GL204: Principles of Stratigraphy

Presentation 1

Lecturer: D. Mudimbu
Contact Hours: 5 x 1hr lectures
1 x 3hr practical
 Course Outline
• Introduction
– The geological time scale
– Principles of stratigraphy
• Unconformities
• Lithostratigraphy
• Chronostratigraphy
• Biostratigraphy
• Correlation
• Zimbabwean stratigraphy
• References:
– Understanding Earth (2nd edition), Press & Siever
– The Solid Earth (2nd Edition), Fowler
– Catuneanu, O., Wopfner, H., Eriksson, P.G., Cairncross, B., Rubidge, B. S., Smith,
R. M. H., Hancox, P, J., The Karoo basins of south-central Africa, Journal of
African Earth Sciences 43 (2005) 211–253
 Principles/Laws of Stratigraphy
• Over time, geologists have developed a few
basic principles for the study of stratified (and
other) rocks which allow determination of the
sequence of events recorded by them.
• Events are placed in relative order from oldest
at the bottom to youngest at the top without
knowing the exact duration of the events in
years i.e. relative dating.
 Principle of Uniformitarianism
• First developed by James Hutton (1785).
• Law assumes that the geologic processes (e.g.
erosion, deposition, volcanic eruptions,
faulting, glaciation etc.) observed in operation
that modify the earth’s crust at present have
worked in much the same way over geologic
time (in the past).
• Summarized as “the present is the key to the
past.” In Hutton's words: "the past history of
our globe must be explained by what can be
seen to be happening now” (Hutton, 1788).
 Principle of Uniformitarianism
• All rocks are products of continuing earth processes
rather than products of a single supernatural creation.
It assumes a uniformity of modern and ancient
processes.
• Using this concept, studies of present igneous and
sedimentary conditions are used to infer the condition
of the Earth billions of years ago.
• For example, it is now known that the majority of
organic and inorganic production of calcium carbonate
(the essential component of limestone) takes place in
the shallow, tropical marine environment. Knowing
this, any location that has an abundance of limestone
most likely had been a shallow, tropical marine
environment when the sediments were produced.
 Principle of Superposition
• This principle was first developed by Nicholas
Steno in the 17th century (1600s) and states
that a sedimentary rock layer in a tectonically
undisturbed sequence is younger than the one
beneath it and older than the one above it.
• In any normal undisturbed sequence of
sedimentary rock, a stratum is younger than
the one on which it rests. (Black, 1970)
 Principle of Original Horizontality
• This principle was also developed by Nicholas
Steno. Steno noted that all sedimentary rocks
are originally deposited in relatively horizontal
layers. Where layers of rocks are found tilted
at a large angle to the horizontal, some force
must have acted on them after they were
deposited.
 Principle of lateral continuity
• It was also developed by Steno. It states that
layers of sediment initially form continuous
sheets over a region; in other words, they are
laterally continuous in all directions. As a
result, rocks that are otherwise similar, but are
now separated by a valley or other erosional
feature, can be assumed to be originally
continuous.
 Principle of cross-cutting relations
• First described by James Hutton in
the late 18th century, and is applied
to geological structures (such as
faults) or igneous intrusions and the
age of the sequences through which
they cut.
• When an igneous intrusion cuts
across a formation of sedimentary
metamorphic rock, it can be
determined that the igneous
intrusion is younger than the
sedimentary rock. There are a
number of different types of
intrusions, including stocks,
laccoliths, batholiths, sills and dykes.
 Principle of cross-cutting relations
• In the case of geological
structures, faults are younger
than the rocks they cut;
accordingly, if a fault is found
that penetrates some
formations but not those on
top of it, then the formations
that were cut are older than
the fault, and the ones that
are not cut must be younger
than the fault.
 Principle of inclusions
• Another Hutton principle, this states that fragments of
one rock included within another must be older than
the rock that contains it. For example, in sedimentary
rocks, a clast in a conglomerate must be older than the
conglomerate.
• A similar situation with igneous rocks occurs when
xenoliths are found. These foreign bodies are picked
up as magma or lava flows, and are incorporated, later
to cool in the matrix. As a result, xenoliths are older
than the rock which contains them.
 Principle of inclusions

• In the diagrams above, which are the gravel clasts and

which are the xenoliths?
 Principle of baked contacts

• A plutonic intrusion creates a

metamorphic layer (“bakes”) around it in
the surrounding rock (country rock).
Therefore, the pluton must be younger,
and the baked country rocks older than
the pluton.
 Principle of fossil succession.
• This law was developed by William Smith
(around the year 1800). He observed that fossil
species changed in a systematic fashion in
sequences of sedimentary rocks.
• As organisms exist at the same time period
throughout the world, their presence or
(sometimes) absence may be used to provide a
relative age of the formations in which they are
found. Thus oldest fossils will occur at the
bottom of an undisturbed sequence and
younger fossils in top layers.
 UNCONFORMITIES
• Changes of a radical or striking nature in
successive beds are indicative of major lapses
(intervals) of deposition.
• Many such lapses represent very long periods,
even millions of years, during which material
ceased to accumulate and during which erosion,
extensive earth movements, or other important
events took place. We may think of these major
interruptions in the record as representing
ancient surfaces cut into older rocks and buried
by younger ones.
 Unconformity - Definition
• An unconformity is a buried erosion surface
separating two rock masses or strata of different
ages, indicating that sediment deposition was not
continuous. In general, the older layer was
exposed to erosion for an interval of time before
deposition of the younger layer.
• However, the term is also used to describe any
break in the sedimentary geologic
record.
• The rocks above an unconformity are younger
than the rocks beneath (unless the sequence has
been overturned).
What does an unconformity represent?
• An unconformity represents time during
which no sediments were preserved in a
region. The local record for that time interval
is missing and geologists must use other clues
to discover that part of the geologic history of
that area.
• The interval of geologic time or time gap
between the deposition of the oldest rock
below an unconformity and the youngest rock
above is called a hiatus.
What does an unconformity represent?
• A time gap may be due to a time of "non-
deposition", meaning that no sediments were
deposited for an interval of time.
• Or unconformities indicate a time when uplift
and erosion have occurred such that layers
deposited at an earlier time have been
stripped away.
• Typically, unconformities involve: Major sea
level changes, Major tectonic events
Types of unconformities
 Nonconformity
• Nonconformity exists between sedimentary
rocks and metamorphic or igneous rocks
when the sedimentary rock lies above and was
deposited on the pre-existing and eroded
metamorphic or igneous rock.
• If the rock below the break is igneous or has
lost its bedding by metamorphism, the plane
of juncture is a nonconformity.
 Nonconformity
• In a step-by-step process,
– sediment accumulates and becomes rock.
– Then plate collisions deform these layers and change
them into metamorphic rocks.
– Associated with this mountain-building, molten rock
often squeezes upward into the metamorphic rock
fractured by the deformities and solidifies, forming
igneous rock (usually granite).
– The mountains erode to a peneplain (a "peneplain" is a
broad land surface flattened by erosion). Then, finally,
new layers collect over the flattened metamorphic and
igneous rocks.
 Angular unconformity
• The most famous and obvious kind of
unconformity is the angular unconformity.
Rocks below the unconformity are dipping
(tilted), folded or sheared off, and rocks above
it are horizontal. The angular unconformity
tells a clear story:
 Angular unconformity
– First a set of rocks was laid down.
– Then these rocks were tilted followed by
erosion for millions of years until the edges
of the tilted layers become a flattened plane
(Peneplain)
– Finally, sea level rises or land sinks.
Sediments wash down, forming new
horizontal layers that cover the submerged,
tilted layers.
 Disconformity
• It is an unconformity between parallel layers of
sedimentary rocks which represents a period of
erosion or non-deposition. There is little apparent
erosion and the unconformity surface resembles
a simple bedding plane.
• First strata are laid down, then a period of
erosion happens (or a hiatus), then more strata
are laid down. The result is a disconformity or
parallel unconformity. All the strata line up, but
there is still a clear discontinuity in the
sequence—maybe a soil layer developed on top
of the older rocks, or a rugged surface where
they were eroded.
 Paraconformity
• It is characterized by a surface of non-
deposition separating two parallel units of
sedimentary rock, which is virtually
indistinguishable from a sharp conformable
contact. There is no obvious evidence of
erosion. An examination of the fossils shows
that there is a considerable time gap
represented by the surface.
 Branches of stratigraphy
• There are three main branches of stratigraphy:
– Lithostratigraphy
– Chronostratigraphy
– Biostratigraphy
 Stratigraphic unit
• It is a stratum of rock or a body of rock strata forming a
discrete and definable unit. The classification into units
is on the basis of character, property, or attribute.
• Stratigraphic units are determined on the basis of their
lithology (lithostratigraphic units), or their fossil
content (biostratigraphic units), or their time span
(chronostratigraphic units). It is unlikely that any rock
succession will form a unit that accords with all three
categories of classification. Thus, stratigraphic units are
based on one property.
 Stratigraphic unit
• All stratigraphic units are defined by a type section of
locality (a specific geographic locality in which the
strata exposed are considered to be representative of a
particular stratigraphic unit or boundary.
• It can also be the locality where the rock type was first
identified) All stratigraphic units are defined by a type
section of locality (a specific geographic locality in
which the strata exposed are considered to be
representative of a particular stratigraphic unit or
boundary. It can also be the locality where the rock
type was first identified)
 LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY
• Branch of stratigraphy concerned with the classification of
rock units in terms of their lithological features including
composition, grain size and certain sedimentological
information such as types of sedimentary structures.
• Petrography is the first tool in defining a rock bed. Its use
can be extended in the classification of layers into larger
stratigraphic units and also in correlating layers of
separated regions.
• It is possible to define some rock layers with characteristic
petrography that can be used in correlating stratigraphic
units. These are called marker horizons.
 Lithostratigraphic unit
• A lithostratigraphic unit is defined as a body of
sedimentary, extrusive igneous,
metasedimentary, or metavolcanic strata which is
distinguished on the basis of lithologic
characteristics and stratigraphic position (position
in the rock sequence).
• Lithostratigraphic units are the basic units of
geologic mapping and are an essential element of
the Stratigraphy of the area. In lithostratigraphy,
rock units are classified into a hierarchical system
of RANKS.
Bed A distinct sedimentary layer within a rock sequence

Member A group of beds having similar characteristics.

Generally too thin to be mapped on a regional scale

Formation Two or more members showing common features

Extensive enough to be plotted on a regional map
(mappable)

Group Comprises of two or more formations

Supergroup Comprises two or more groups

 Group
• It is an assemblage of two or more successive
formations with significant unifying lithologic
features in common. Formations need not be
aggregated into groups, but a group must be
wholly divided into formations. The formations
making up a group may vary between different
locations. A group is assigned a name after its
type area where all the subdivisions or most of
the subdivisions are well exposed.
• Supergroup
– It is an assemblage of related groups and formations.
 Complex
• This is used for an association of groups or
formations for which it is not easy to assign any
rank of stratigraphic classification.
• It includes a number of groups or formations
without any associational relationship
characterized by highly complicated structural
relations to the extent that the original sequence
of the component rocks may be obscured, and
the individual rocks cannot be readily mapped.
 Formation
• It is the fundamental unit of lithostratigraphic
classification used to map, describe and interpret
the geology of a region.
• By definition formations are:
– Lithologically homogeneous (all beds are the same
rock type or a distinctive set of interbedded rock
types).
– Distinct and different from adjacent rock units above
and below.
– Traceable from exposure to exposure, and of sufficient
thickness to be mappable (formations are commonly
hundreds of feet thick, but may be thinner or thicker).
 Formations
• Formations must have names. Formations are
usually named for some geographic locality
where they are particularly well exposed. (This
locality is referred to as the type section.) If
the beds are dominated by a single rock type,
this may appear in the name. (Also, to be
valid, the name of a formation must be
published in the geological literature.)
 Formations
• Formations are the only lithostratigraphic units into
which the stratigraphic column everywhere should be
divided completely on the basis of lithology.
• A formation may consist almost entirely of one rock
type, for example limestone, or may be composed of
multiple rock types, for example limestone, shale, and
sandstone, that all formed in one related environment,
such as a coastal environment with rising and falling
sea level.
• Successive formations are separated from one another
by a change in lithology which may be gradual
(transitional) or sudden (sharp). This is a geologic
contact.
 Member
• Members are a set of recognizable strata within a
formation that are found in only a portion of the areal
extent of the formation. It is recognized as a named
entity within a formation because it possesses
characteristics distinguishing it from adjacent parts of
the formation. It is also a mappable unit; however it
has lesser vertical thickness and lateral extent. Some
formations may be divided completely into members,
others may have only certain parts designed as
members; still others may have no members. A
member may extend laterally from one formation to
another.
 Bed
• The least subdivision of a formation is the bed
which is recognized by visual changes in color,
grain size, or composition. Formations vary in
thickness from a few meters to a few thousand
meters.
• Beds vary from a few millimeters to a few meters
in thickness and are separated from one another
by more or less well-defined bedding surfaces.
The designation of a bed or a unit of beds is
generally limited to certain distinctive beds
whose recognition is particularly useful. Only
marker or key beds (a thin bed of distinctive rock
that is widely distributed) are formally named.
 Weakness of lithostratigraphic
classification
• The tendency of most sedimentary rock units
to be laterally impersistent introduces
uncertainties in lithostratigraphic classification
since a sandstone may be deposited at the
same time as a mudstone such that the
sandstone laterally passes into the mudstone.
 CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHY

• The branch of stratigraphy that studies the age of

rock strata in relation to time is called
chronostratigraphy. Study which deals with the
correlation and chronology of geologic events.
• The ultimate aim of chronostratigraphy is to
arrange the sequence of deposition and the time
of deposition of all rocks within a geological
region, and eventually, the entire geologic record
of the Earth i.e to relate all local and global
events to one standard scale.
 Tools of Chronostratigraphy
• biostratigraphy
• radiometric dating
• magnetic reversal stratigraphy
• The standard stratigraphic nomenclature is a
chronostratigraphic system based on
palaeontological intervals of time defined by
recognised fossil assemblages
(biostratigraphy).
• The aim of chronostratigraphy is to give a
meaningful age date to these fossil
assemblage intervals and interfaces.
 Chronostratigraphy
• Chronostratigraphy relies heavily upon isotope geology
and geochronology to derive hard dating of known and
well defined rock units which contain the specific fossil
assemblages defined by the stratigraphic system.
However it is practically very difficult to isotopically
date most fossils and sedimentary rocks directly, and
thus inferences must be made in order to arrive at an
age date which reflects the beginning of the interval.
• The methodology used is derived from the law of
superposition and the principles of cross-cutting
relationships.
Chronostratigraphic units & their ranks
• Chronostratigraphic unit ( time-stratigraphic unit ,
time-rock unit ) The sequence of rocks formed during a
discrete and specified interval of geologic time.
• Chronostratigraphic units are ranked, according to the
length of time they record, in order of decreasing rank,
into eonotherm (the longest), erathems, systems ,
series , stages, chronozones (the shortest). Each unit
comprises a number of units of lower rank, e.g. a
system would consist of a number of series, and,
similarly, a number of stages would constitute a series.
 Principles used in Chronostratigraphy
• Principle of faunal/fossil succession was formulated
which states that where there are many layers of rock,
certain associated groups of fossils (assemblages) are
found in rocks that are closer to the surface(younger)
and other assemblages are found in rocks that are
below these layers.
• Central to the principle of faunal succession is the
principle of biological evolution. Biological evolution is
irreversible (primitive life forms evolved into more
complex life forms in an irreversible process). More
primitive fossil types are found in the older/lower beds
and fossils of more complex life forms are found in the
younger/higher beds.
 Biostratigraphy
• Biostratigraphy is the method of classification or relative
arrangement of rock sequences on the basis of fossil
content.
• Biostratigraphy is closely linked to the principles of faunal
succession and the law of superposition. Fossil content
varies through a stratigraphic succession for two main
reasons:
1. Evolutionary changes
2. Ecological differences such as changes in climate or
depositional environment.
• Biostratigraphy should only be based on evolutionary
changes but it always difficult to distinguish between
these from changes that take place in a biostratigraphic
assemblage as a result of ecological modifications.
 Biostratigraphic units
• The basic biostratigraphic unit is the biozone, which can be
defined as the body of strata containing a fauna or flora
element. Or a rock that can be defined or characterised by
its fossil content.
– Range zone: All rock layers that contain the fossil remains of a
particular species constitute the range zone of the species.
– Concurrent range zone: Maximum accuracy in fossil correlation
is obtained by utilizing the simultaneous occurrence of two or
more species, rather than the occurrence of one species alone.
Such co-occurrences represent only the portion of range zones
that overlap. Generally this is a smaller stratigraphic interval
than the range zone of any of the constituent species. Zones
based on overlapping ranges are called concurrent range zones.
 Problems with biostratigraphic
classification
• Many types of fossils were confined to particular
environments were they had adapted to
particular conditions. Thus they lack universal
occurrence and any correlation of beds
containing such fossils is a correlation of
environments rather than time.
• Some fossils evolved very slowly such that they
can only be used in very broad classifications
(broad vertical range).
• Some good zone fossils are very delicate and
require quiet environments to be preserved.
 Correlation
• The process of demonstrating the equivalence or
correspondence of geographically separated parts of a
geologic unit i.e. that a particular horizon in one
geological section represents the same period of time
as another horizon at some other section is called
correlation.
• If two units belonging to different local sections are
judged to be time equivalents of each other then they
are correlative.
• There are two criteria of correlation namely
– (i) Physical criteria for correlation and
– (ii) Biological criteria of correlation.
 Stratigraphic Section
• Geologists study sequences of
sedimentary rocks on a bed-by-
bed basis. They measure the
thickness of each bed, record the
physical, chemical, and biological
characteristics of the rock, and
note the nature of the contacts
(or bedding planes) between
beds. Using these data, the
geologist draws up a stratigraphic
section for a particular sequence
of rock. A stratigraphic section is
a graphical or pictorial
representation of the sequence of
rock units. Standard symbols
(called lithologic symbols) are
used to refer to each rock type.

Stratigraphic column along the northern bank of Isfjorden,

Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway. Photograph taken by Mark A.
Wilson (Department of Geology, The College of Wooster).
 Physical Criteria Of Correlation
• The physical criteria of correlation is based on
– physical continuity
– lithologic similarity
– geophysics
– order of superposition
– Radiometric age dating
 Physical criteria
• Physical continuity: This
involves establishing
continuity between rock
exposures in the field
(walking it out). The problem
with this method is that
outcrops rarely enable us to
trace beds continuously.
• Matching rock types: Some
rock units have distinctive
diagnostic features that make
them easy to recognize in
different outcrops.
 Physical Criteria cont.
• Sometimes, one or more rock units are
missing from the middle of a sequence.
Close examination of the outcrop shows
a sharp or irregular contact
(unconformity) where the missing rocks
should be. Unconformity is a surface
which represents a gap in the geologic
record, because of either erosion or non-
deposition.
• Unconformities can be traced between
stratigraphic sequences kilometers
apart. Although unconformities may
truncate rocks of many different ages,
the sediments directly overlying the
unconformity are roughly the same age.
 Physical Criteria cont.
• Key beds/marker beds: tend to have some
unusual, distinguishing feature which allows
them to be readily identified, such as a bed of
volcanic ash in a sedimentary sequence, or a
bed of conglomerate in a sandstone sequence,
or a bed of limestone in a shale sequence. Key
beds or marker beds should also be laterally
extensive, to aid in correlation over a large
area.
 Physical Criteria cont.
• Geophysics: Every rock layer has a characteristic
geophysical signature. This is because they have
different values for physical properties such as
electrical resistivity, density, radioactive emission,
seismics, reflectivity, magnetism etc. These values
can be captured across a sequence by lowering
geophysical probes down the boreholes in an
area. The geophysical logs obtained from the
probe are then used in classifying layers and
correlating them with logs from other areas.
 Physical Criteria cont.
• Order of superposition: In un-deformed regions,
the order of superposition determines the
relative ages of the succession of layers.
• Radiometric age-dating: Finding out the age of
formation of a rock using radioactive isotopes:
– Carbon-14
– Uranium and Thorium,
– Potassium-Argon etc.
 Biological Criteria Of Correlation
• Biological evolution is irreversible such that biostratigraphy
which uses the nature of fossil record in rock layers is
applied to correlate rock strata by using the fossil
assemblages contained within them. The fossils are useful
because same lithology sediments of the same age can look
completely different because of local variations in the
sedimentary environment.
• For example:
– one section might have been made up of clays and marls (a
calcium carbonate or lime-rich mud or mudstone which contains
variable amounts of clays and aragonite) while another has
more chalky limestone, but if the fossil species recorded are
similar, the two sediments are likely to have been laid down at
the same time.
 Facies
• Facies are different rock bodies of differing characteristics that have
replaced each other laterally within the but are co existent in the same
stratigraphic interval. Any examination of modern depositional
environments shows that most do not extend for great distances laterally
but eventually change into other depositional environments. Many
sedimentary rocks are being deposited simultaneously in different areas.
Rock types are diagnostic of local environments of deposition, not of
ages. Therefore, facies implies that the different rock types are of the
same age.
• Facies: a body of rock with specified characteristics. Features which are
used to distinguish facies are:
– Grain-size
– Texture
– Sedimentary structures
– Fossil content
– Colour
 Facies- cont
• Sedimentary facies are bodies of sediment recognizably
different from adjacent sediment deposited in a
different depositional environment. Generally, facies are
distinguished by what aspect of the rock or sediment is
being studied. Thus, facies based on petrological
characters such as grain size and mineralogy are called
lithofacies, whereas facies based on fossil content are
called biofacies.

Middle Triassic marginal marine

siltstone and sandstone facies
exposed in southern Utah.