Relative dating is used to arrange geological events, and the rocks they leave

behind, in a sequence. The method of reading the order is called stratigraphy

(layers of rock are called strata). Relative dating does not provide actual
numerical dates for the rocks.

Oldest at the bottom

The geologist looking at this cliff near Whanganui uses the principle of superposition to
work out that the bottom layer is the oldest, the top layer is the youngest.

Next time you find a cliff or road cutting with lots of rock strata, try working out
the age order using some simple principles:

 Sedimentary rocks are normally laid down in order, one on top of

another. In a sequence, the oldest is at the bottom, the youngest is at
the top. This is the principle of ‘superposition’.
 Most sedimentary rocks are laid down in flat (horizontal) layers,
although these can later tilt and fold. This is the principle of
‘horizontality’.
 Layers of sedimentary rock extend sideways in the same order. A later
event, such as a river cutting, may form a gap, but you can still connect
the strata. This is the principle of ‘lateral continuity’.

Sandwich stratigraphy
Next time you have a sandwich, use the principles of relative dating to work out
the order it was made in.

Fossils and relative dating

Fossils are important for working out the relative ages of sedimentary rocks.
Throughout the history of life, different organisms have appeared, flourished
and become extinct. Many of these organisms have left their remains as
fossils in sedimentary rocks. Geologists have studied the order in which
fossils appeared and disappeared through time and rocks. This study is
called biostratigraphy.

Fossils can help to match rocks of the same age, even when you find those
rocks a long way apart. This matching process is called correlation, which has
been an important process in constructing geological timescales.

Some fossils, called index fossils, are particularly useful in correlating rocks.
For a fossil to be a good index fossil, it needs to have lived during one specific
time period, be easy to identify and have been abundant and found in many
places. For example, ammonites lived in the Mesozoic era. If you find
ammonites in a rock in the South Island and also in a rock in the North Island,
you can say that both rocks are Mesozoic. Different species of ammonites
lived at different times within the Mesozoic, so identifying a fossil species can
help narrow down when a rock was formed.

Using index fossils

Trilobites lived at a different time to ammonites and belemnites. Finding a trilobite fossil
in a rock tells you the rock was formed in the Paleozoic era.

Correlation can involve matching an undated rock with a dated one at another
location. Suppose you find a fossil at one place that cannot be dated using
absolute methods. That fossil species may have been dated somewhere else,
so you can match them and say that your fossil has a similar age. Some of the
most useful fossils for dating purposes are very small ones. For example,
microscopic dinoflagellates have been studied and dated in great detail
around the world. Correlation with them has helped geologists date many New
Zealand rocks, including those containing dinosaurs.
ROCKS AND LAYERS

W e study Earth's history by studying the record of past events that is preserved

in the rocks. The layers of the rocks are the pages in our history book.

Most of the rocks exposed at the surface of Earth are sedimentary--formed from
particles of older rocks that have been broken apart by water or wind. The gravel,
sand, and mud settle to the bottom in rivers, lakes, and oceans. These sedimentary
particles may bury living and dead animals and plants on the lake or sea bottom. With
the passage of time and the accumulation of more particles, and often with chemical
changes, the sediments at the bottom of the pile become rock. Gravel becomes a rock
called conglomerate, sand becomes sandstone, mud becomes mudstone or shale, and
the animal skeletons and plant pieces can become fossils.

ROCKS AND LAYERS

W e study Earth's history by studying the record of past events that is

preserved in the rocks. The layers of the rocks are the pages in our history
book.

Most of the rocks exposed at the surface of Earth are sedimentary--formed

from particles of older rocks that have been broken apart by water or wind.
The gravel, sand, and mud settle to the bottom in rivers, lakes, and oceans.
These sedimentary particles may bury living and dead animals and plants
on the lake or sea bottom. With the passage of time and the accumulation of
more particles, and often with chemical changes, the sediments at the
bottom of the pile become rock. Gravel becomes a rock called
conglomerate, sand becomes sandstone, mud becomes mudstone or shale,
and the animal skeletons and plant pieces can become fossils.
 An idealized view of a modern landscape and some of the plants and animals that could be
preserved as fossils.

As early as the mid-1600's,

the Danish scientist Nicholas
Steno studied the relative
positions of sedimentary
rocks. He found that solid
particles settle from a fluid
according to their relative
weight or size. The largest, or
heaviest, settle first, and the
smallest, or lightest, settle last.
Originations of major life forms.
Slight changes in particle size
or composition result in the
formation of layers, also called beds, in the rock. Layering, or bedding, is
the most obvious feature of sedimentary rocks.

Sedimentary rocks are formed particle by particle and bed by bed, and the
layers are piled one on top of the other. Thus, in any sequence of layered
rocks, a given bed must be older than any bed on top of it. This Law of
Superposition is fundamental to the interpretation of Earth history, because
at any one location it indicates the relative ages of rock layers and the
fossils in them.

Layered rocks form when particles settle from water or air. Steno's Law of
Original Horizontality states that most sediments, when originally formed,
were laid down horizontally. However, many layered rocks are no longer
horizontal. Because of the Law of Original Horizontality, we know that
sedimentary rocks that are not horizontal either were formed in special
ways or, more often, were moved from their horizontal position by later
events, such as tilting during episodes of mountain building.

Rock layers are also called strata (the plural form of the Latin
word stratum), and stratigraphy is the science of strata. Stratigraphy deals
with all the characteristics of layered rocks; it includes the study of how
these rocks relate to time.

Nearly vertical limestone beds that were

disturbed from their original horizontal
Outcrop of the Ordovician position by mountain building. The men
Lexington Limestone, which is rich are collecting Silurian fossil shells. These
in fossil shells, near Lexington, rocks are in the Arbuckle Mountains, near
Kentucky. These horizontally Ardmore, Oklahoma. Photograph courtesy
layered beds were deposited about of J.E Repetski.
450 million years ago. The dark
stains on the rocks are formed by
water seeping from springs. The
vertical marks on the rocks are
drill holes in which dynamite
charges were exploded to remove
the rock so that an interstate
highway could be
built. Photograph courtesy of O.L.
Karlkins.

An idealized view of a modern landscape and some of the plants and animals that could be
preserved as fossils.

Originations of major life forms.
feature of sedimentary rocks.
As early as the mid-1600's, the Danish
scientist Nicholas Steno studied the
relative positions of sedimentary rocks.
He found that solid particles settle from a
fluid according to their relative weight or
size. The largest, or heaviest, settle first,
and the smallest, or lightest, settle last.
Slight changes in particle size or
composition result in the formation of
layers, also called beds, in the rock.
Layering, or bedding, is the most obvious

Sedimentary rocks are formed particle by particle and bed by bed, and the layers are
piled one on top of the other. Thus, in any sequence of layered rocks, a given bed
must be older than any bed on top of it. This Law of Superposition is fundamental to
the interpretation of Earth history, because at any one location it indicates the relative
ages of rock layers and the fossils in them.

Layered rocks form when particles settle from water or air. Steno's Law of Original
Horizontality states that most sediments, when originally formed, were laid down
horizontally. However, many layered rocks are no longer horizontal. Because of
the Law of Original Horizontality, we know that sedimentary rocks that are not
horizontal either were formed in special ways or, more often, were moved from their
horizontal position by later events, such as tilting during episodes of mountain
building.

Rock layers are also called strata (the plural form of the Latin word stratum), and
stratigraphy is the science of strata. Stratigraphy deals with all the characteristics of
layered rocks; it includes the study of how these rocks relate to time.
Sedimentary rocks have layers because of different depositions of sediments (small
broken pieces of rocks) over time. The different groups of sediments could have been
deposited through wind, water, ice, and/or gravity at different intervals of time and
compacted on top of each other, until they create a sedimentary rock that has several
different types of sediments (possibly from different rock types) in the form of layers.
You can think about it this way. Imagine you have some dirt, sugar, and sand in
different containers. These are your "sediments". You get a large clear boc, and dump
in all of your dirt. That is your first (and oldest!) layer. Then, you dump in all of your
sugar. That is your second, middle layer. Then, you dump in your sand. That is your
third, newest layer. If you look at the clear box, you will see that you have a dark brown
bottom layer, a white middle layer, and a sandy beige top layer.
To relate this to rocks, the "dumping" of rocks is done through erosion. Eventually, after
lots of time and pressure, the sediments compact together and form layers that
eventually form a rock.

What Is a Rock?

To geologists, a rock is a natural substance composed of solid crystals of

different minerals that have been fused together into a solid lump.

The minerals may or may not have been formed at the same time. What
matters is that natural processes glued them all together.

Types of Rocks

There are three basic types of rock: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic.

Extremely common in the Earth's crust, igneous rocks are volcanic and form
from molten material. They include not only lava spewed from volcanoes, but
also rocks like granite, which are formed by magma that solidifies far
underground.
Typically, granite makes up large parts of all the continents. The seafloor is
formed of a dark lava called basalt, the most common volcanic rock. Basalt is
also found in volcanic lava flows, such as those in Hawaii, Iceland, and large
parts of the U.S. Northwest.

Granite rocks can be very old. Some granite, in Australia, is believed to be

more than four billion years old, although when rocks get that old, they've
been altered enough by geological forces that it's hard to classify them.

Sedimentary rocks are formed from eroded fragments of other rocks or even
from the remains of plants or animals. The fragments accumulate in low-lying
areas—lakes, oceans, and deserts—and then are compressed back into rock
by the weight of overlying materials. Sandstone is formed from sand,
mudstone from mud, and limestone from seashells, diatoms, or bonelike
minerals precipitating out of calcium-rich water.

Fossils are most frequently found in sedimentary rock, which comes in layers,
called strata.

Metamorphic rocks are sedimentary or igneous rocks that have been

transformed by pressure, heat, or the intrusion of fluids. The heat may come
from nearby magma or hot water intruding via hot springs. It can also come
from subduction, when tectonic forces draw rocks deep beneath the Earth's
surface.

Marble is metamorphosed limestone, quartzite is metamorphosed sandstone,

and gneiss, another common metamorphic rock, sometimes begins as
granite.