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    Chapter 10

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    misgana firomsa

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Chapter 10

    Uploaded by

    misgana firomsa
    4 views9 pages

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    © © All Rights Reserved

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    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    4 views9 pages

    Chapter 10

    Uploaded by

    misgana firomsa

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    You are on page 1of 9

    Geologic Time

    Chapter 10
    Does not contain complete lecture notes.

    Determining geological ages


    Relative age dates – placing rocks and
    events in their proper sequence of
    formation
    Numerical dates – specifying the actual
    number of years that have passed since
    an event occurred (known as absolute age
    dating)

    Principles of relative dating

    Law of superposition
    • Developed by Nicolaus Steno in 1669
    • In an undeformed sequence of
    sedimentary rocks (or layered igneous
    rocks), the oldest rocks are on the bottom

    1
    Principles of relative dating
    Principle of original horizontality
    • Layers of sediment are generally
    deposited in a horizontal position
    • Rock layers that are flat have not been
    disturbed
    Principle of cross-cutting relationships
    • Younger features cut across older feature

    Principles of relative dating


    Inclusions
    • An inclusion is a piece of rock that is
    enclosed within another rock
    • Rock containing the inclusion is younger
    Unconformity
    • An unconformity is a break in the rock
    record produced by erosion and/or
    nondeposition of rock units

    Principles of relative dating


    Unconformity
    • Types of unconformities
    – Angular unconformity – tilted rocks are
    overlain by flat-lying rocks
    – Disconformity – strata on either side of the
    unconformity are parallel
    – Nonconformity – metamorphic or igneous
    rocks in contact with sedimentary strata

    2
    Correlation of rock layers
    Matching of rocks of similar ages in
    different regions is known as correlation
    Correlation often relies upon fossils
    • William Smith (late 1700s) noted that
    sedimentary strata in widely separated
    area could be identified and correlated by
    their distinctive fossil content

    Correlation of rock layers


    Correlation often relies upon fossils
    • Principle 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

    Using radioactivity in dating


    Reviewing basic atomic structure
    • Nucleus
    – Protons – positively charged particles with
    mass
    – Neutrons – neutral particles with mass
    – Electrons – negatively charged particles that
    orbit the nucleus

    3
    Using radioactivity in dating
    Reviewing basic atomic structure
    • Atomic number
    – An element’s identifying number
    – Equal to the number of protons in the atom’s
    nucleus
    • Mass number
    – Sum of the number of protons and neutrons
    in an atom’s nucleus

    Using radioactivity in dating


    Reviewing basic atomic structure
    • Isotope
    – Variant of the same parent atom
    – Differs in the number of neutrons
    – Results in a different mass number than the
    parent atom

    Using radioactivity in dating


    Radioactivity
    • Spontaneous changes (decay) in the
    structure of atomic nuclei
    Types of radioactive decay
    • Alpha emission
    – Emission of 2 protons and 2 neutrons (an
    alpha particle)
    – Mass number is reduced by 4 and the atomic
    number is lowered by 2

    4
    Using radioactivity in dating
    Types of radioactive decay
    • Beta emission
    – An electron (beta particle) is ejected from the
    nucleus
    – Mass number remains unchanged and the
    atomic number increases by 1

    Using radioactivity in dating


    Types of radioactive decay
    • Electron capture
    – An electron is captured by the nucleus
    – The electron combines with a proton to form
    a neutron
    – Mass number remains unchanged and the
    atomic number decreases by 1

    Using radioactivity in dating


    Parent – an unstable radioactive isotope
    Daughter product – the isotopes resulting
    from the decay of a parent
    Half-life – the time required for one-half
    of the radioactive nuclei in a sample to
    decay

    5
    Using radioactivity in dating
    Radiometric dating
    • Principle of radioactive dating
    – The percentage of radioactive toms that
    decay during one half-life is always the same
    (50 percent)
    – However, the actual number of atoms that
    decay continually decreases
    – Comparing the ratio of parent to daughter
    yields the age of the sample

    Using radioactivity in dating


    Radiometric dating
    • Useful radioactive isotopes for providing
    radiometric ages
    – Rubidium-87
    – Thorium-232
    – Two isotopes of uranium
    – Potassium-40

    Using radioactivity in dating


    Radiometric dating
    • Sources of error
    – A closed system is required
    – To avoid potential problems, only fresh,
    unweathered rock samples should be used

    6
    Using radioactivity in dating
    Dating with carbon-14 (radiocarbon
    dating)
    • Half-life of only 5730 years
    • Used to date very recent events
    • Carbon-14 is produced in the upper
    atmosphere
    • Useful tool for anthropologists,
    archeologists, and geologists who study
    very recent Earth history

    Using radioactivity in dating


    Importance of radiometric dating
    • Radiometric dating is a complex
    procedure that requires precise
    measurement
    • Rocks from several localities have been
    dated at more than 3 billion years
    • Confirms the idea that geologic time is
    immense

    Geologic time scale


    The geologic time scale – a “calendar” of
    Earth history
    • Subdivides geologic history into units
    • Originally created using relative dates
    Structure of the geologic time scale
    • Eon – the greatest expanse of time

    7
    Geologic time scale
    Structure of the geologic time scale
    • Names of the eons
    – Phanerozoic (“visible life”) – the most recent
    eon, began about 540 million years ago
    – Proterozoic
    – Archean
    – Hadean – the oldest eon

    Geologic time scale


    Structure of the geologic time scale
    • Era – subdivision of an eon
    • Eras of the Phanerozoic eon
    – Cenozoic (“recent life”)
    – Mesozoic (“middle life”)
    – Paleozoic (“ancient life”)
    • Eras are subdivided into periods
    • Periods are subdivided into epochs

    Geologic time scale


    Precambrian time
    • Nearly 4 billion years prior to the
    Cambrian period
    • Not divided into smaller time units
    because the events of Precambrian history
    are not know in great enough detail
    – First abundant fossil evidence does not
    appear until the beginning of the Cambrian

    8
    Geologic time scale
    Difficulties in dating the geologic time
    scale
    • Not all rocks can be dated by radiometric
    methods
    – Grains comprising detrital sedimentary rocks
    are not the same age as the rock in which they
    formed
    – The age of a particular mineral in a
    metamorphic rock may not necessarily
    represent the time when the rock formed

    Geologic time scale


    Difficulties in dating the geologic time
    scale
    • Datable materials (such as volcanic ash
    beds and igneous intrusions) are often
    used to bracket various episodes in Earth
    history and arrive at ages

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