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2nd Quarter 2nd Topic How Layers of Rocks Stratified Rocks Are Formed

1) Sedimentary rocks are formed from the accumulation and compaction of sediments such as gravel, sand, and mud over long periods of time. As these sediments accumulate, they can form different types of sedimentary rocks like sandstone, shale, and limestone. (2) Relative dating methods, such as the law of superposition and original horizontality, allow geologists to determine the relative order and ages of sedimentary rock layers based on their positions. (3) Absolute dating methods like radiometric dating provide specific numerical ages for rocks by measuring the radioactive decay of isotopes.

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621 views30 pages

2nd Quarter 2nd Topic How Layers of Rocks Stratified Rocks Are Formed

1) Sedimentary rocks are formed from the accumulation and compaction of sediments such as gravel, sand, and mud over long periods of time. As these sediments accumulate, they can form different types of sedimentary rocks like sandstone, shale, and limestone. (2) Relative dating methods, such as the law of superposition and original horizontality, allow geologists to determine the relative order and ages of sedimentary rock layers based on their positions. (3) Absolute dating methods like radiometric dating provide specific numerical ages for rocks by measuring the radioactive decay of isotopes.

Uploaded by

Shelvie Morata (Bebeng)
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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2ND TOPIC 2ND QUARTER -HOW LAYERS OF

ROCKS (STRATIFIED ROCKS) ARE


FORMED--- (HISTORY OF THE EARTH)
•Most rocks are sedimentary rocks-
•SEDIMENTARY ROCKS -they are formed from older rocks that have
been broken down by water or wind.
•The older rocks become sedimentary particles such as gravel, sand, and
mud. These particles can also bury dead plants and animals. As time goes
by, the particles accumulate, and those that are at the bottom of the pile
become rocks.
• Gravel becomes conglomerate;
• sand becomes sandstone;
•and mud becomes shale or mudstone.
•The animals or plants buried with them become fossils.

•These series of events form the different layers of rocks.


Methods to Determine the Age of Stratified Rocks
•There are two methods of determining the ages of rocks:

1.Relative Dating and


2. Absolute Dating.

1. Relative dating is a method of arranging geological events


based on the rock sequence.

2. Absolute dating is a method that gives an actual date of the


rock or period of an event.
Relative Dating
•Relative dating cannot provide actual numerical dates of rocks. It only
tells that one rock is older than the other but does not tell how old each
of the rock is.

•In the early mid-1600’s, a Danish scientist, Nicholas Steno, studied the
relative positions of sedimentary rocks. He discovered that they settle
based on their relative weight or size in a fluid. The largest or
heaviest particles settle first, and the smallest or the lightest particles
settle last. Any slight changes in the particle size or composition may
result in the formation of layers called beds.

•Layering or bedding is a distinct quality of sedimentary rocks. The


layered rocks are also called strata.
Principles of Relative Dating

•The law of superposition states that, in any sequence of layered


sedimentary rocks, the top layer is younger than the bottom layer. It is
important in the interpretation of the Earth's history because it
indicates the relative age of the rock layers and fossils.
•The law of original horizontality states that most sediments
were originally laid down horizontally. However, many layered
rocks are no longer horizontal. Based on the law of original
horizontality, the rocks that were tilted may be due to later events
such as tilting episodes of mountain building.
•The law of lateral continuity states that rock layers extend laterally
or out to the sides. These layers may cover broad surfaces. Erosion
may have worn away some parts of the rock, but the layers on either
side of the eroded areas still match.

•The law of cross-cutting relationship states that fault lines and


igneous rocks are younger features that cut through older features
of rocks.
Absolute Dating

•Absolute dating or radiometric dating is a method used to


determine the age of rocks by measuring its radioactive decay.
A radioactive isotope in the rock decays into a stable daughter
isotope. The decay occurs at a predictable rate, so the age of the
sample could be determined.
Examples:
•Radiocarbon dating for organic remains could date up to 60
000 years.
•K-Ar dating and U-Pb dating for volcanic rocks could date up
to five billion years.
Isotopes are two or more types of atoms that have the
same atomic number (number of protons in their nuclei) and
position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the
same chemical element), and that differ in nucleon numbers
(mass numbers) due to different numbers of neutrons in
their nuclei.
How are marker fossils used to define and identify
subdivisions of the geologic time scale?​

index fossils/MARKER FOSSILS are used in the formal


architecture of geologic time for defining the ages, epochs,
periods, and eras of the geologic time scale. The evidence
for these events is found in the fossil record wherever there
is a disappearance of major groups of species within a
geologically short amount of time.
Marker fossils are also called

index fossils (also known as guide fossils,


indicator fossils or zone fossils) are fossils used to
define and identify geologic periods (or fauna stages).
The Geologic Time Scale

•The geologic time scale shows the geologic time intervals


based on the geologic rock records, which describe the
relationships between the events that happened
throughout the Earth’s history. The sequence of events is
based on the radiometric dating of igneous rocks
associated with the fossil-bearing sedimentary rocks.
•A geologic time scale is revised as more
fossil-bearing sedimentary rocks are dated. It
is calibrated by integrating results from
relative and absolute dating. Below is an
example of how geologic time scale is
calibrated.
The Phanerozoic Eon is the current geologic eon in the geologic
time scale, and the one during which abundant animal and plant
life has existed. It covers 541 million years to the present, and it
began with the Cambrian Period when animals first developed
hard shells preserved in the fossil record.

Permian extinction, also called Permian-Triassic


extinction or end-Permian extinction, a series of extinction
pulses that contributed to the greatest mass extinction in Earth’s
history. Many geologists and paleontologists contend that the
Permian extinction occurred over the course of 15 million years
during the latter part of the Permian Period (299 million to 252
million years ago). 
Other possible causes of P-Tr extinction include
volcanism, temperature crisis, especially in shallow
marine waters, alteration of the carbon cycle,
increased population of methane-producing
microbes, widespread anoxia, and emission of
hydrogen sulphide. 
An eon is a very long time indeed. It is the longest
period of geological time. Geologists subdivide an
eon into eras. A geological era is subdivided into
periods, epochs, and stages.
• (US) Eternity.
• A period of 1,000,000,000 years.
• (geology) The longest time period used in geology.
• the longest division of geological time
Era

A time period of indeterminate length, generally more


than one year.
(geology) A unit of time, smaller than eons and greater than
periods.
A fixed point of time, usually an epoch, from which a
series of years is reckoned.
‘The foundation of Solomon's temple is conjectured by
Ideler to have been an era.’;
Geologists have divided the 4.6 billion years of
Earth’s history into units of time called eons.
Then they further divided the eons into two or
more eras, eras into two or more periods, periods
into two or more epochs, and epochs into two or
more ages.
How the Geologic Time Scale is Calibrated

•Raw data composed of strata or layers are reviewed.


•The unique succession of events in the layers is recognized
based on the laws of relative dating leading to a chronological
order of events.
•Numerical or absolute age of the events is given using absolute
dating or radiometric methods. Absolute dating provides the age
for the ash layers while relative dating provides at least six strata
with relative ages – first and last occurrences of the fossils and
the volcanic eruption events.
-End-

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