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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
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:
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
5%
1% 0.01%
2%
16% 75%
Correlation
Fossils
Single-celled organisms range?
Algae
RUST!
Fossils
Clams (Mollusks) range?
Mollusks
Fossils
Dinosaur range?
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!)
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
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
Cenozoic
Mesozoic
Phanerozoic
Paleozoic
Quaternary Tertiary Cretaceous Jurassic Triassic Permian Pennsylvanian Mississippian Devonian Silurian Ordovician Cambrian
Period
65
248
Precambrian - Proterozoic
Precambrian - Archean Precambrian - Hadean