9/4/2013

BB
STRATIGRAPHY (ES 532)

CLASS 1

INTRODUCTION

Dr. Biplab Bhattacharya

Dept. of Earth Sciences, IIT Roorkee

Stratigraphy
Geologists can make predictions by
looking at sedimentary processes going
on today
They realize that you can age certain
layers by comparing the materials and
fossils that it contains
This has become an important tool to
unravel the history of the Earth

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Stratigraphy is the branch of geology that

places events in history and the preserved
products of those events (rocks, fossils,
structures) in chronological order.

All stratigraphy begins by constructing a

local sequence, putting in order those rocks
among which the temporal relations can be
directly observed by contact in the field.

Relating sequences or ages measured in one

place to events in other places requires
correlation, the basic tool for building up a
global
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sequence of events and a globally
useful timescale.

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Types of Stratigraphy
Classical branches
Lithostratigraphy
Lith t ti h
Chronostratigraphy
Biostratigraphy

Newer subdisciplines
p
Seismic stratigraphy
Cyclostratigraphy
Magnetostratigraphy
Chemostratigraphy
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Relative Age Dating

Before
B f absolute
b l t d dating
ti off rocks
k was
developed in the 20th century, geologists
had to rely on relative age dating

Relative dating places rock in order from

oldest
ld t to
t youngestt

Geologists use specific principles to

determine the age of rocks

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Construction of the Relative Time Scale

Principle of Uniformitarianism
Principle of Superposition
Principle of Original Horizontality
Principle of Original Lateral Continuity
Principle of Cross-Cutting Relationships
Principle of Inclusions
Principle of faunal succession
Unconformity

Uniformitarianism
James Hutton used the term to compare the
present day
p y rock cycle
y with the p
past rock cycle
y

The idea is that the present is the key to the past

From these comparisons he could interpret how

rock layers (strata) were formed but not the length
of time

He could determine which layer was younger or

older, just by the position of the strata

This is now known as stratigraphy

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Uniformitarianism: Catastrophism:
Processes shaping All geologic processes-
the earth- locally and globally-
erosion, deposition, occur suddenly as a
mountain building - result of violent
do not change over changes in the earth
time but remain
uniform

Today we see that both cause changes

to the earth.

Principle of Superposition
Stenos 1st Law

In a sequence of undeformed
sedimentary rock, the younger
sediments lay on top of older

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Principle of Original Horizontality

Stenos 2nd Law
sediments are deposited in flat, horizontal layers.
Sedimentary
particles settle
from fluids under
the influence of
gravity
Thus, sediments
must have been
deposited in layers
that were nearly
horizontal and
parallel to the
surface on which
they were
accumulating

Principle of Original Lateral Continuity

Stenos 3rd Law
The sediment will not only be deposited in a flat layer, it will be a layer
that extends for a considerable distance in all directions. In other words,
the layer is laterally continuous.

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Principle of Crosscutting Relations

Stratum must be
always older than
any feature that
disrupts or cuts
the sequence.

Geological
features, such as
faults and
fractures are
younger than the
rocks that they
cut.

Principle of Inclusion
If one rock body contains fragments of another rock body
it must be younger than the fragments of rock it contains.
The inclusions are older than the rocks which contain
them

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Principle of Faunal Succession

Groups of fossil
plants and animals
occur in the
geological record
in a definite order.
A period of
geological time can
be recognized by
its specific fossils.

Paleozoic era The evolution of life progressed from marine

invertebrates to fish, amphibians, and reptiles. This scene
is from 350 mya during the Carboniferous period.

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Mesozoic Era This era saw the rise of dinosaurs, which

were the dominant vertebrates on land for many million of
years. The first flowering plants and the first mammals.

Cenozoic era Birds and mammals flourished. In this scene

from 15 million years ago in the Tertiary Period, we can see
some possible ancestors of primates.

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Connected to this is the idea of conformable and

unconformable sequences.

A conformable sequence is one in which there has been

continuous deposition of sediment such that the
resulting rocks grade one into another via gradational
contacts.

q
An unconformable sequence is one in which deposition
p
has been interrupted by periods of erosion, causing
removal of some layers and resulting in erosional
contacts. The unconformity represents a GAP in the rock
record.

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Angular unconformities:

An angular unconformity consists of

tilted or folded sedimentary rocks that
are overlain by younger, more flat-lying
strata.

It indicates a long period of rock

d f
deformation
ti andd erosion.
i

Formation of an angular unconformity. An angular unconformity

represents an extended period during which deformation and erosion
occurred.

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Angular
A l unconformity
f it att
Siccar Point, southern
Scotland, that was first
described by James Hutton
more than 200 years ago.

Disconformity:

A disconformity is a minor irregular

surface separating parallel strata on
opposite sides of the surface.

It indicates a history of uplifting above

sea (water) level, undergoing erosion, and
l
lowering
i below
b l the
th sea level
l l again.
i

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Disconformities do not show angular discordance, but an erosion

surface separates the two rock bodies. The channel in the central part of
this outcrop reveals that the lower shale units were deposited and then
eroded before the upper units were deposited. (Hamblin and Christiansen)

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Nonconformity

A nonconformity y is a break
surface that developed when
igneous or metamorphic rocks
were exposed to erosion, and
younger sedimentary rocks were
subsequently deposited above the
erosion surface. (Tarbuck and
Lutgens)

Distinguishing nonconformity and intrusive contact

Nonconformity:
The sedimentary rock is younger. The erosion surface is generally
smooth. Dikes may cut through the igneous body but stop at the
nonconformity.

Intrusive
I t i contact:
t t
Intrusion is younger than the surrounding sedimentary rocks. The
contact surface may be quite irregular. A zone of contact
metamorphism may form surrounding the igneous body. Cross-
cutting dikes may penetrate both the igneous body and the
sedimentary rocks.

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Conformable contacts
Abrupt contacts
Gradational
G d ti l contacts
t t
Progressive gradual contacts
Intercalated contacts increased number
of thin interbeds.

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Contacts

The Geologic Column

Through worldwide correlation, nineteenth-

century geologists assembled the Geologic
Column, or stratigraphic time scale, a composite
di
diagram showing
h i the
h successioni off all
ll known
k
strata, fitted together in chronological order, on
the basis of their fossils and other evidence of
relative age.

The period is the basic unit of geological time in

which a single type of rock system is formed. Two
or more periods comprise a geological Era. Two or
more Eras form an Eon, the largest division of
geologic time. Some periods are divided into
epochs.

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Four units of geological time:

Eons The vast majority of Earths history is divided into three

eons in which fossils are extremely rare or nonexistent. The
Hadean (beneath the Earth), Archean (ancient), and Proterozoic
(early life). In the Phanerozoic (visible life), the fossil record
suddenly becomes much more detailed.
detailed

Eras The Phanerozoic Eon is divided into three shorter units

called eras, the Paleozoic (ancient life), Mesozoic (middle life), and
Cenozoic (recent life). These eras were separated by major
extinction events, when more of 70% of the species perished.

Periods The eras are then divided into periods.

periods The earliest
period of the Paleozoic era, the Cambrian period is noteworthy,
because of the explosion of unparalleled diversity of life.

Epochs Periods are divided into smaller units called epochs.

The Tertiary and Quaternary periods are somewhat familiar
because of the emergence of humans and their ancestors.

Comprehending geologic time:

first homo sapiens: 0.1

secondsd

43 sec

5 min, 36 sec

38 min

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Two common analogies to describe DEEP TIME -

Imagine that the age of the earth is contained in 1

calendar year (12 months).
January 1 is 4.6 billion years ago.
Precambrian time goes through about October 25,
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reptiles evolved on Dec. 7,
K-T extinction on Christmas day,
Homo sapiens appear at 11:00 p.m. on Dec, 31, and
last glacier receded at 11:58:45 p.m.

Think of the age of the earth as the length of your arm,

arm
origin of the earth at your shoulder and
present day at the tip of the fingernail on your
middle finger.
A single stroke of a nail file can erase human
existence.

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Event: Date in Calendar Year:

Origin of the Earth January 1

Oxygen appears July 25
First mammals December 15
Atlantic Ocean appears December 19
On December 31st:

Homo sapiens appears 11:49 PM

Last ice leaves Ohio 11:58:17 PM
Sumerian civilization 11:59:19 PM
Moses 11:59:38 PM
Birth of Christianity 11:59:47 PM
Fall of Rome 11:59:49 PM
Birth of Islam 11:59:51 PM
Norman conquest 11:59:54 PM
Black Death 11:59:56 PM
Galileo 11:59:57 PM
Columbus 11:59:57 PM
WWI 11:59:59.4 PM
Hiroshima 11:59:59.6 PM
End of Cold War 11:59:59.93 PM
Turn of the millennium 11:59:59.9993 PM

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