Geologic Time

Geologic Time

Earth history involves 4.5 billion years.

Geologists need a time scale of earth history in which events can be placed in their proper sequence.

Relative Dating

Tells us the sequence of events.

A few simple rules (formulated by Steno):
o Law of superposition.
o Principle of original horizontality.
o Principle of cross-cutting relationships.
o Inclusions.
Unconformities
o Unconformities represent gaps in the geologic record. Deposition or rock formation ceased and
erosion removed previously formed rocks.
o Unconformities represent significant geologic events in earth history.
o Angular unconformities.
Strata on either side of the unconformity are not parallel.
Most easily recognized of the unconformities.
Deposition -> pause in deposition -> deformation (tilting or folding) -> erosion -> renewed deposition.
o Disconformities
Strata on either side of the unconformity are parallel.
Should be evidence of erosion.
o Nonconformity
Younger sedimentary rock resting on top of older, eroded igneous or metamorphic rock
(not an intrusive relationship).
Again, there must be evidence of erosion.
Application of the principles of relative dating is at Grand Canyon.

Correlation

In order to develop a geologic time scale for the whole earth, rocks of similar age in different regions
must be matched up (correlated).
o By walking the outcrop (short distances).
o By noting the place of a characteristic bed in two or more sequences of strata (somewhat longer
distances).
o By matching overlapping sequences to obtain a more complete picture of the rock record (also
somewhat longer distances).
o By using fossils (long distances and between continents).
Principle of fossil succession - progressive changes with time.
Fossil assemblages - characteristic groupings at any particular time.
Index fossils - widespread geographically and limited in time.

Absolute Dating, Radioactivity and Radiometric Dating

Absolute date - the actual number of years before the present.

Radioactivity is the basis for absolute dating.
o Some isotopes found in nature are unstable - their nuclei break apart or decay.
o There are explicit rules governing the decay - both the type of decay and the rate of decay.

Three common types of radioactive decay:

Alpha decay
An alpha particle is emitted from the nucleus;
An alpha particle is composed of two protons and two neutrons;
The atomic mass is reduced by 4 and the atomic number by 2.
Beta decay
A beta particle is emitted from the nucleus;
A beta particle is an electron;
A neutron is converted to a proton and an electron (beta particle);
The atomic mass is unchanged; the atomic number increases by 1.
Electron capture
An electron combines with a proton to form a neutron.
The atomic mass is unchanged; the atomic number decreases by 1.
o The initial radioactive isotope is referred to as the "parent" and the isotope(s) resulting from the
decay as the "daughter(s)".
o The rate of decay of a radioactive isotope is measured by its half-life.
The half-life is the time it takes for one-half of the parent nuclei in a sample to decay.
The half-life is a precisely measured quantity which is constant in nature.
The ratio of the numbers of parent-to-daughter nuclei gives a measure of the time since
the process began.
The numbers of parent and daughter nuclei can be counted using a mass-spectrometer.
The rules of radiometric dating in geology.
o Rocks must contain one or more radioactive isotopes (this is generally true).
o The "clock is set" when the rock is formed (only true for igneous rocks and some metamorphic
rocks).
o There are no initial daughters in the rock - only parents (usually an OK assumption).
o No daughters or parents are removed from the rock during its lifetime (usually an OK
assumption - can be tested).
o The half-life must be sufficiently long so that there will still be a measurable number of parents
remaining (only those isotopes which satisfy this condition are used).
Isotopes most frequently used for radiometric dating of rocks.
Parent
U-238
U-235
Th-232
Rb-87
K-40

Stable Daughter
Pb-206
Pb-207
Pb-208
Sr-87
Ar-40

Half-life
4.5 billion years
0.7 billion years
14.1 billion years
47.0 billion years
1.3 billion years

Radiocarbon dating
o Uses the isotope C-14.
o C-14 has a known half-life of 5730 years.
o Method is useful for dating events only as far back as 75,000 years or so (e.g., in Archeology).
o Organic materials (wood, bones, etc.) are dated.
o How does the C-14 method work?
C-14 is produced by cosmic ray bombardment of N-14 in the upper atmosphere. C-14 is
radioactive and wants to decay back to N-14. (N-14 + neutron capture -> C-14 in the
upper atmosphere)
This produces a steady state ratio of C-14 to C-12 in the natural environment.
Living organisms, largely made up of carbon and oxygen, maintain this ratio while alive in living and newly formed cells.

When the organism dies, carbon is no longer renewed, and while the stable C-12 remains
with the dead body, the C-14 slowly decays, and thus the ratio of C-14 to C-12 gradually
decreases.
This ratio, by virtue of the known half-life, is a direct measure of the time since the
organism died.

Geologic Time Scale

Geologic history divided into units.

Earth is 4.53 billion years old.
Subdivisions become finer the younger they are. Why?
o The farther back we go, the less we know.
o The first abundant fossil evidence does not appear until the beginning of the Cambrian period.
o Because Precambrian rocks are old they have been subjected to a great many changes, and many
of the clues present in the original rocks have been destroyed.
There are difficulties in dating the geologic time scale in general, and sedimentary sequences in
particular. Why?
o Not all rocks can be dated by radiometric techniques.
Igneous rocks can - the age is the time when minerals crystallized.
Metamorphic rocks can - the age is the time when pressure and heat (increased
temperature) created new minerals.
o Not all sedimentary rocks (which are most useful for relative dating) are cut by igneous rocks
(which can be dated using radiometric techniques).
Precambrian: little information - 4.53 billion to about 543 million years ago - nearly 8/9's of earth's age.
o First evidence of rocks is about 4.4 billion years ago.
o First weak evidence of life 3.8 billion years ago.
o Stromatolites.
o No oxygen in atmosphere.
o BIF - banded iron formation: first evidence of oxygen in atmosphere.
2.5 Ga
o Prokaryote life - small simple single cells without cell nucleus.
o Evolution of Eukaryotes (cells with cell nucleus and sexual reproduction) at about 2.2 to 2.0 Ga.
Genetic diversity.
Phanerozoic
o Paleozoic - "Age of Invertebrates": Early Life.
Explosion of life with hard parts: shells & bones that can be preserved.
Cambrian - trilobites and brachipods dominate the earth.
Ordovician - first jawless fishes.
Silurian - first land plants.
Devonian - first insects.
Mississippian - first amphibians.
Pennsylvanian - first reptiles.
hard shelled egg.
Permian - first mammal-like reptiles.
Great Permian-Triassic extinction 80-95% of all species are extinct.
o Mesozoic - "Age of Reptiles and Dinosaurs": Middle Life.
Triassic - first dinosaurs; reptiles dominate.
Jurassic - first birds, feathers evolve from scales dinosaurs dominate land; reptiles the
oceans.
Cretaceous - first flowering plants lead to explosion of birds and bees (pollinators).
K-T extinction - 60-75% of species extinct.
Life forms larger than about 40 pounds are extinct.

Why large creatures?

o Cenozoic - "Age of Mammals": Late Life.
Paleocene epoch - first horses evolve in N.A.; whales move back to water in Afganistan.
Eocene epoch - first grasses: wheat, barley, rice, corn, etc.
Good food source
Horses start evolutionary change from browsers to grazers.
Pleistocene epoch - "Ice Age": Glacial and Interglacial periods
Extinction of large mammals about 10,000 years ago.
Correlated with the evolution of hunting humans?

Chapter Summary
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, catastrophism influenced the formulation of explanations
about Earth. Catastrophism states that Earth's landscapes have been developed primarily by great catastrophes.
By contrast,uniformitarianism, one of the fundamental principles of modern geology advanced by James
Hutton in the late 1700s, states that the physical, chemical, and biological laws that operate today have also
operated in the geologic past. The idea is often summarized as "the present is the key to the past." Hutton
argued that processes that appear to be slow-acting could, over long spans of time, produce effects that were just
as great as those resulting from sudden catastrophic events.
The two types of dates used by geologists to interpret Earth history are 1) relative dates, which put events in
theirproper sequence of formation, and 2) numerical dates, which pinpoint the time in years when an event
took place.
Relative dates can be established using the law of superposition, principle of original horizontality, principle
of cross-cutting relationships, inclusions, and unconformities.
Correlation, the matching up of two or more geologic phenomena in different areas, is used to develop a
geologic time scale that applies to the entire Earth.
Fossils are the remains or traces of prehistoric life. The special conditions that favor preservation are rapid
burial and the possession of hard parts such as shells, bones, or teeth.
Fossils are used to correlate sedimentary rocks that are from different regions by using the rocks' distinctive
fossil content and applying the principle of fossil succession. It states that fossil organisms succeed one another
in a definite and determinable order, and therefore any time period can be recognized by its fossil content.
Each atom has a nucleus containing protons (positively charged particles) and neutrons (neutral particles).
Orbiting the nucleus are negatively charged electrons. The atomic number of an atom is the number of protons
in the nucleus. The mass number is the number of protons plus the number of neutrons in an atom's
nucleus. Isotopes are variants of the same atom, but with a different number of neutrons, and hence a different
mass number.
Radioactivity is the spontaneous breaking apart (decay) of certain unstable atomic nuclei. Three common types
of radioactive decay are 1) emission of alpha particles from the nucleus, 2) emission of beta particles (or
electrons) from the nucleus, and 3) capture of electrons by the nucleus.
An unstable radioactive isotope, called the parent, will decay and form stable daughter products. The length
of time for one-half of the nuclei of a radioactive isotope to decay is called the half-life of the isotope. If the
half-life of the isotope is known, and the parent/daughter ratio can be measured, the age of a sample can be
calculated.
The geologic time scale divides Earth's history into units of varying magnitude. It is commonly presented in
chart form, with the oldest time and event at the bottom and the youngest at the top. The principal subdivisions
of the geologic time scale, called eons, include the Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic (together, these three eons
are commonly referred to as the Precambrian), and, beginning about 544 million years ago, the Phanerozoic.
The Phanerozoic (meaning "visible life") eon is divided into the following eras: Paleozoic ("ancient
life"), Mesozoic("middle life"), and Cenozoic ("recent life").
A significant problem in assigning numerical dates to units of time is that not all rocks can be dated
radiometrically. A sedimentary rock may contain particles of many ages that have been weathered from
different rocks that formed at various times. One way geologists assign numerical dates to sedimentary rocks is
to relate them to datable igneous masses, such as dikes and volcanic ash beds.