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How Do Rocks

Keep Record of
Geologic Events
 A process taking place on earth is a geological
event in its history. The characteristics of rocks
show a record of events that happened involving
them.
 Within the rock formations that make up the
earth crust lies evidence of over 6 billion years of
time. The clues found in them help scientists put
together a picture of the earth has changed.
 As early as the mid 1600’s Nicholas Steno, a
Danish scientist, studied the relation positions of
sedimentary rocks. He found that solid particles
settle according to their size and weight and size.
 The largest and heaviest settles first;
the smallest and lightest is the last
one to settle.
 Slight changes in particle size or
composition result in the formation
of layers.
 Layering is the most obvious feature
of sedimentary rocks.
Sedimentary Rocks
 Are formed particle by particle and layer by
layer. The layers are piled on top of the
other. Rock layers are also called STRATA
and STRATIGRAPHY is the science of rock
strata or layers. Layering occurs in
sedimentary rocks as they accumulate
through time, so rock layers hold the key in
learning about the environment of long ago
in unlocking the successive events of the
earth’s historical post.
Stratigraphic Laws
Are basic principles that all
geologists use in deciphering
the age and characteristics of
rock layers. These laws were
developed in the 17 to 19
th th
centuries based upon the
work of Steno, James Hutton
and William Smith
FOUR (4) FUNDAMENTAL
PRINCIPLES OF STRATIGRAPHY
THAT FORM THE FOUNDATION
OF OUR COMPREHENSION OF
THE HISTORY OF THE EARTH
The Principle of Original Horizontally
 Most sediments when deposited;
form a horizontal or nearly
horizontal layers. This means that if
there are non- horizontal layers
they could have been tilted or
folded form their original horizontal
position by events such as episodes
of mountain building.
The Principle of Lateral Continuity
 Rock layers, as originally laid down, are
bounded by the edge of the basin of
deposition. Layers of sedimentary rocks
extended sideways in the same order. A
later event such as river cutting may form a
gap, but the connection between strata can
still be established. The point is that,
scientists can relate layers at one location to
layers at another location. This is critical for
stratographic correlation.
The Principle of Superposition
As undisturbed layers
accumulate through time; older
layers are buried beneath
younger layers. This principle also
states that rock fragments must
be older than the rock
containing the fragments.
The Principle of Faunal Succession
 This principle was developed by william Smith, an
English engineer in the late 1700s. Smith noticed
succession of rock layers; furthermore, he saw
that the same vertical changes in fossils that are
embedded in rocks occurred in different places.
He recognized that fossils groups were succeeded
by other fossil groups through time.
 A kind of living thing had succeeded another
when its population increased after the
population of the other kind dissapears from the
earth.
 The Grand Canyon serves as a very good
example of the principles of Stratigraphy.
 The Grand Canyon spectacularly exposes rocks
spanning hundreds of millions of years of Earth’s
history.
 Many of the rock layers exposad on the walls of
the Grand Canyon were left undisturbed by
mountain building or any other form of
deformation ever since they were laid down on
Earth’s Surface.
 Some olders layers, however, have been tilted and
the surface where these tilted layers are overlaid
by a stratum that is not deformed is called
Angular Unconformity.
 The oldest rocks in the grand canyon that exposed
at the base are Proterozoic – age rocks. This is an
appreciation of the principle of superposition.
 In a pile of sediments, the oldest deposits are at the
bottom and on top are the younger deposits.
 Each major layer od sedimentary rocks in the
Grand Canyon contains different kinds of fossils.
 The succession of fossils is a consistent everywhere
in the canyon and is also similar to the succession
of fossils in other parts of North America and on
other continents.
 The priciple has also been used to recognize that
the Grand Canyon includes rocks.
Absolute Dating
 Is the term used to describe any dating
technique that tells how old a rock specimen is
in years.
 This is generally an analytical method and is
carried out in a laboratory.
 Rocks whose ages have been determined by
absolute dating can be incorporated into a
succession of strata determined by relative
dating.
 Before the advent of absolute dating method,
Radiocarbon dating
 This technique measures th decay of C
– 14 in organic material and can be best
applied to specimens younger than 60,
000 years.
 Carbon 14 dating has been successful in
determining the age of fossils.
 You must remember that the rock
strata are usually as old as the fossils
embedded in them.
Radiometric Dating
 Until the advent of radiometric dating, there
was no independent way to test the accurancy
of relative dating of sedimentary sequence.
 The discovery of radioactivity in the late 1800s,
scientists were able to measure the exact age
in years of different rocks.
 Measuring the amount of radioactive decay of a
radioactive isotope with a known half – life,
geologists can establish the absolute age of the
parent material.
Uranium dating
 Uses a very important isotope which is
U – 238.
 It is used in dating very old rocks,
specially rocks that do not contail fossils.
 Uranium when it decays undergoes a
series of nuclear transformations to
arrive at Pb- 206 that is often applied to
the trace mineral zircon igneous rocks.
ANGULAR CONFORMITY

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