Geologic Time

Relative vs. Absolute ages

 Age of the Earth

• For years, men have been trying to find out the

absolute age of the earth
• Only in the 20th century did scientists get to know
the absolute age of the earth
• The earth is 4.6 billion years old
 Concept of time in terms of
heartbeats
• 1 minute = 70
• 1 day = 100,800
• 1 year = 3,528,000
• 100 years = 352,800,000
• 1 Billion yrs = 3,528,000,000,000,000
(3.5 quadrillion heartbeats)
• 4.6 Billion yrs = 16,228,800,000,000,000
Peak oil is the date when the peak of
the world's petroleum (crude oil)
production rate is reached. After this
date the rate of production will by
definition enter terminal decline.
No oil in rocks < 2
million years
7,056,000,000,000
7 trillion heartbeats

It took us about a
hundred years to nearly
consume it.
352,800,000 heartbeats
 Relative vs absolute ages
• Relative age (e.g) • Absolute ages (e.g)
1. Wake up in the – Age of earth = 4.6 b.y.
morning – Continetal drift 
2. Go to the toilet proposed in 1912
3. Eat breakfast – First landing on the
4. Brush teeth moon  1969
5. Go to school – Rico Yan dies  2002
 Relative ages rocks
• Principles used to determine relative ages
– Original horizontality
– Superposition
– Cross-cutting relationships
Principle of original horizontality
• Definition: layers of sedimentary rock are
initially deposited as horizontal layers of
sediment.
 Principle of Superposition
• Definition: in any
succession of
sedimentary rock
layers, the layers near
the bottom are the
oldest and the layers
near the top are the
youngest.
 Cross-cutting relationships
• Definition: in any
geologic setting, the
event or geologic
feature which cuts
across other features is
younger.
 Cross-cutting relationships
• Definition: in any
geologic setting, the
event or geologic
feature which cuts
across other features is
younger.
 Conformable strata
• In a sequence of undisturbed deposition of
sedimentary rocks, the layers are said to be
conformable.
 Unconformable strata
• It is however rare that deposition of sedimentary
layers are uninterrupted
• When deposition of sedimentary layers are
interrupted, they give rise to unconformities
 Unconformities

• Definition: A surface that represents a

break in the rock record. A buried
erosion surface
• Types
– Angular unconformity
– Non-conformity
– Disconformity
 Angular unconformity
• Definition:
An
unconformity
in which the
older strata
dip at an
angle
different
from that of
the younger
sedimentary Angular unconformity
beds
 Non-conformity
• Definition: An
unconformity in which
older metamorphic or
intrusive igneous
rocks are overlain by
younger sedimentary
strata
 Disconformity
• Definition: A type of unconformity in which the
beds above and below the erosional surface are
parallel

disconformity
Hypothetical cross-section
Arrange the events from oldest to youngest.
Modern Geology
James Hutton (1726-1797)
Principle of
Uniformitarianism
“The present is the key to the
past”
Modern Geology
• The physical, chemical
and biological laws that
operate today have also
operated in the geologic
past
• The processes observed
presently shaping the earth
have been at work for a
very long time
 Modern Geology

James Hutton (1726-1797)

" ... that we find no vestige of a beginning, - no prospect of an end"
e.g. Average rate of 1 cm/yr
For sediments to accumulate 10 km, it would take 1 million years
Index fossils (also known as
guide fossils, indicator fossils
or zone fossils) are fossils
used to define and identify
geologic periods (or faunal
stages).
 Absolute dating
• Radioactive decay: The spontaneous decay
of certain unstable nuclei.
 Isotopes
• The nucleus of the
atom is comprised of Picture of atom with
Electrons orbiting
protons and neutrons
• Protons are positive
and neutrons are
electrically neutral
• Orbiting the nucleus
are electron
 Isotopes
• Atoms that have the • Carbon14
same no. of protons – Contains 6 protons
but have different no. and 8 neutrons
of neutrons (different • Carbon12
atomic mass) are
called isotopes – Contains 6 protons
and 6 neutrons
 Types of radioactive decay
• The reason for the existence of isotopes is
because atoms can decay according to the
following types:
– Alpha emission
– Beta emission
– Electron capture
 Alpha emission
Alpha particles emitted from the nucleus.
An alpha is composed of 2 protons and
2 neutrons.
 Beta emission
A beta particle is given off from the nucleus
 Electron capture
An electron is captured by the nucleus. The
electron combines with a proton and forms a
Neutron.
 Half-life
• The time it takes for half the amount of a
radioactive isotope to decay into its
daughter product
Use of isotopes in absolute dating
• Isotopes are useful because it can be used to
date rocks.
• These isotopes are found in minerals that
are contained in rocks
 Isotopes in sedimentary rocks
• These isotopes are not useful because
sedimentary rocks contain different
particles from different rock sources
 Isotopes in igneous rocks
• Isotopes contained in minerals found in
igneous rocks are good for absolute dating.
• It is because these isotopes were formed
during the same time.
• This is the time when the
igneous rock formed.