Geologic Time Scale

CVE 3205
Engineering Geology
Wong Jee Khai

Introduction
The concept that most geologic processes
happen very slowly was proposed by
James Hutton (1726-1797).
Geologists sort Earths history into a
sequence of events.
Position in that sequence identifies relative
age.
Numerical age can be determined through
analysis of the products of radioactive decay

Record of Layered Rocks

Layered sedimentary or volcanic rocks
contain important clues about past
environments at and near Earths surface.
Their sequence and relative ages provide
the basis for reconstructing much of
Earths history.
The study of strata is called stratigraphy.

The Laws of Stratigraphy

Most sediment is laid down in the sea,
generally in relatively shallow waters, or by
streams on the land.
Each new layer is laid down horizontally
over older ones.
The law of original horizontality states that
water-laid sediments are deposited in strata
that are horizontal or nearly horizontal.

Stratigraphic Superposition
The principle of stratigraphic superposition
states that any sequence of sedimentary
strata was deposited from bottom to top.
Charles Lyell and other geologists of the
nineteenth century speculated that it might
be possible to determine numerical ages
by using stratigraphic record.

Stratigraphic Superposition
Two assumptions must be correct for the
method to work:
It must be assumed that the rate of
sedimentation was constant throughout the
time of sediment accumulation.
It must be assumed that all strata exhibit
conformity, meaning they have been
deposited layer after layer without
interruption.

Stratigraphic Superposition
The first assumption is false because it can be
observed today that sedimentation rates vary
widely from place to place and time to time.
The second and even more important
assumption is false because sedimentation
can be disrupted periodically by major
environmental changes, such as sea level
changes and tectonic activity that lead to
intervals of erosion or non deposition.

Kinds of Unconformities
An unconformity is a substantial break or
gap in a stratigraphic sequence.
Three important kinds of unconformities
are found in sedimentary rocks:
Angular unconformity.
The older strata were deformed and then cut off by
erosion before the younger layers were deposited
across them.

Kinds of Unconformities
Disconformity.
It is an irregular surface of erosion between parallel
strata.
A disconformity implies a cessation of sedimentation
and erosion, but not tilting.
It is often hard to recognize, because the strata above
and below are parallel.

Nonconformity.
Strata overlie igneous or metamorphic rock.

The Significance of
Unconformities
The many unconformities exposed in rocks
of Earths crust are evidence that former
seafloors were uplifted by tectonic forces
and exposed to erosion.
Preservation of a surface of erosion occurs
when later tectonic forces depress the
surface.
The surface, in turn, becomes a site of
deposition of sediment.

Correlation
Correlation involves two main tasks:
Determining the relative ages of units
exposed within a local area being studied
(identifying the same formation wherever it
crops out).
Establishing the ages of the local rock units
relative to a standard scale of geologic time.
Distinctive fossils (index fossils)are especially useful
for this purpose. If a distinctive index fossil is
recognizable at an outcrop, a rapid and reliable means
of correlation is available.

The Geologic Column and the

Geologic Time Scale
In the nineteenth century, geologists began
to assemble a geologic column, which is a
composite column containing, in
chronological order, the succession of
known strata, fitted together on the basis of
their fossils or other evidence of relative
age.
The corresponding column of time is the
geologic time scale.

Eons
An eon is the largest interval into which
geologic time is divided.
There are four eons.
1. The Hadean Eon is the oldest
Some of the samples brought back from the moon
were formed during the Hadean Eon.

2. The Archean Eon follows the Hadean.

Archean rocks, which contain primitive microscopic
life forms are the oldest rocks we know of on the
Earth.

Eons
3. The Proterozoic Eon follows the Archean.
4. The Phanerozoic Eon is the most recent of
the four eons.

Eras
Each of the eons is subdivided into shorter
time units called eras.
The Phanerozoic Eon is divided into the:
Paleozoic (old life).
Mesozoic (middle life).
Cenozoic (recent life).

Eras
In the Paleozoic Era, early land plants
appeared, expanded and evolved. Developing
animal life included marine invertebrates,
fishes, amphibians,and reptiles.
The Mesozoic Era saw the rise of the
dinosaurs, which became the dominant
vertebrates on land. Mammals first appeared
during the Mesozoic Era as did flowering
plants.

Eras
Mammals dominated the Cenozoic Era.
Grasses evolved during the Cenozoic Era,
and became an important food for grazing
mammals.

Periods
The Eras of the Phanerozoic Eon are
divided into periods.
The periods are defined on the basis of the
fossils contained in the equivalent rocks.
The two Periods are the Quaternary Period
and the Tertiary Period

Epochs
Periods are further subdivided into
epochs on the basis of the fossil record.
The Tertiary Period is divided into these
epochs:
Paleocene.
Eocene.
Oligocene.

Epochs
The Quaternary Period is divided into
these epochs:
Holocene.
Pleistocene.

Measure Geologic Time

Numerically
Early attempts to measure geologic time
numerically were inaccurate.
Edmund Halley suggested, in 1715, that sea salt
might be used to date the ocean.
John Joly finally made the necessary
measurements and calculations in 1889. His
determination of the oceans age, 90 million years,
was not correct.
Salts are added both by erosion and by submarine
volcanism, but salts are also removed by solution.

Measure Geologic Time

Numerically
Lord Kelvin, a physicist, attempted to calculate
the time Earth has been a solid body.
By measuring the thermal properties of rock
and estimating the present temperature of
Earths interior, he calculated the time for the
Earth to cool to its present state.
His estimate of 100 million years is incorrect.
The Earths interior is cooling so slowly that it has a nearly
constant temperature over periods as long as hundreds of
millions of years.

Radioactivity
In 1896, the discovery of radioactivity
provided the needed method to measure
the age of the Earth accurately.
Different kinds of atoms of an element that
contain different numbers of neutrons are
called isotopes.
Most Isotopes of the chemical elements found
in Earth are generally stable and not subject to
change.

Radioactivity
A few isotopes, such as 14C, are
radioactive.
Radioactivity arises because of instability within
an atomic nucleus.
If the ratio of the number of neutrons (n) to the
number of protons (p) is too high or too low, the
atomic nucleus of a radioactive isotope will
transform spontaneously to a nucleus of a more
stable isotope of a different chemical element.

Radioactivity
The process is called radioactive decay.
An atomic nucleus undergoing radioactive
decay is said to be the parent.
The product arising form radioactive decay is
called a daughter.

Types of Radioactive Decay

Radioactive decay can happen in five ways:
1. Beta decay: emission of an electron from the
nucleus.
2. Positron emission: emission of a particle with
the same mass as an electron but with a positive
charge.
3. Electron capture: by capture into the nucleus
of one of the orbital electrons, a process that
decreases the number of protons in the nucleus
by one.

Types of Radioactive Decay

4. Alpha decay: emission from the nucleus of a
heavy atomic particle consisting of two
neutrons and two protons called an (alpha)
particle.
5. Gamma ray emission: emission of rays
(gamma rays), which are very shortwavelength, high-energy electromagnetic rays.
Gamma rays have no mass, so gamma ray emission
does not affect either the atomic number or the mass
number of an isotope.

Half-Lives of Isotopes
The rate at which radioactive decay
occurs varies among isotopes.
Decay rates are unaffected by changes
in the chemical and physical
environment.
The decay rate of a given isotope is the
same in the mantle or in a sedimentary
rock.

Half-Lives of Isotopes
In radioactive decay, the proportion
fraction or percentageof parent atoms
that decay during each unit of time is
always the same.
The rate of radioactive decay is measured
in terms of half-life, the amount of time
needed for the number of parent atoms to
be reduced by one half.

Half-Lives of Isotopes
In radioactive decay, the proportion
fraction or percentageof parent atoms
that decay during each unit of time is
always the same.

Using Radioactivity to
Measure Time
Radioactivity in a mineral is like a clock.
The length of time this clock has been ticking
is the minerals radiometric age.
Many natural radioactive isotopes can be
used for radiometric dating, but six
predominate in geologic studies:
Two radioactive isotopes of uranium plus radioactive isotopes
of thorium, potassium, rubidium and carbon are used.
In practice, an isotope can be used for dating samples that are
no older than about six half-lives of the isotope.

Radiocarbon Dating

C is especially useful for dating

geologically young samples.
The half-life of radiocarbon is short5730
yearsby comparison with the half-lives of
most isotopes used for radiometric dating.
Radiocarbon is continuously created in the
atmosphere through bombardment of 14C
by neutrons created by cosmic radiation.
14

Radiocarbon Dating
Though some variations have been identified,
the proportion of 14C is nearly constant
throughout the atmosphere and biosphere.
Living organisms have the same proportion of
14C In their bodies as exists in their
environment.
No carbon is added after death, so by
measuring the radioactivity remaining in an
organic sample, we can calculate how many
half-lives ago the organism died.

Magnetic Polarity Time Scale

Certain rocks become permanent magnets
as a result of the way they form.
Magnetite and certain other iron-bearing
minerals can become permanently
magnetized.
Above a certain temperature (called the
Curie point), the thermal agitation of
atoms is such that permanent magnetism
is impossible.

Magnetic Polarity Time Scale

Below that temperature, however, the
magnetic fields of adjacent iron atoms
reinforce each other.

Magnetic Polarity Time Scale

As solidified lava cools, the temperature will
drop below 580oC, the Curie point for
magnetite.
When the temperature drops below the
Curie point, all the magnetite grains in the
rock become tiny permanent magnets with
the same polarity as Earths field.
All lava formed at the same time records the
same magnetic polarity information.

Magnetic Polarity Time Scale

The Earths polarity has shifted in the past. A period in
which polarity remains stable is called a magnetic chron.
The four most recent chrons have been named for
scientists who made great contributions to studies of
magnetism.
The four chrons below occurred during the last 4.5 million
years. From the most recent to the oldest:
Brunhes.
Matuyama.
Gauss.
Gilbert.

Primordial Gasses
Studies of volcanic gases provide other
clues to the age of the Earth.
Three gases, 40Ar (daughter of 40K), 3He, and
36Ar (both primordial gases trapped in Earth
from the solar nebula), are being released,
but they are not being recycled.
Because they accumulate in the atmosphere,
their growing proportion can be used to
estimate the age of the Earth.

Revision
During the nineteenth century, before the
discovery of radioactivity, geologic time
scale was developed using principles of
relative dating which places the events in
proper sequence or order without knowing
their age in years.

Revision
This is done by applying the law of
superposition which states that in layers of
sedimentary rocks or lava flows, the
youngest layer is on top and the oldest is
on the bottom.

Revision
Fossils are the basis for the principle of
fossil succession, which states that fossil
organisms succeed one another in a
definite and determinable order, and
therefore any time period can be
recognized by its fossil from countless
rock layers around the world.