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Geologic Time homework posted on BlackBoard & Supplemental Website

Due Friday 5/2

Midterm
Midterm defenses - see Blackboard Announcement Midterm: Learn from errors!
You will see some of these again

Todays Plan
Relative Geologic Time
Uniformitarianism Relative dating methods

Monday: Absolute Geologic Time

Radiometric dating

How Geologists Think about Time

The big word: Uniformitarianism Simply put: If the geologic processes we observe today are representative of those that occurred in the past, then we can make important inferences about the past by observing Earth processes today. Even more simply put: the present is the key to the past.

Examples of Uniformitarian Inferences

Sediment movement and deposition rates (now observed at mm/yr)
So 1000 m of sedimentary rock thickness could represent 1 million years of deposition

Uplift rates (mm/yr) Erosion rates (mm/yr) Plate speeds (cm/yr)

Relative Age Inferences

1. Sediments deposited horizontally 2. Younger sediments on top of older 3. Units that cross-cut (e.g. faults or intrusions) came after (i.e., are younger than) those that they cut 4. Units that include bits of another came later (are younger)

Assumptions / Principles:

Deduction, my dear Watson

Geologists unravel complex stories using these simple principles Examples

Original Horizontality
If layers are inclined at an angle, then something tilted them - they didnt form that way

Original horizontality

Superposition
If one layer is on top of another, then it came later (its younger). Note that layers can be completely upside down, and you need something like cross-bedding to tell which way the layers are facing

Cross-cutting relationships
If a unit is cut or disrupted by something (like a fault, or an igneous intrusion), then the unit must have been there first (the unit is older)

Cross-cutting relationships

Inclusion
If a unit contains pieces of another (like an igneous intrusion, or a sedimentary layer) then the includer must have come after (be younger than) the includee

Inclusion

Lets practice

List events from oldest to youngest (including faulting and erosion) Deposition of Abo Formation, Yeso Formation, Moenkopi Formation, Agua Zarco Formation Fault (covered) offsets the four sedimentary units Erosion (especially of Moenkopi) Emplacement of Bandelier Rhyolite (as hot ash flow) Erosion

Practice makes perfect?

Now for a little more complicated example

Your WarmUp Answers: Part A

The best age estimate of homo sapiens is about 4 million years. So our existence as a species would represent approx ___________ of all geologic time. 10% 8% (?!?)

5%
1% 0.01%

2%
16% 75%

WarmUp Answers: Part B Why must Earth be really old?

Plate tectonic theory explains most of the Earth's features and history. But it takes a lot of time to accomplish any changes at plate tectonic speed. Give one example of a geologic process that does not make sense EXCEPT in the context of millions (or billions) of years. I honestly do not understand this statement, hopefully we will go over this in class like we usually do.

Relative Time Scale

Based on local exercises, then correlated
Fossils help correlate Sedimentary rocks with similar fossils were grouped in time units Time units were named

Correlation

Relative Time Scale

Worldwide changes in fossils give break points When did dinosaurs go mostly extinct?

Fossils
Single-celled organisms range?

Algae

RUST!

(J. William Schopf; 1993 AAAS)

Fossils
Clams (Mollusks) range?

Mollusks

Fossils
Dinosaur range?

Dinosaurs: 290 - 65 M.y.a.

Relative Time Scale

Worldwide changes in fossils give break points The relative time scale doesnt give us numerical ages. Where do these numbers come from?

Absolute Age Determination

Many methods have been devised to measure the Earths age:
Thickness of sedimentary rocks Cooling of the planet (assumed molten initially with no other heat source) Saltiness of the ocean

Radioactivity proved to be the best

Radioactive decay
One element changes to another element (plus a high-energy particle)

Radioactive decay
Elements that decay:
Uranium, Thorium, Potassium, Rubidium Minerals that can be dated: Feldspar, Zircon, Biotite, Muscovite, Amphibole, others

Products of decay:
Lead, Strontium, Argon, (Helium!)

Example of Radioactive Dating

Potassium atoms radioactively decay to argon atoms. Think of an hourglass with potassium in the top and argon in the bottom. A potassium-bearing mineral is the hourglass! (e.g., feldspar, amphibole, biotite, muscovite)

Rate of decay
Chance of decay is constant for each atom in each unit of time (second, minute, year, million years)

Class exercise
Each of you is an potassium atom in a mineral (say, feldspar) Each will decay to argon at a (pseudo-) random time Decay time will be based on letters start as potassium - stand up
decay by sitting down

write down 28 letters: First name, Last name, street name, moms name, etc.

Decay exercise
Decay (sit down) if your random number is rolled
Letter
e,r,f,x

Number on rolled die

1

t,h,p,j
a,l,g,q,m o,d,w,z,k

2
3 4

i,c,y,b
n,s,u,v

5
6

Decay exercise
This is very fast decay! Each ten seconds, each atom had a 1/6 (= about 17%) chance of decay What is half-life of the class, if we rolled the die once every ten seconds?

Radioactive Dating
What can be dated?
Most igneous rocks Some metamorphic rocks Some (few) sedimentary rocks

Dating sedimentary & volcanic layers

Links dates to fossils

Absolute Geologic Time Scale

Eon Era

Cenozoic

Mesozoic
Phanerozoic

Paleozoic

Quaternary Tertiary Cretaceous Jurassic Triassic Permian Pennsylvanian Mississippian Devonian Silurian Ordovician Cambrian

Period

Starting Age (Ma)

65

248

540 2500 3800 4500

Precambrian - Proterozoic
Precambrian - Archean Precambrian - Hadean