Earth Science, January 14, 2022

History of the Earth:

GEOLOGIC DATING
OBJECTIVES

1. Describe the different methods (relative and

absolute dating) of determining the age of
stratified rocks.
2. Explain how relative dating were used to
determine the subdivisions of geologic time.
RECALL

1. In the geologic time scale, where does

the different period got their names?
2. How do geologists know that two rock
units separated by distance are of the same
age?
3. What is an index fossil? What are the
criteria for an organism to be considered as
an index fossil?
VOCABULARY WORDS

ABSOLUTE
- constant, confirmed, complete.
RELATIVE
- being such only when compared to
something else.
 Identify the following as ABSOLUTE or
RELATIVE.
1. Galileo Galilei died on the same year that
Isaac Newton was born.
2. Isaac Newton was born on December 25,
1642.
3. The Philippines gained independence from
Spain on June 12, 1898.
4. Among Spain’s colonies in the 19th century,
the Philippines was the last to gain
independence. Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico
separated years before.
5. We are now on the year 2019, two-thousand
and nineteen years after the birth of Christ.
 GEOLOGIC DATING

🞭 In studying the history of the Earth,

geologists often need to know the age of a
material that they find. They use absolute
dating methods, sometimes called
numerical dating, to give rocks an actual
date, or date range, in number of years.
This is different to relative dating, which
only puts geological events in time order.
ABSOLUTE DATING

The primary method used in absolute

dating is radiometric method. In
radiometry, radioactive minerals in rocks
are used as geological clocks.

This method works because some unstable

(radioactive) isotopes of some elements
decay at a known rate into daughter
products. This rate of decay is called a half-
life. Half-life simply means the amount of
time it takes for half of a remaining
particular isotope to decay to a daughter
ABSOLUTE DATING

Radiometric Methods Used in

Absolute Dating:
1. Carbon Dating – up to 100,000
years
2. Potassium- Argon Dating – up to
billions of years.
RELATIVE DATING

🞭 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.
HOW RELATIVE DATING WORKS?
🞭 The main technique in relative dating is correlation.
Correlation means finding out how rocks at different locations
compare in age.
🞭 The main rock unit used for correlation is called a formation.
A formation may be one or several distinctive kinds of
igneous or sedimentary rocks grouped together. A formation
should be picked out easily from different rocks above and
below it. It also should be recognized at some place distant
from the place where it was first described.
🞭 Fossils are particularly valuable in correlation work. Index
fossils in two different unconnected rock formations show that
the formations were formed at the same time.
GEOLOGIC DATING FLOW CHART

Relative Dating

Imaginary
Correlatio Absolute Geologic
column of rock
n Dating
according to Time Scale
relative ages

At first, the geologic time scale was a relative

scale based on correlation. Later, absolute dating
was used to provide the numerical ages of rock
units.
HOW CORRELATION WORKS?

Example of formation used in

correlation.
HOW CORRELATION WORKS?
HOW CORRELATION WORKS?

This is where the imagination of a geologist come into

play.
HOW RELATIVE DATING WORKS

Relative dating works through correlation

(matching two or more rocks from different
places) and establishing the arrangement of
the rocks in chronological order (such as
from oldest to youngest).

How do geologists know that one rock unit is

older than another rock unit?
PRINCIPLES OF STRATIGRAPHY

1. Principle of Superposition
2. Principle of Original Horizontality
3. Principle of Faunal Succession
4. Principle of Cross-cutting Relations
5. Principle of Inclusion
6. Metamorphic Rocks
1. PRINCIPLE OF SUPERPOSITION
In a sequence of undeformed sedimentary
rock layers, the rocks get older from top to
bottom ( the bottom layer is the oldest layer and
the top layer is the youngest).
2. PRINCIPLE OF ORIGINAL
HORIZONTALITY
When sedimentary rock layers are being
deposited, gravity forces them to be deposited as
flat, horizontal layers. Once the sediment has
solidified and become rock, they can be tilted or
folded.
3. PRINCIPLE OF FAUNAL
SUCCESSION:
Groups, or
assemblages, of plant and
animal fossils appear in the
geologic record in a specific
order. These assemblages
can be used to identify
certain periods of geologic
time.
3. PRINCIPLE OF FAUNAL
SUCCESSION:
4. PRINCIPLE OF CROSS-CUTTING
RELATIONS:
An igneous rock unit
or fault that cuts across
another rock unit must be
younger than the unit it
cuts across.
In other words, the other
rock unit must have
already been there for the
igneous rock or fault to cut
across it.
5. PRINCIPLE OF INCLUSION:
A rock unit that contains inclusions of
preexisting rocks must be younger than the rock
unit from which the inclusions came.
5. PRINCIPLE OF INCLUSION:

Granite is older
than sandstone in
Fig. A.

Sandstone is older
than granite in Fig.
B

A B

Q1: In figure A, which is older- the granite or the

sandstone?
Q2: In figure B, which is older- the granite or the
sandstone?
6. METAMORPHIC ROCKS:
A metamorphic rock is always older than the
non-metamorphosed rocks around it. The
metamorphic rock must have formed before the
surrounding rocks, otherwise they would be
metamorphosed as well.
ACTIVITY: ROCK
DETECTIVES
ROCK DETECTIVES

Objectives:
1. Create a model that demonstrates some
of the principles of stratigraphy.
2. Apply the principles of stratigraphy to
sequence layers of rocks from youngest
to oldest.
ROCK DETECTIVES: PART D
FIGURE 1

Youngest B
A
D
E
Oldest C

Principle of Cross-cutting Relations

Principle of Superposition
FIGURE 2

Youngest: B
A
D
C
Oldest E

Principle of Superposition
Metamorphic Rocks
Principle of Inclusion
FIGURE 3

Youngest: B
A
Oldest: C

Principle of Crosscutting Relations

Metamorphic Rocks
FIGURE 4

Youngest: E
I
B
F
D
H
A
C
Oldest: G

Principle of Crosscutting Relations

Principle of Superposition
ANALYSIS

1. How is relative dating different from

absolute dating?
2. How do we know that one rock layer is
older than another?
3. Which principle of stratigraphy makes use
of index fossils?
4. Why are metamorphic rocks always older
than the non-metamorphic rocks that
surround it?
SUMMING UP
THE ORIGIN OF LAGUNA DE BAY
THE ORIGIN OF LAGUNA DE BAY
Early geologists had diverse opinions regarding the origin
of Laguna de Bay. Up to this time, the issue that the lake was
previously a volcanic crater or that it originated through
subsidence due to a volcanic eruption still needs supporting
facts. A shallow crater at the southern end of Talim Island can be
found and serves as one evidence of its volcanic history, i.e., that
Laguna de Bay is believed to have been formed by two major
volcanic eruptions between 27,000-29,000 years ago (UP
Planades, 2011).

Based on recent findings, Laguna de Bay was once a part

of Manila Bay. This is evidenced by the discovery of drill cores of
marine shell species which can also be found in Manila Bay.
These species of marine shells can also be located in the upper
shores of Bagumbayan (Luneta Park) and in the Marikina Fault in
Pasig-Marikina River junction (Laguna de Bay Master Plan,
1995).
Drill
cores