Time and Geology

Chapter 8

Objectives

Know what Hutton and Lyell did Know the Laws and Principles Understand the Unconformities Know index fossils and fossil assemblages Understand correlation of fossils Understand radiometric dating: half life, problems w/ dating, and parent and daughter isotopes.

The Age of the Earth

Prior to the 19th century, accepted age of Earth based on religious

beliefs

~6,000 years for Western culture (Biblical) Old beyond comprehension (Chinese/Hindu) James Hutton Father of Geology went against current thinking Uniformitarianism geologic processes operating at present are the same processes that operated in the past. UNIFORM? Actualism fits better both slow and violent processes can occur together Charles Lyell (early 1800s) pushed Huttons theory and gained widespread attention Lyell also impacted Charles Darwin ideas of life science

Determining Relative Age

Certain principals are used to order events Stratigraphy layers of rocks four main principals
Original Horizontality

Superposition
Lateral continuity Cross-cutting relationships

Relative vs. Numerical Age

After radioactivity was found, the clock helped geologists determine age Relative age - the order of events or objects, from first (oldest) to last (youngest) Determined by applying simple principles, including original units and fossils Numerical age - the age of events or objects, expressed as a number or numbers Determined using radiometric dating (determining how much radioactive decay of a specific element has occurred since a rock formed or an event occurred)

horizontality, superposition, lateral continuity, cross-cutting relationships, inclusions, unconformities, and correlation of rock

Relative Age Determination

Formations - bodies of rock of
considerable thickness with recognizable characteristics allowing them to be distinguished from adjacent rock layers

Original horizontality - beds of

sediment deposited in water are initially formed as horizontal or nearly horizontal layers

Contacts - surfaces separating

successive rock layers (beds)

Relative Age Determination

Superposition - within an undisturbed
sequence of sedimentary or volcanic rocks, layers get younger from bottom to top Lateral continuity - original horizontal layer extends laterally until it tapers or thins at its edges

Relative Age Determination

Cross-cutting relationships - a disrupted
pattern is older than the cause of the disruption Intrusions and faults are younger than the rocks they cut through Baked contacts - contacts between igneous intrusions and surrounding rocks, where surrounding rocks have experienced contact metamorphism Inclusions fragments of one rock unit that have been enclosed w/in another.

Unconformities
Law of Unconformities - a surface (or
contact) that represents a gap in the geologic record that formed wherever layers were not deposited for a time or layers were removed by erosion. Three Types 1. Disconformities 2. Angular unconformity 3. Nonconformity

Disconformity - an unconformity in which the contact representing

missing rock layers separates beds that are parallel to each other

Angular unconformity - an unconformity in which the contact

separates overlying younger layers from eroded tilted or folder layers

Nonconformity - an unconformity in which an erosion surface on

plutonic or metamorphic rock has been covered by younger sedimentary or volcanic rock

Correlation
Correlation - determining the time-equivalency of rock units
Physical continuity
Within a region, a continent, between continents Physically tracing a continuous exposure of a rock unit Easily done in Grand Canyon Assumes similar sequences of rocks formed at same time Can be inaccurate if very common rock types are involved Key beds = very distinctive beds (volcanic ash)

Similarity of rock types

Correlation by fossils

Fossil species succeed one another through the layers in a predictable order (faunal succession) Similar fossil assemblages (groups of different fossil species) used Principal of Fossil Succession fossil organisms succeed one another in a definite and determinable order, and therefore any time period can be recognized by its fossil content.

Fossil Correlations Continued

Index fossil used by geologists to correlate fossils found anywhere in the world.
Index fossil characteristics must be very short lived geologically widespread and known to exist during a specific geologic period. Fossil Assemblage several different fossils in a given rock layer.

Geologic Time Scale

Standard geologic time scale
Worldwide relative time scale Subdivides geologic time based on fossil assemblages Divided into eons, eras, periods, and epochs Precambrian - vast amount of time prior to the Paleozoic era; few fossils preserved prior to mass extinction (glaciation?) Paleozoic era - old life appearance of complex life; many fossils. Precambrian fossils didnt preserve due to lack of shells. These developed during the Paleozoic era. Ended with possible mass extinction of glaciation?

Mesozoic era - "middle life"

Geologic Time Scale

Dinosaurs abundant on land Period ended by mass extinction due to possible meteorite and/or volcanic eruptions Cenozoic era - "new life" Mammals and birds abundant We are currently in the Recent (Holocene) Epoch of the Quaternary Period of the Cenozoic Era Most recent ice ages occurred during the Pleistocene Epoch of the Quaternary Period

Geologic Time Scale P.7 in old book Divided into four Eons Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic, Phanerozoic
Precambrian (all time prior to Phanerozoic) represents 87% of geologic time)

Numerical Age Dating

Numerical dating - puts absolute values (e.g.,
millions of years) on the ages of rocks and geologic time periods Uses radioactive decay of unstable isotopes Only possible since radioactivity was discovered in 1896 Radioactive isotopes decay in predictable manner, giving a characteristic half-life (time it takes for a given amount of radioactive isotope to be reduced by half)

Radioactivity
Each atom has a nucleus: w/ protons, neutrons orbited by electrons. Atomic number is the number of protons in the nucleus Atomic mass is the sum of protons and neutrons the number of neutrons can vary = isotopes w/ different mass numbers Forces that bind protons and neutrons together are strong, but some isotopes have weaker isotopes that are unstable. The unstable nuclei break apart, or decay thru radioactivity. Three types of decay are: 1. Alpha particles 2 P & 2 N are emitted. A.M. lower by 4 238 U to 234 Th (A.N. 90) 2. Beta particles an electron is given off. A.N. +1 A.M. no change 234 Th to 234 Pa (A.N. 91) 3. Electron capture an electron is captured. A.N. 1 A.M. no change 40 K to 40 Ar (A.N. 19) These all decay at a fixed rate and do not vary under physical conditions. The radiometric clock is always reset when a rock is altered.

Radioactivity
Unstable radioactive isotope is called the parent The isotope resulting from the decay is the daughter product. The time required for half of the nuclei in a sample to decay is called the Half-life To determine the age of a object, it needs atoms of a radiometric decay pair that originated when it formed.
A ratio of 1:1 = one half-life A ratio of 1:3 = two half-life A ratio of 1:7 = three half-life

Errors can happen if the system is not a closed system

Radioactivity
Problems with radiometric dating:
Sedimentary rocks rarely able to date, most grains in a rock are not the same age as the rock, due to weathering differentiation. Unless the scientists can relate them to igneous masses from volcanic ash beds. Metamorphic rocks age of a particular mineral does not necessarily represent the time when the rock initially formed.

Age of the Earth

Numerical dating gives absolute age for Earth of about 4.56 billion years Oldest age obtained for meteorites, believed to have been unchanged since the formation of the solar system Earth and rest of solar system very likely formed at this time Geologic (deep) time is vast A long human lifetime (100 years) represents only about 0.000002% of geologic time

End

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Figure 8.19

Life Ancient Subterranean world

Figure 8.25