Principles & Unconformity

Lithosphere: crust and upper mantle

Angular
Principle of Superposition: older rocks are on the bottom, younger rocks are on the top. unconformity
Principle of Original Horizontality: layers of sediment are originally deposited horizontally.
Principle of Lateral Continuity: layers of sediment initially extend laterally in all directions.
So if something cuts through a rock and leaves two layers of identical stuff on both sides, the rock was probably originally continuous
Principle of Cross-Cutting: the geologic feature which cuts another is the younger of the two features
All 4 developed by Nicolaus Steno.
Steno also developed the first law of crystallography, which states that the angles between the crystal faces of a given species are constant,
whatever the lateral extension of these faces and the origin of the crystal, and are characteristic of that species
Unconformity: sediment deposit was not continuous - varied amounts of erosion
When the rock layers deposited are jagged or uneven
Probably because there was erosion on the bottom rock layer that was buried under subsequent rock layers over time. Indicates that there was a
time period where there was no deposition of rock there.
Angular unconformity: The rock layers below were originally deposited in a horizontal manner, but there was an angular tilt or inclination of
the rock layers. Then, newer rock layers are deposited horizontally on top.
Disconformity: unconformity between parallel layers caused by a period of erosion or nondeposition
Nonconformity: When sedimentary rocks are deposited above igneous or metamorphic
- Buttress Unconformity: A type of nonconformity where the igneous/metamorphic rocks were protruding at a higher elevation, and
sedimentary rocks were deposited around the feature
Paraconformity (the uncommon one): Where there is an unconformity, but the layers above and below are parallel and there is no obvious sign
or erosion. Short paraconformities are called diasterna
Precambrian Era Devonian period
Life had no “hard parts” like bones so very few fossils are preserved. Age of Fishes
Life was single celled organisms First tetrapods, first forests
Hadean eon Devonian extinction 365 mya
Characterized by initial formation of the Earth from protoplanetary disk Carboniferous period
Partially molten surface, asteroid impacts, stabilization of core and crust, Reptile ancestors, capable of laying eggs on land
development of oceans and atmosphere High oxygen levels, giant insects
Extreme heat and volcanic activity, formation of the moon and the rest of the solar Vast coal swamps
system Pangaea formed from Gondwana, Euramerica, Siberia
Archean eon Only North America splits this period into Carboniferous Mississippian
Mostly water on surface, continental crust under the oceans and Carboniferous Pennsylvanian since one can only distinguish
Oldest evidence of fossils, fig tree group fossils (evidence of microscopic life) in between older and younger rocks in that period in North America. It
modern day Africa was established to distinguish the limestone of the Mississippian from
Stromatolites: microbial reefs created by cyanobacteria the coal layers of the Pennsylvanian
Paleoproterozoic era Permian
Modern plate tectonics active Early mammals and reptiles
Stabilization of continents Permian-Triassic Extinction 250 mya, largest mass extinction
Great Oxidation event b/c photosynthetic cyanobacteria Triassic
Mesoproterozoic era Recovery of ecosystems (from Permian-Triassic Extinction)
Breakup of Columbia and formation of Rodinia Early reptiles and amphibians dominated terrestrial environments
Evolution of sexual reproduction, early diversification of eukaryotes, early algae Early dinosaurs
Neoproterozoic era Marine reptiles (like ichthyosaurus) dominated oceans
Breakup of Rodinia, assembly of Gondwana First flying vertebrates (pterosaurs)
Frst animals Ended with Triassic-Jurassic extinction
Snowball Earth events: Sturtian, Marinoan, Gaskiers Glaciation Jurassic
Cambrian period Breakup of Pangea
Cambrian explosion: rapid diversification of life, first appearance of most major First dinosaurs
animal groups First birds evolved
Development of marine systems, formation of first hard shells and exoskeletons in Cretaceous
animals Peak diversity of dinosaurs
Ordovician period Flowering plants
Early vertebrates Early mammals diversifying
Ordovician extinction, likely caused by rapid cooling and glaciation Cretaceous-Palogene extinction: asteroid/volcanic activity
Silurian Period Palogene period
First vascular, plant tissues that can conduct water, sap, and nutrients, plants Neogene period
Coral reef expansion Quaternary period
Current epoch is the Holocene. Began 10 kya.
Temperature, pressure, and density increase with depth

Core
>6700 deg. C despite heat loss for 4,500 m.y.
Made of nickel and iron
Inner Core - solid
Outer Core - liquid

Mantle
Three zones:
Lower Mantle - solid rock
Asthenosphere - soft and weak, temperatures may cause some melting - magma
Upper Mantle - solid again

Crust
Solid outer layer
Two types:
Continental Crust: Thicker (25-40 mi), forms land, contains low-density material (Si, O, Al,
K), and a lot of granite.
Oceanic Crust: Thinner (5-10 mi), generally has ocean above it (crazy), denser materials (Fe,
Mg), a lot of basalt.
Continental crust floats while oceanic crust sinks, that’s why they take their relative positions.
Strike and Dip
Strike: Compass direction of the line formed by an inclined plane (of
rock)
Dip: Angle that the plane tilts relative to the horizontal (0 to 90
degrees). The dip line indicates where the rock continues from the
strike and is always perpendicular to the strike line (because the dip line
is along the rock and strike is through a cross-section)

Trend and plunge: Trend is dip direction and plunge is dip angle.
*These terms are used for measuring linear features, while strike
and dip are for measuring planar features.

Tilted bed (normal case): Shaped like a “T”. Long line is the strike line,
short line indicates the start of the dip as projected onto the horizontal
plane, number is the dip angle (in degrees). Bearings for strike and dip
lines use the azimuth, where north is 0, east 90, south 180, and west
270.
Vertical bed: Both lines bisect each other. Long line is still the strike
line.
Horizontal bed: Circle with a horizontal and vertical line running
through the center.
Overturned bed: When dips of a bed pass the vertical, so they have a
dip angle of more than 90 degrees
Overturned more than 180 degrees
Faults (actually this time)
Fault: a fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock. Basically a crack. Main type of brittle
deformation in rocks
Faults move slowly, like in tectonics, or quickly, like during an earthquake
Slip: the direction of movement between the two sides of the fault
Dip-slip fault: A fault where movement occurs along the dip axis. The wall above is called hanging
wall and the one below the footwall.
Normal fault: A dip-slip fault in which the block above the fault has moved downward relative to the
block below; occurs in response to extension and is often observed in the Western United States Basin
and Range Province and along oceanic ridge systems. (Divergent faults.)
Reverse/thrust fault: A dip-slip fault in which the upper block the fault moves up and over the lower
block; common in areas of compression, such as regions where one plate is being subducted under
another as in Japan. When the dip angle is shallow, a reverse fault is often described as a thrust fault
(because it ends up moving side to side.) (Convergent faults.)
Strike-slip fault: A fault where movement occurs along the strike axis (sliding past each other.)
Right-lateral fault: A strike-slip fault where when viewed from either side it appears to have shifted to
the right.
Left-lateral fault: A strike-slip fault where when viewed from either side it appears to have shifted to
the left.
Listric fault: Fault with a curved fault plane. Caused by extension.
Transform fault: Special case of a strike-slip fault that forms plate boundaries.
Throw: Vertical movement (dip movement)
Heave: Horizontal movement (strike movement)
Oblique-slip fault: Mixture of strike-slip and dip-slip faults. Throw and heave. San Andreas
Horsts and graben: Formed at the meeting of two dip-slip (thrust in particular) faults, horsts are the
sides and grabens middles. Caused by extension.
Joint: break/fracture in natural origin in layer of rock that lacks visible or measurable movement
Tectonics
Idea of continental drift proposed in 1915 by Alfred Wegener, suggesting
the existence of Pangaea.
Evidence: Fit of the continents, fossils with otherwise unexplainable
origins (all the same across multiple continents), glaciers (sediment
dropped by them, erosion), mountains, rock sequences (the evidence
lines up that lining up the plates by matching identical kinds of rock
across continents forms long continuous mountain ranges)
When collisions between the plates happen, they create massive
mountain ranges
Problem with the idea: No reasonable explanation for how continents
move.
Solution: In the 50s-60s the mid-ocean ridge, a massive underwater
mountain range/chain was discovered with a high heat flow at the Divergent Plates
bottom, that was seismically and volcanically active, and younger rocks
in the middle (???). Discovered by Harry Hess. Plates move away from each other, most common in the mid-ocean ridges, but do exist as
Method: Mantle convection cells, basically giant ovens that keep turning rift valleys.
the magma in a specific direction, when two opposite ones rub up Seafloor spreading: Creation of new seafloor as magma rises where the plates diverge.
against each other they crack open the seafloor Around 2-5 cm/year (can be more)
Subduction zones: where a plate of oceanic crust descendants beneath Lots of non-destructive volcanic activity (magma just like seeps out from the faults)
a plate of continental crust. Lower plate is actually subducting. Oceanic Ocean basins form by upwarping, then a rift valley, then a linear sea, then the ocean basin.
crust subducts because it’s denser. Convergent Plates
Triple junction: where 3 lithospheric plates meet, each boundary will Plates move towards each other.
be a ridge, trench, or transform fault, ridge ridge ridge is the most stable Cause mountain ranges, volcanoes, or deep seafloor trenches.
type Causes orogenies, extended periods of mountain building.
Oldest ocean floor only 180 my old, found using deep-sea drilling
Wilson cycle: a model that describes the opening and closing of ocean
basins and the subduction and divergence of tectonic plates during the
assembly and disassembly of supercontinents.

(10) initial pre-drift extension, (12) rift-to-drift phase, initial opening of

an oceanic basin, (2 and 4) seafloor spreading, widening of the basin,
(6) subduction of oceanic lithosphere, closure of the basin, (8)
continent-continent collision
Plate Tectonic Theory
Great unifying theory to explain Earth’s dynamic features and processes
like earthquakes, mountains, etc.
Most dynamic events happen at the meeting points or boundaries of
the plates (Ex. Ring of Fire)
Supported by distribution of fossil types on different continents, rock
magnetism/moving magnetic north pole, age of seafloor

Continents
Types of Movement Pangaea - the big famous one, Tethys sea in the crack, one large ocean called Panthalassa.
Formed in the Carboniferous period, broke up between the Jurassic and Triassic.
Preceded by
Divergent Pangaea split into Laurasia, most of the northern world, and Gondwana(land), the south
Plates move away from each other, most common in the mid-ocean Supercontinent cycle: quasi-periodic aggregation and dispersal of Earth's continental crust.
ridges, but do exist as rift valleys. Cycle length 300-500 my.
Seafloor spreading: Creation of new seafloor as magma rises where the After a supercontinent’s breakup, sea levels rise because: increase in undersea volcanism,
plates diverge. Around 2-5 cm/year (can be more) young ridges are topographically higher, and volcanoes pump CO2 into the atmosphere
Lots of non-destructive volcanic activity (magma just like seeps out (global warming).
from the faults)
Ocean basins form by upwarping, then a rift valley, then a linear sea,
then the ocean basin.

Convergent
Plates move towards each other.
Cause mountain ranges, volcanoes, or deep seafloor trenches.
Causes orogenies, extended periods of mountain building.
Volcanoes
Manifestations of magma exiting the earth. Magma can stay molten or erupt with such ferocity is becomes ash, other stuff can
erupt from them too.
Volcano locations mirror plate boundaries (subduction zones, divergent boundaries, hotspots)
Two types of eruptions -
Effusive: Lava comes to the surface without disrupting much human life
Explosive: Effects humans with stuff life ash and tephra
Caldera: volcanic crater, especially one formed after an eruption that caused the mouth of the volcano to collapse

Magma Compositions
3 types.
Mafic/Basaltic: High in Fe, Mg, Ca, low in K, Na, less silica (~50%), least viscous, highest temperature (1000-1250 Celsius), least
gas (0.5-2%), least “tendency to form pyroclastics” (explosivity)
Intermediate/Andesitic: Varying amounts of those 5 elements, ~60% silica, 800-1050 Celsius, 3-4% gas,
Felsic/Rhyolitic: High in K, Na, low in Fe, Mg, Ca, more silica (~70%), most viscous, lowest temperature (650-900 Celsius), most
gas (5-8%)
Gas is correlated with viscosity because gas can’t escape thicker stuff.
Gas causes stuff to explode.
If they ask for the difference between the types of lava, say silica content.
Volatiles reduce melting point

Eruption Contents
Lava follows topography
Tephra (pyroclastic material): Solid material ejected into the air, classified by size
Ash: <2mm, falls over a large area
Lapilli: 2-64 mm, called cinders if basaltic and vesicular
Blocks: Pieces of existing rock, >64mm
Bombs: >64mm, molten and cools on its way to the ground
Gases: SO2, H2S, CO2, H2O vapor (most common gas)
Igneous
Formed by cooling and crystallization of magma or lava or molten rock Magma has more trapped gas,
lava has less. Both have solid, liquid, and gas parts.
Solid: crystallized elements (silicates)
Liquid/melt: most stuff (mobile ions)
Gas/volatiles: trapped gas
Classification
Extrusive/volcanic: formed where lava and other volcanic debris cool at surface
Intrusive/plutonic: formed where magma cools beneath the surface
Classified based on texture and composition.
Slow cooling rate: large minerals that interlock; intrusive
Fast cooling rate: small/tiny minerals; extrusive
Textures: size, shape, and arrangement
Phaneritic: visible crystals; large interlocking; slow cooling; looks like some countertops; intrusive
Aphanitic: can’t see crystals; small; rapid cooling; extrusive
Vesicular: has bubbles (vesicles) formed by gases escaping; extrusive
Porphyritic: mix of large (phenocrysts) and small crystals; initial stage of slow cooling (big rocks
form); then rapid (small crystals form); mostly extrusive
Glassy: rapid cooling of felsic lava (volcanic glass); no minerals; may have vesicles; extrusive
Pyroclastic: produced by explosive eruptions; fragments of rock, ash, crystals; soft or hard; extrusive
Pegmatitic: Especially coarse, formed by late-stage cooling in felsic magmas
Felsic is light, mafic is dark
Both members in a pair are the same, the texture is just different

Dike: thin, sheet-like intrusion that cuts perpendicular to rock layers

Sill: thin, sheet-like intrusion that cuts parallel to rock layers
Volcanic neck: conduit that feeds magma to surface
Batholith: massive intrusion that never erupts and cools down
Laccolith: a body of intrusive rock with a dome-shaped upper surface and a level base, fed by a
conduit from below.
Dike: thin, sheet-like intrusion that cuts perpendicular to rock layers
Sill: thin, sheet-like intrusion that cuts parallel to rock layers
Volcanic neck: conduit that feeds magma to surface
Batholith/igneous intrusion: massive intrusion that never erupts and
cools down
Laccolith: a body of intrusive rock with a dome-shaped upper surface
and a level base, fed by a conduit from below. Formed from sills that
are forced up into a dome by magmatic pressure.
Crystallization
Minerals crystallize predictably
As they do, composition of remaining melt changes (more Si, Na, K; less Fe, Mg, Ca)
Often magma will remelt from crystallization and become more felsic at the top
The continuous series is an example of

Other Notes on Igneous Rocks

Plagioclase feldspar is the most common mineral in the earth’s crust
Also a solid-solution series
Sedimentary Types
Clastic/Detrital: lithification of transported sediment; classified by grain
Formed by accumulation or deposition of mineral/organic particles,size
then the particles begin to stick together (through clay or silicon or - Rounded gravel - conglomerate
calcite) (it’s called cementation/lithification). - Angular gravel - breccia
May provide information about sediment transport and may contain - Sand - sandstone
fossils - Mud (splits into thin layers/fissility) - shale
Provide coal, natural gas, and metals (ore) - Formed by gradual non turbulent setting
Sizes: - Thin layers are called laminae
Gravel: >2mm Sand: 0.06-2mm Mud: <0.06 - Most common
Rounding: Shape of grains, caused by abrasion. Older stuff is - Crumbles easily
rounder - Mud (breaks into chunks) - sandstone
Sorting: Distribution of grain size - Most common is quartz
Well sorted: all grains similar size - Forms in a lot of places
Poorly sorted: grains are different sizes - 2nd most common Depositional Basins
Larger chunks of stuff take more energy to move - Arkose sandstone has feldspar
- Greywacke has rock fragments and matrix Places where sediments accumulate, primarily due to water.
High energy: fast moving water, glacier
Biochemical: made up of biological materials; classified by composition Alluvial: coming from a (smaller) river
Medium energy: beach, dune, medium moving water Fluvial: coming from a river (this is dumb)
- Calcite: Limestone
Low energy: deep ocean, wetland, lake
- Coquina: Shell parts
Angular grains/poorly-sorted: Not transported far from shore or
- Chalk: tiny marine organisms like plankton
not much movement
- Inorganic limestone formed when calcium
Rounded grains/well-sorted: Transported far or a lot of movement
carbonate in water precipitates
Diagenesis: changes that take place after sediments are deposited
- Silica (a very tough rock): chert
- Upper crust
- Microcrystalline quartz
- Recrystallization of more stable minerals
- Flint, jasper, and agate
Lithification: unconsolidated sediments become sedimentary rocks
- Plant remains: peat/coal (lignite - bituminous - anthracitic)
- Compaction: as sediments are buried, the weight of the
Oil/gas - Remains of marine life. Composed of hydrocarbons.
overlying material compresses the deeper sediments
Abundant in oil traps.
- Cementation: involves the crystallization of minerals
- Oil trap: environment conducive to accumulation of oil
among the individual sediment grains
- Porous rock in the middle
Graded beds: when sediments in a strata are coarse at the bottom
- Solid rock (like shale) at the top
and fine at the top - associated with turbidity currents
Ripple marks - waves
Mud cracks - sediments that form in an alternating wet and dry
 phi (ϕ) = - log2S, where ϕ is size expressed in phi units and S is the grain size in millimetres

Depositional Basins
Places where sediments accumulate, primarily due to water.
Alluvial: coming from a (smaller) river
Fluvial: coming from a river (this is dumb)
A complete sequence consists of four systems tracts, from bottom to
top: lowstand systems tract, transgressive systems tract, highstand
systems tract, falling-stage systems tract.
Turbities: an underwater current of usually rapidly moving,
sediment-laden water moving down a slope
Metamorphic
Started out as another type of rock then changed significantly.
They change when subjected to high heat, pressure, and/or hot mineral rich fluids. No melting.
Metamorphism: the degree to which the parent rock changes; Slight change: low-grade; extreme change: high-grade
Parent rock/protolith: the original rock
Metamorphosis occurs at 200-800 Celsius/400-1500 Fahrenheit
Heat may come from depth, friction, or magma
Two types of pressure:
- Confining pressure in all directions
- Differential stress in one direction, which produces foliation, or planar arrangement
Foliated rocks: planar arrangements, can be cause by solid state flow (rocks slip and elongate in one direction) (and sheet silicates)
Foliated, from low to high grade:
- Slate: breaks into planes, dull (no mica visible); fine-grained; parent: shale/mudstone
- Phyllite: breaks along wrinkled surfaces, sheen; fine-grained; parent: shale/mudstone
- Schist: visible mica, shiny; medium-grained; parent: shale/granite
- Gneiss: breaks into light and dark, dull (few to no mica visible); coarse-grained; parent: shale/granite
Nonfoliated, from low to high grade:
- Marble: tightly packed calcite; parent: limestone
- Quartzite: tightly packed quartz; parent: sandstone
- Anthracite coal: black and shiny; parent: bituminous coal
Types of metamorphism:
- Regional metamorphism: Caused by plate movement, low-med temperature, high pressure. Forms highly foliated rocks
- Contact metamorphism: Caused by a magma intrusion, high temperature, low pressure, can create a ring (aureole) of metamorphic rock
- Burial metamorphism: Caused by thick accumulations of sediment, low temperature/pressure, 25 celsius/km deep, starts at 8 km or 200 C
- Impact metamorphism: Cause by meteor impact, high temp/pressure
- Cataclastic metamorphism: High-pressure metamorphism resulting from the crushing and shearing of rock during tectonic movement, mostly along faults
- Hydrothermal metamorphism: The result of the interaction of a rock with a high-temperature fluid of variable composition. Always leads to the formation
of hydrous minerals
Map Projections
Cylindrical
Distortion at the poles. Examples Mercator, Lambert, Miller
Pseudocylindrical
Latitude lines are the same.
Conic
Inappropriate for a visual of the entire Earth. Albert, equidistant, Lambert
conformal
Azimuthal
Uses a plane that touches the earth at exactly one point
Conformal
Preserves angles locally
Gnomonic
Every great circle is a straight line
Compromise
Balance the advantage of two types of map

Tissot’s indicatrix: Method to show distortion of points on a map

projection

Grid:
Mercator: Conformal cylindrical
Transverse Mercator: same
Azimuthal/Stereographic: conformal azimuthal, centered at north pole
Lambert: conformal conic projection: Conic
Mollweide: Equal-area
Robinson: compromise
Winkel Tripel - equal area, east-west lines are not horizontal
Collignon: Equal-area, pseudocylindrical
Eckert IV: pseudocylindrical, equal area
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)
a geophysical method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface;
non-intrusive method of surveying the sub-surface to investigate
underground utilities. Uses microwaves.
 Aquifers and wells
Underground layers of water-bearing material, consisting of permeable
or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt)
Artesian aquifer: water is naturally pumped to the surface under
pressure
Cones of depression: depression in water table around well, when water
is pumped from the well at a rate that exceeds it’s natural recharge

Earthquakes
Richter scale: Log E = 4.8+1.5M
Seismic waves:
P waves: compressional waves, travel like longitudinal (imagine getting
Folding that incorrect in AL) waves, fastest seismic wave
S waves: secondary wave, shakes ground, travels like transverse waves
When there are synforms (up and down)
or antiforms equally in all Surface waves (rayleigh waves): more destructive slower, moves in a
directions, they can form circular pattern
domes (antiforms) and
Geologic Maps
basins (synforms).
Tectonic uplift: process cause by tectonics which increases elevation
Foreland basin - structural
Isostatic uplift/rebound/shifting: Occurs in normal faults when the
basin formed around a
fault underneath is pushed up by the magma in the mantle when the
mountain range.
breakaway fault’s weight is removed.
Peripheral basin - formed
Subsidence: land shifts downwards (generally caused by human
on the subducted plate
activities like mining), also happens in convergent faults, where the
Retroarc basin - formed
basin formed pushes the crust into the mantle, creating lowered land
on the abducted plate
near the basin. Can damage infrastructure, aquifers and ecosystems;
Isoclinal folds are ones
causes increased flood risk in low-lying areas.
that are almost parallel
Both caused by plate movement and temperature changes
Plunging folds -kind of
like a v
Monocline - kind of like a
step
Specific Examples
Notable faults: Karst
San Andreas: In California, between Pacific and North American plate
Himalayan Frontal Thrust: Between Eurasian and Indian plate Landscapes shaped by dissoluble rocks like limestone, marble, gypsum
Mid-atlantic ridge: longest mountain chain and dolomite (characterized by sinkholes, caves, springs.) Caused
because the rocks dissolve.
Miscellaneous:
- Karst towers: most likely to form in tropical environments
Lake Baikal: Siberian lake on a rift valley that is the deepest lake in the
world. History
Llano uplift: geologic dome famous for pink granite. Georgius Agricola - first person to use the term “geology”
Braided river patterns (short lasting intertwined channels (exactly what 19th century geology focused on dating the earth
it sounds like)) form when the sediment supplied to the river is too William Maclure - first geologic map of the U.S.
much for it to carry. Characterized by fast flow and steep gradients
The UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law Of the Sea)
uses continental margins to define borders
Water table is the boundary between saturated (B) and unsaturated (A)
ground.
Earth diameter: 3963.1 miles = 6378 kilometers
Speleothems: mineral deposits that form in caves over time, include
stalactites, stalagmites, etc.
Landslides: caused by elevation, slope angle, slope aspect (strike),
general curvature (how much it curves in total), plan curvature, profile
curvature (altitudes)
Other causes: rainfall, snowmelt, changes in water level, stream erosion,
changes in groundwater, earthquakes, volcanic activity, disturbance by
human activities
Deepest hole ever dug into the earth: 12,262 m Kola Superdeep
Borehole