Great God of yesterday, today and

tomorrow,
we adore you for you have made this
school year happen.
Grant us mercy for sometimes
forgetting how each day is a gift of
meaningful change.
Thank you for helping us as we
gradually transition to the new
normal.
Let your Spirit guide and inspire us as
we more forward.
AMEN.
 WEEK 6: MELCs
Describe the Explain how Describe how
different relative and the Earth’s
methods absolute dating history can be
(relative and were used to interpreted
absolute dating) determine the from the
to determine subdivisions of geologic time
the age of geologic time scale
stratified rocks S11/12ES-Ie-27 S11/12ES-Ie-29
S11/12ES-Ie-26
ISLOSFS
KSOCR
ORLYGEPTO
ARTIYSPGATRH
OLOPELGOYANT
Important Figures in Geologic Time

James Hutton (1726-1797): Native of

Edinburgh, Scotland. Father of modern
Geology. Published “Theory of the Earth”
in 1785 in which he outlined that
geological features and ancient rocks could
be explained by present-day physical and
chemical processes.

Charles Lyell (1797-1875): Rebelled

against prevailing thought, which was
rooted in Biblical interpretation and
Catastrophism. His main contribution was
the development of Uniformitarianism
(Actualism). “The present is the key to the
past…”
 Geologic Time Scale

• The geologic time scale divides up the history of the

earth based on life-forms that have existed during
specific times since the creation of the planet. These
divisions are called geochronologic units (geo: rock,
chronology: time).

fossils
The geologic time scale provides a
system of chronologic measurement
relating stratigraphy to time that is used
by geologists, paleontologists, and other
Earth scientists to describe the timing
and relationships between events that
have occurred during the history of the
Earth.

FOSSILS were used as markers when

building up the geologic time scale
Subdivisions of Human Time

Millennium
Century
Decade
Year
Month
Day
longer shorter
Subdivisions of Geologic Time

Eon
Era
Period
Epoch
Stage
Substage

longer shorter
Geologic Time Scale: Divisions

 Eons: Longest subdivision; based on the abundance of

certain fossils

 Eras: Next to longest subdivision; marked by major

changes in the fossil record

 Periods: Based on types of life existing at the time

 Epochs: Shortest subdivision; marked by

differences in life forms and can vary from
continent to continent.
oldest EON and dates from
4.5–4.0 billion years ago
 Geologic Time Scale

• a combination of the two types of age

determination
 a relative sequence of lithologic units
established using logical principles
 measured against a framework of
chronologic dates
 The Key to the Past
Relative Time- “this rock is older than that”
Principles Used to Determine Relative Age
• Superposition
• Horizontality
• Cross cutting
• Faunal Succession
• Lateral Continuity
Absolute Time- “this rock is 28 million years old”
Principles of radioactive decay
• Instruments
• The age of the Earth
 A. RELATIVE DATING
Relative Dating
-Tells us the sequence at
which events occurred, not
how long ago they occurred

• Example: Rock A is OLDER

than Rock B.
• An actual age in years is not
determined.
 I. Principles of Relative Dating

1. Principle of Superposition:
Superposition When
sedimentary rock layers are deposited,
younger layers are on top of older
deposits.
 I. Principles of Relative Dating

2. Principle of Original Horizontality:

Horizontality Sedimentary
rock layers are deposited horizontally. If they are
tilted, folded, or broken, it happened later.
I. Principles of Relative Dating

3. Principle of Cross-Cutting Relationships:

Relationships If an
igneous intrusion or a fault cuts through
existing rocks, the intrusion/fault is YOUNGER
than the rock it cuts through
That which cuts through is younger than the
Object that is cut
dike cuts through

granite is cut
I. Principles of Relative Dating

4. Principle of Faunal Succession:

Succession
• Some species of
organisms only lived
for a short period of
time before they
became extinct..

Trilobite: Index fossil for the

Paleozoic Era
Age: 590-250 mya
Graptolite
• Index Fossil of the
Ordovician Period
• Age: 500-335 mya
Fossil B lived 10 million
years ago – 2 million
years ago.

Fossil A lived 20 million

years ago - 8 million
years ago.

What do you know about

the age of the rock
containing both fossils?
I. Principles of Relative Dating

4. Principle of Lateral Continuity

 II. Correlation
• It is the matching-up of rock layers between different places

The Problem: How can we correlate different regional

systems so that they are in the correct time order if we
can’t directly match their layers?
William Smith (1769-1839)
surveyor, civil engineer
 Who’s the Oldest?
(found in your module)

Directions. Use the letters in the

diagram below to determine the age of
rocks applying the method of relative
dating. List the rock layers from
youngest to the oldest relative to age.

Guide Questions:
1. In the law of superposition, which layer is the oldest? Layer I
2. What is the relative age of igneous rock in layer H? (younger or older) Younger
3. What is the youngest rock layer? Layer R
4. What law/principle is represented by layer H as it passes through layer M, F, B, and I?
5. Which rock layer is older, layer B or layer F? Layer B Cross cutting
B. ABSOLUTE DATING

the process of establishing the

age of an object by determining
the number of years it has
existed
Radioactive Decay Sequence
 acts as an atomic clock
 allows assignment of numerical dates to rocks
 Radioactive isotopes change (decay) into daughter
isotopes at known rates, rates vary with the
isotopes
e.g., U 235, K 40, C 14, etc
Decay
unstable nuclei in parent isotope emits subatomic
particles and transform into another isotopic
element (daughter).

Half-life
The amount of time needed for one-half of a
radioactive parent to decay into daughter
isotope
 If a scientist knows the half-life of the parent
and measures the proportion of parent isotope to
daughter isotope
 Radioactive Dating
The process of determining the absolute ages of rocks
and minerals by measuring the relative amounts of
parent and daughter isotopes
RADIOACTIVE DECAY
• Isotopes with VERY LONG
half-lives are NOT suitable
for dating rocks younger
than ~1 million years
because there are too few
daughter atoms to be
measured accurately.
• Experimental error limits
measurements to those
rocks younger than about 12
half-lives of the isotope
used.
 ABSOLUTE DATING METHOD
A. RADIOCARBON DATING is a common method
used to date anything that was once alive (including
plants) and up to 70,000 years old

WHY CARBON?
 Carbon dating can be used on wood, plants, humans, and
even old paper made out of papyrus.
 The half-life of C-14 is 5,730 years. Because of this, it
should not be used with material older than ~70,000
years or 12 half-lives.
 ABSOLUTE DATING METHOD
B. URANIUM-LEAD DECAY SERIES (U-PB SERIES)

 One of the
oldest and if
done properly
one of the most
accurate
 Can be used for
dating rocks
MORE THAN 10
M years.
U235 becomes  Pb 207
U238 becomes  Pb 206
 HOW OLD IS OLD?
 From the time of Hutton, scientists were convinced that the earth was much
older than the 6000 years predicted by the religious scholars.
 Charles Lyell tried to estimate the age of the earth through the amount of
evolution exhibited by marine mollusks in a specific time system
 Another method was to estimate the rate of deposition for sedimentary
rocks.
 Sir Edmund Halley proposed to estimate the age of the earth using salt
content of the oceans, assuming that the oceans were once non-saline and
that salt addition to the oceans corresponded in some linear fashion with
time.
 Lord Kelvin estimated the age of the Earth at 24-40 million years. He
proposed that the Earth has been cooling since it formed, and he calculated
the rate of cooling using principles of heat conduction.
 It wasn’t until Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity in 1896 and
Madame Curie isolated radium 2 years later that people realized that the
Earth had it’s own source of heat. Thus it became one of the most useful
tools for future scientists.
 HOW OLD IS OLD?

 The oldest rocks found so far on Earth (based on zircon

grains from Australia) have been dated at 4.1-4.2 billion
years.
 Meteorites have also been dated at 4.6 billion years.
Meteorites are considered to be remnants of a plant or
asteroid that originally formed at the same time as the
Earth, so that the Earth’s age is currently estimated to be
4.6 billion years.
 The oldest fossils are preserved remains of stromatolites,
which are layers of lithified blue-green algae, dating to
approximately 3.5 billion years before present.
 SUMMARY_1
• Geologic time scale is a timeline that illustrates
Earth’s past. It describes the order of duration of
major events on Earth for the last 4.6 billion years.
• Geologic time scale was developed after the
scientist observed changes in the fossils and rocks
going from oldest to youngest sedimentary rocks.
• Geologic time scale was divided into four divisions
which include the Eons, Era, Period, and Epoch.
• Eons is the largest division in the geologic time
scale.
 SUMMARY_2
• Relative dating or age is the order of the rocks from
oldest to youngest. It does not determine the exact
age of rock or fossils but does learn which one is
older or younger than the other.
• Relative age of rocks based on the order gives its
physical division in the geologic time scale.
• Absolute dating or age measures the number of
radioactive elements in rocks to give the ages to
each division of time in the geologic time scale.
• Absolute time refers to the numerical ages in millions
of years or some other measurement.
ACTIVITY 1A:
Who’s the Direction: Write the capital letter in the blanks below
Oldest?

Youngest 1)_____ 2)_____ 3)_____ 4)_____ 5)_____ 6)_____Oldest

ACTIVITY 1B: Direction: Write the name of the rock according to age
Who’s the
Oldest?
Youngest
__________________
7
__________________
8
__________________
9
10 __________________
11 __________________
12 __________________
Oldest
 ASSIGNMENT
(Upload your answer in the Gclassroom / Assignment folder pls)
Make a diary noting the important events that happened in your life
for the day which you can associate with the geologic time scale.
DATE DATES OF THE WEEK EVENT / ACTIVITY

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday