GeologicTimeLecturePPT ch08

Chapter 8 Lecture Outline
Foundations of
Earth Science
Seventh Edition
Geologic Time
Natalie Bursztyn
Utah State University
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Focus Question 8.1
• How do catastrophism and uniformitarianism

affect our understanding of Earth history?

A Brief History of Geology
• Mid-1600s
– James Ussher stated Earth was only a few thousand
years old
• Catastrophism
– Belief that Earth’s landscapes were formed by great
catastrophes
– Prevalent during the 1600s and 1700s
– Used to fit the rate of Earth’s processes to prevailing
ideas of Earth’s age

A Brief History of Geology
• Late 1700s
– James Hutton published Theory of the Earth
• Uniformitarianism
– States that the physical, chemical, and biological laws
that operate today have also operated in the geologic
past
– To understand ancient rocks, we must understand
present-day processes
– Geologic processes occur over extremely long
periods of time

Creating a Timescale — Relative Dating
Principles
• Efforts to determine Earth’s age during the

1800s and 1900s were unreliable
• Today radiometric dating allows scientists to
accurately determine numerical ages for
rocks representing important events in
Earth’s past
• Relative dates are determined by placing
rocks in the proper sequence of formation

Principles
• Principle of superposition
– Developed by Nicolas Steno in the mid-1600s
– Studied sedimentary rock layers in Italy
• In an undeformed sequence of sedimentary
rocks, each bed is older than the one above
and younger than the one below
– Also applies to lava flows and ash beds

Principles

Principles
• Principle of original horizontality

– Layers of sediment are generally deposited in a
horizontal position
– Rock layers that are flat have not been disturbed
– Folded or inclined rocks must have been disrupted
after deposition

Principles
• Principle of cross-cutting relationships

– Geologic features that cut across rocks must
form after the rocks they cut through
– Faults, igneous intrusions

Principles
• Inclusions
– Fragments of one rock unit enclosed within another
• Rock that contains inclusions is younger than
the rock that provided the inclusions

Unconformities
• Layers of rock that have been deposited without

interruption are called conformable
– A complete set of conformable strata for all of Earth
history does not exist
• Interrupting the deposition of sediment creates a
break in the rock record called an unconformity
– Represents a period when deposition stopped,
erosion occurred, and then deposition resumed
– Generally uplift causes deposition to stop and
subsidence causes deposition to resume

Unconformities
• Angular unconformity
– Consists of tilted or folded sedimentary rocks overlain
by younger, more flat lying strata
– Deformation occurred during the time that deposition
stopped

Unconformities
• Disconformity
– A break in sedimentary rock strata representing a
time when erosion occurred
– Difficult to identify because layers are parallel
– Evidence of erosion (buried stream channel)

Unconformities
• Nonconformity
– Younger sedimentary rocks on top of older
metamorphic or intrusive igneous rocks
– Imply period of uplift of deeply buried rocks

Unconformities

Applying Relative Dating Principles

Focus Questions 8.2
• What principles are used to determine the

relative age of sedimentary rocks?
– Superposition
– Original Horizontality
– Cross-cutting
– Inclusions
• What features form when the deposition of
sediment is interrupted?
– Unconformities
• Angular unconformity
• Disconformity
• Nonconformity

Focus Questions 8.3
• What are the different ways that a fossil can

be preserved?
• Are all organisms that lived in the past
preserved in the fossil record?

Fossils: Evidence of Past Life
• Fossils
– The remains or traces of prehistoric life
• Paleontology
– The scientific study of fossils

Types of Fossils
• Fossils can be preserved in many ways

• Some remains may not be altered at all
– Teeth, bones, shells
– Entire animals including flesh are not common
• Mammoths frozen in Arctic tundra
• Mummified slots in a dry cave in Nevada

Types of Fossils
• Permineralization
– Mineral-rich groundwater permeates porous tissues
– Petrified wood is permineralized with silica
– “Petrified” means “turned to stone”
• Molds
– Form where a structure buried in sediment was dissolved by
groundwater
– Only the outside shape and surface is preserved
– If hollow spaces are filled with mineral matter, a cast is formed
• Carbonization
– Remains are encased in sediment; pressure squeezes out all
liquid and gas until only a thin residue of carbon remains
– Effectively preserves leaves and delicate animals
– Impressions may show considerable detail

Types of Fossils
• Amber
– The hardened resin of ancient trees
– Seals organisms from atmosphere and water
– Preserves delicate organisms like insects
• Trace Fossils
– Indirect evidence of organisms
• Tracks
• Burrows
• Coprolites
• Gastroliths

Types of Fossils

Conditions Favoring Preservation
• Only a very small fraction of organisms are

preserved as fossils
• Rapid burial and hard parts favor
preservation
– Soft parts are eaten or decomposed
– Sediment protects organisms from destruction
– Shells, bones, and teeth are much more
common in the fossil record
• Fossil record is biased

Conditions Favoring Preservation
• What types of organisms are most likely to be

missing from, or are very rare, in the fossil
record? How might this bias our picture of
what life on Earth was like in the past?
– Hint: Think about the organisms themselves,
but also their ecological context and
depositional environment.

Focus Questions 8.3
• What are the different ways that a fossil can be

preserved?
– Unaltered
– Permineralization
– Molds and casts
– Carbonization
– Amber
– Trace fossils
• Are all organisms that lived in the past
preserved in the fossil record?
– Most organisms are not fossilized
– Hard parts and rapid burial increase the chance of
fossilization
Focus Question 8.4
• How can rocks in different areas be

correlated?

Correlation of Rock Layers
• Correlation is matching up rocks of similar

age in different regions
– Reveals a more comprehensive picture of the
sedimentary rock record
• Correlation by walking along outcropping
edges is possible within limited areas
– Rock layers made of distinctive material can
be identified in other places
– Widely separated areas require the use of
fossils


• William Smith
– 1700s to 1800s
– Noted that rock formations in canals contained fossils
unlike the fossils in the beds above and below
• Distinctive fossils can be used to identify and
correlate widely separated sedimentary strata
• Principle of fossil succession
– Fossil organisms succeed one another in a definite
and determinable order, therefore any time period can
be recognized by its fossil content
– Fossils document the evolution of life through time

• Index fossils
– Geographically widespread and limited to a
short span of geologic time
– Important for correlation
• Fossil assemblage
– Can be used when there aren’t index fossils
• Fossils are useful environmental indicators


Focus Question 8.4
• How can rocks in different areas be

correlated?
– Index fossils

Focus Question 8.5
• How can radioactive isotopes be used to

determine numerical ages for geologic
materials?

Reviewing Basic Atomic Structure
• Each atom is made up of protons, neutrons,

and electrons
– Protons have a positive charge
– Electrons have a negative charge
– Neutrons are neutral
• Elements are identified by atomic number
– Number of protons in the nucleus

Reviewing Basic Atomic Structure
• 99.9% of an atom’s mass is in the nucleus

– Electrons have almost no mass
• # of protons + # of neutrons in an atom = the
mass number
• An isotope has a different number of
neutrons in the nucleus
– Different mass number

Dating with Radioactivity
• Some isotopes have unstable nuclei with

bonds that are not strong enough to hold the
protons and neutrons together
• These nuclei will break apart (decay) in a
process called radioactivity

Three common types of radioactive decay:

• Alpha particle = 2 protons and 2 neutrons
–Mass number reduced by 4 and atomic number
decreased by 2
• Beta particle = electron from the neutron
–Neutron is actually a proton and electron combined
–Mass number remains the same, but atomic number
increases by 1
• Electron capture
–Captured by the nucleus and combined with a proton to
form a neutron
–Mass number remains the same, but atomic number
decreases by 1

• Parent Isotope
– Unstable radioactive isotope
• Daughter Product
– Isotope resulting from radioactive decay

• Radiometric dating
– Reliable method of calculating ages of rocks
– Rate of decay for many isotopes does not
vary
– Rate of decay has been precisely measured
– Daughter product has been accumulating at a
known rate since rocks were formed

• Half-life
– Time required for one-half of the nuclei in a
sample to decay
– One half-life has transpired when quantities of
parent and daughter are equal (1:1 ratio)
• If half-life of an isotope is known and parent-
daughter ratio can be measured, then age
can be calculated.


• Five radioactive isotopes are important in

geology:
1. Rubidium-87
2. Uranium-238
3. Uranium-235
4. Thorium-232
5. Potassium-40
• Only useful if the mineral remained in a closed
system
– No addition of loss of parent or daughter isotopes

• Radiocarbon dating
– Using the carbon-14 isotope to date very
recent events
– Half-life of carbon-14 is only 5,730 years
• Only useful for dating events from historic
past and very recent geologic history
– Carbon-14 is present in small amounts in all
organisms


• Radiometric dating methods have been used to

determine the age of the oldest rocks on Earth
– 3.5 billion year old rocks found on all continents
– Oldest rocks: 4.28 billion years old (Quebec, Canada)
– 3.7 to 3.8 billion years old in western Greenland
– 3.5 to 3.7 billion years old in the Minnesota River
Valley and northern Michigan
– 3.4 to 3.5 billion years old in southern Africa
– 3.4 to 3.6 billion years in western Australia

Focus Question 8.5
• How can radioactive isotopes be used to

determine numerical ages for geologic
materials?
– The rate at which parent decays to daughter
product is precisely known
– If the ratio of parent and daughter product can
be measured, then an age for the sample can
be calculated

Focus Question 8.6
• What is the basic structure of the geologic

timescale?

The Geologic Time Scale
• Geologic history divided into units of variable

magnitude
– Developed during the nineteenth century
– Based on relative dating
• Eons represent the greatest span of time
– Phanerozoic Eon began about 542 million years ago
• Eons divided into eras
– Phanerozoic includes Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and
Cenozoic
– Bounded by profound worldwide changes in life-forms
• Eras divided into periods
• Periods divided into epochs

The Geologic Timescale

• Most detail in the geologic timescale begins

at 542 million years ago
• 4 billion years before the Cambrian is known
as the Precambrian
– Divided into Archean and Proterozoic eons
– Each divided into four eras
– Represents 88% of geologic time

• Some “unofficial” terms are associated with

the geologic timescale
– Precambrian = eons and eras before the
Phanerozoic
– Hadean = earliest eon of Earth history
(before the oldest known rocks)

Focus Question 8.6
• What is the basic structure of the geologic

timescale?
– Geologic history is divided into eons
– Eons are divided into eras
– Eras are divided into periods
– Periods are divided into epochs

Focus Question 8.7
• What are some difficulties associated with

assigning numerical ages to sedimentary
rocks?

Determining Numerical Dates for
Sedimentary Strata
• Rocks can only be radiometrically dated if all

minerals formed at the same time
– Works for igneous and metamorphic rocks
– Sedimentary rocks contain particles of many
ages

Determining Numerical Dates for
Sedimentary Strata

Focus Question 8.7
• What are some difficulties associated with

assigning numerical ages to sedimentary
rocks?
– Sedimentary rocks contain particles of many
ages

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Chapter 8 Lecture Outline

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

• How do catastrophism and uniformitarianism

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

• Efforts to determine Earth’s age during the

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

• Principle of original horizontality

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

• Principle of cross-cutting relationships

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

• Layers of rock that have been deposited without

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

• What principles are used to determine the

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

• What are the different ways that a fossil can

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

• Fossils can be preserved in many ways

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

• Only a very small fraction of organisms are

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

• What types of organisms are most likely to be

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

• What are the different ways that a fossil can be

• How can rocks in different areas be

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

• Correlation is matching up rocks of similar

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

• How can rocks in different areas be

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

• How can radioactive isotopes be used to

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

• Each atom is made up of protons, neutrons,

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

• 99.9% of an atom’s mass is in the nucleus

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

• Some isotopes have unstable nuclei with

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Three common types of radioactive decay:

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

• Five radioactive isotopes are important in

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.