteages?

3.Inmetamorphicrocks,mineralsformatdifferenttemperaturesandpressures.Whatcouldthis
potentiallydotoradiometricagesfromametamorphicrock?

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