Rocks Provide a Timeline for Earth

Notes for section 4.2

First Lets Review!

Make sure your Clickers are on!

The Big Idea!

Rocks and fossils provide a timeline for the Earth

Layers of sedimentary rocks show relative age

Geologists reconstruct the past using the relative ages of objects or events based on clues
For example-magazine activity

Relative age is the age of an event or object in relation to other events or objects. Lets take a look at this link to learn more! http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/expl orations/tours/geotime/gtpage3.html

Do you remember how sedimentary rocks are formed?

Sedimentary rocks form from things that have been eroded and carried away to another area (deposition) Minerals act as glue to cement the layers together Over time, the sediments pile up to form horizontal layers of sedimentary rocks
This is called the Law of Superposition

Bottom layer forms first which means it is the oldest So what does that tell us about the top layer?

Index Fossils
Index fossils are:
fossils of organisms that were common lived in many areas existed only during specific spans of time This information is used to determine its relative age and therefore the relative age of the rock.

Radioactive Dating can show absolute age

When we know the exact age of an object or event, we know its absolute age To determine the absolute age of an object scientists must examine the elements and see the rate at which they break down. This is called radioactive dating or radiometric dating http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/e xplorations/tours/geotime/gtpage8a.html

Did you know????

Scientists used radiometric dating to estimate that the Earth is 4.6 billion years old!

Using Absolute and Relative Age

Scientists must use all methods to determine the age of objects and events in order to figure out the Earths past!