Age dating concepts

Unconformities
A contact between sedimentary formations that
represents a gap in the geologic record -- gap
represented is variable
Conformity
Relatively continuous deposition
Deposition of a sequence of parallel
layers
Contacts between formations do not
represent significant amounts of time
from: http://www.elohi.com/photo/grandcanyon
Conformity
Types of unconformities
Angular unconformity
Contact separates
overlying younger layers
from tilted older layers
Sequence of layers
is not parallel
Contacts between
formations may
represent significant
amounts of time
angular unconformity
legacy.belmont.sd62.bc.ca
angular unconformity
from: http://www.uakron.edu/envstudies/parks/rmgcan2.html
angular unconformity
Types of unconformities

Nonconformity
Strata deposited on older crystalline
(metamorphic/igneous) rock
Erosion surface
on igneous/
metamorphic rock
covered by
sedimentary rocks
Large gap in
geologic record
Nonconformity
http://blogs.agu.org/mountainbeltway/2012/02/16/wyler-aerial-tramway-
franklin-mountains-texas/
Nonconformity Franklin Mountains
near El Paso - 500 million years missing
Nonconformity
Flat sedimentary rocks on eroded igneous
or metamorphic rock
Paraconformity
Overlaying and underlaying rocks
relatively parallel
However erosion took place in-between
Little or no evidence of erosion
Somewhat unusual and hard to explain
Paraconformity

Types of unconformities
Disconformity
Beds (formations) are parallel
Sequence of layers
is parallel
Contacts between
may represent significant
amounts of time
Difficult to recognize
Disconformity
Parallel bedding surfaces of sedimentary
rocks
Erosional or non- depositional surface
between
Disconformity
Summary - Unconformities

Unfortunately the rock story is not always easy
to figure out
Another Geologic Law
Faunal Succession observed chronological
sequence of life-forms can be used to observe
chronological sequences of all life forms through
geologic time. Age of rocks can be told from life
forms within (fossils).
The Picture of the past is not Simple.
Mother Nature does not keep rocks in a flat
horizontal position. Many geologic processes
cause sedimentary rocks to bend.
Relative time vs. Absolute time
Study of timing of geologic events and
processes is called Geochronology
Relative Time
Order of events or objects from first (oldest)
to last (youngest) - She is older than he is;
She was born first and he was born last
Age of events or objects expressed numerically
She is twenty-one and he is nineteen
Absolute Time
what events occur?
angular
unconformity
what events occur?
Nonconformity
now that we know all thiswhat happened?
Deposition
Intrusion
Tilting and
Erosion
Subsidence
and
Renewed
Deposition
Record of time eroded away
Intrusion of magma as a dike
More Erosion and Exposure
Subsidence followed by deposition
Uplift/sea level fall and river deposition
Relative ages of the formations
Divisions of Geologic Time
Divisions of Geologic Time
Paleozoic Era 570 to 245 M
First multicell life appear
Land plants, appeared about 430M.
About 360M amphibians crawled onto the
land
By 245 M years ago, plants, insects and
reptiles evolve on land
Two major extinctions occur around 245M
that ends 90% of all marine species.
But life recovers.
Mesozoic Era 245 to 66 M
Dinosaurs rule in this Era.
Continents are moving and Pangaea
forms (all land mass into one gigantic
continent) and then falls apart.
Mammals evolve as do the first birds.
Mountain ranges develop during
continental collisions.
But as the Era closes, the extinction of
dinosaurs occurs. Major meteorite hits
Earth and changes the system.

Kings and Queens of the Mesozoic
Beginning of Cenozoic 66M to
Present
66 M years ago meteor hit Earth, leaves
crater 100km wide, 16km deep
2km high tsunami hits the Texas shore
between here and Austin/Waco
Mass extinctions, including dinosaurs.
The event has been dated using
radioactive techniques.
But afterward, grasses grow and
mammals thrive.
Divisions of Geologic Time


Geologic Time Scale
Eons, Eras, Periods,
and Epochs
Eras - Paleo, Meso,
Ceno - zoic,
proterozoic, archean
Periods rocks and
places rocks found
Perm, Jura, Pa,
Cambria
Epochs named by
Charles Lyell
Dr. Lofton declares
beginning of
Conferocene 7/2012
Ending Holocene in
Aggieland
The Geologic Time Scale
Quaternary Latin, fourth 1822
Tertiary Latin, third 1760
Cretaceous Latin creta, chalk 1822
Jurassic Jura Mountains, Switzerland 1795
Triassic Latin, three-fold 1834
Permian Perm, Russia 1841
Carboniferous Carbon-bearing 1822
Devonian Devonshire, England 1840
Silurian Silures, a pre-Roman tribe 1835
Ordovician Ordovices, a pre-Roman tribe 1879
Cambrian Latin Cambria, Wales 1835
Charles Lyell (1797-1875)
Was a champion of
Huttons work in his 1830
book on the Principles of
Geology.
Has been criticized for his
naming methods for the
Periods. He would support
calling the current epoch in
Aggieland the
Conferocene
So we are in Conferocene
Epoch, Quaternary Period,
Cenoziac Era of the
Phanerozoic Eon. The rest
of the world is still in the
Holocene (Recent) Epoch
Finding a Geologic Clock
Lyell also lacked a Geologic Clock
1896 radioactivity was discovered.
By 1911, concept of a radioactive clock.
A clock provides ABSOLUTE dates as
opposed to RELATIVE dating.
How to we count back?
How many calendars exist in the world?
More than you think. Its 2451 now in
Thailand, for example.
Mayan calendar broken
All dates for radioactive dating relate to
1950 A.D. This date is defined by
international agreement as the present.
So a date of 1500BP is 1500 years
BEFORE 1950.
M&W4 Fig. 3.3; M&W5 Fig. 3.4
The number of protons sets the atomic
number for an element
The number of neutrons in atoms of different
elements can vary.
Atoms of an element having different
numbers of neutrons are referred to as the
isotopes (of that element).
GEOLOGIC DATING
:ABSOLUTE AGE DETERMINATION
What are Radioactive Isotopes?
Nuclei of atoms: Neutrons + Protons
Neutrons no charge, weigh = proton
Protons determine properties
One isotope usually
dominates
Carbon 12 more than
99% of all Carbon.
Unstable isotopes fiss
(fission) to stable ones at log. decay rates

Radioactivity
Nuclei of elements of unstable or
radioactive elements disintegrate
spontaneously!
Carbon 14 (
14
C) decays at precise rate.
By measuring the rate at which beta
particles emitted, we can determine age

14
C emits 15 betas/min/gram (456 g/lb).
Counted in a lead shielded environment.
Half-life is 5,730 years which means half
of the
14
C is gone only 7.5 betas then.

Showing the Change
M&W4 Fig. 17.24; M&W5 Fig. 17.24
C
14
is an isotope of carbon that
forms from Nitrogen in the
atmosphere.
Living things consume this
radioactive carbon.
Once dead, no new carbon is
absorbed, and C
14
turns back
into Nitrogen.
The Half-Life of C
14
is 5,730
years.
This method works best for
fossils younger than 50,000
years. Why?
CARBON 14 DATING
Half life of Isotopes used in dating rocks and fossils
Radioactive Parent Stable Daughter Half-life
Potassium-40 Argon-40 1.25 billion yrs
Rubidium-87 Strontium-87 48.8 billion yrs
Thorium-232 Lead-208 14 billion years
Uranium-235 Lead-207 704 million years
Uranium-238 Lead-206 4.47 billion years
Carbon-14 Nitrogen-14 5730 years
Levin - http://higheredbcs.wiley.com/legacy/college/levin/0471697435/chap_tut/chaps/chapter03-04.html
Nuclear fusion or radioactive decay = energy release as
unstable atomic nucleui creates new stable ones.
Natural constant rate of decay = exponential
Half-life

Three major forms of
radioactive decay
From Tarbuck and Lugens
2008
Radioactivity Contd.
In dating, you really count beta radiation
released
This declines as with each half-life, only
half as many betas are released

14
C is found in every living thing
After death, no new carbon is added and
the decay process begins.
Complications the amount of carbon 14
produced yearly does vary.
This is good clock for the last 40,000 to
50,000 years.


For Billions of Years

238
U (uranium) decays to
206
Pb (lead) with
a half-life of 4.5 x 10
9
years or
4,500,000,000. Hence, we have a clock
that will go back to the beginning of Earth.
Potassium (The Big K) 40 Argon 40
method very useful for dating igneous and
metamorphic minerals. Calculate K to Ar
ratio to determine age. 1.25 billion year
half-life
Objectives Chapter 7
Explain the principles of:
Original Horizontality
Superposition
Cross cutting relationships
Inclusions
Lateral continuity
Use these to relatively date rock strata
Define angular unconformities,
disconformities, and nonconformities and
what they represent
Explain the methods used to absolutely
date rocks.