HISTORY OF THE EARTH

What Is Stratification ?

STRATIFICATION refers to the way sediment layers are stacked over each other, and can occur on the
scale of hundreds of meters, and down to submillimeter scale. It is a fundamental feature of
sedimentary rocks. The sediments themselves also teach us about the environment in which the rock
was formed.

Two Laws that Explain the Formation of Rock Layers

1. THE LAW OF ORIGINAL HORIZONTALITY
Tells us that dirt, mud, sand and other sediments are almost always deposited in horizontal layers. As
these sediments stack up vertically, they often harden, forming rock layers.
2. THE LAW OF SUPERPOSITION
Rock layers are usually ordered with the oldest layers on the bottom, and the most recent layers on
top. The Law of Faunal Succession explains that fossils found in rock layers are also ordered in this way.

Methods to Determine the Age of the Earth and Fossils

1.Relative Dating
-uses geological evidence to assign comparative ages of fossils
-earth is arranged into sedimentary layers (stratification), with younger stratum sitting on top of older
stratum (law of superposition
-The age and history of fossils can be traced by mapping the relative ages of the strata (layers)
\in which different fossils are found
-a strata representing a particular time period may be missing or appear different due to environmental
conditions at the time (e.g. flooding, erosion, etc.)
-Index fossils -are remains that represent short lived species that only appear in a specific period
- are useful because they tell the relative ages of the rock layers in which they
occur.
2. Absolute Dating
-Absolute dating uses radiometric data analysis to determine more exact ages
-It involves comparing the ratio of radioactive isotopes in rock samples or fossils to that found in the
atmosphere
-Different radioisotopes have different half lives and are thus useful for dating different types of
fossilized remains
-Some examples of possible radioactive isotopes that may be used for long range dating include:
Uranium-238 breaks down into Lead-207 (half life = 704 million years)
Potassium-40 breaks down into Argon-40 (half life = 1,300 million years)

The Geological Time Scale measures time on a scale involving four main units:
An epoch is the smallest unit of time on the scale and encompasses a period of millions of years
Chronologically, epochs are clumped together into larger units called periods
 Periods are combined to make subdivisions called eras
 An eon is the largest period of geological time
 The division of time units in the geological time scale is usually based on the occurrence of
significant geological events (e.g. mass extinctions)
 As such, the geological time categories do not usually consist of a uniform length of time