Chapter 5

Rocks, Fossils
and Time
Making Sense
of the
Geologic
Record

Stratigraphy
Stratigraphy deals with the study of any
layered (stratified) rock, but primarily with
sedimentary rocks and their

composition
origin
age relationships
geographic extent

Many igneous rocks

such as a succession of lava flows or ash beds are
stratified and obey the principles of stratigraphy

Many metamorphic rocks are stratified

Stratified Igneous Rocks

Stratification in a succession of lava
flows in Oregon.

Stratified Sedimentary Rocks

Stratification in sedimentary rocks consisting of

alternating layers of sandstone and shale, in
California.

Stratified Metamorphic Rocks

Stratification in Siamo Slate, in Michigan

Vertical Stratigraphic
Relationships

Surfaces known as bedding planes separate

individual strata from one another
or the strata grade vertically from one rock type to
another

Rocks above and below a bedding plane

differ in composition, texture, color or a
combination of these features
The bedding plane signifies
a rapid change in sedimentation
or perhaps a period of nondeposition

Age of Lava Flows, Sills

Determining the relative ages of lava flows, sills and
associated sedimentary rocks uses alteration by heat
and inclusions
How can you determine whether a layer of basalt within
a sequence of sedimentary rocks is a buried lava flow
or a sill?
A lava flow forms in sequence with the
sedimentary layers.
Rocks below the lava will have signs of
heating but not the rocks above.
The rocks above may have lava inclusions.

Sill
A sill will heat the rocks above and below.
The sill might also have inclusions of the rocks above and below,
but neither of these rocks
will have inclusions of
the sill.

Unconformities
So far we have discussed vertical relationships among
conformable strata, which are sequences of rocks in which
deposition was more or less continuous
Unconformities in sequences of strata represent times of
nondeposition and/or erosion that encompass long periods
of geologic time, perhaps millions or tens of millions of years
The rock record is incomplete.
The interval of time not represented by strata is a hiatus.

The origin of an unconformity

The process of forming an unconformity
deposition began 12 million years ago (MYA),
continues until 4 MYA

For 1 million years

erosion occurred and
removed 2 MY of rocks
and giving rise to a 3
million year hiatus

The last column

is the actual stratigraphic
record
with an unconformity

Types of Unconformities
Three types of surfaces can be unconformities:
A disconformity is a surface separating younger from
older rocks, both of which are parallel to one another
A nonconformity is an erosional surface cut into
metamorphic or intrusive rocks and covered by
sedimentary rocks
An angular unconformity is an erosional surface on tilted
or folded strata over which younger rocks were deposited

Types of Unconformities

Unconformities of regional extent may change from one type

to another
They may not represent the same amount of geologic time
everywhere

A Disconformity
A disconformity between sedimentary rocks in California,
with conglomerate deposited upon an erosion surface in
the underlying rocks

An Angular Unconformity
An angular
unconformity,
Santa Rosa

A Nonconformity
A nonconformity in South Dakota separating Precambrian
metamorphic rocks from the overlying Cambrian-aged
Deadwood Formation

Lateral Relationships
In 1669, Nicolas Steno proposed his principle of
lateral continuity, meaning that layers of sediment
extend outward in all directions until they terminate
Terminations may
be
Abrupt at the edge of a
depositional basin where eroded
where truncated by faults

 or they may be gradual

where a rock unit becomes
progressively thinner until it pinches out

or where it splits into thinner units each

of which pinches out,
called intertonging

where a rock unit changes by lateral gradation

as its composition and/or texture becomes
increasingly different

Sedimentary Facies
Both intertonging and lateral gradation indicate
simultaneous deposition in adjacent environments
A sedimentary facies is a body of sediment with
distinctive physical, chemical and biological attributes
deposited side-by-side with other sediments in different
environments

Sedimentary Facies
On a continental shelf, sand may accumulate in the high-energy
nearshore environment

while mud and carbonate deposition takes place at the same time
in offshore low-energy environments

Marine Transgressions
A marine transgression occurs when sea level rises
with respect to the land
During a marine transgression,
the shoreline migrates landward
the environments paralleling the shoreline migrate landward
as the sea progressively covers more and more of a
continent

Marine Transgressions
Each laterally adjacent depositional environment
produces a sedimentary facies
During a transgression, the facies forming offshore
become superposed upon facies deposited in nearshore
environments

Marine Transgression

Marine Transgression
The rocks of each facies become younger in a
landward direction during a marine transgression

One body of rock with the same attributes (a facies) was deposited
gradually at different times in different places so it is time transgressive
meaning the ages vary from place to place

A Marine Transgression in the

Grand Canyon

Three formations
deposited in a
widespread marine
transgression exposed
in the walls of the
Grand Canyon, Arizona

Marine Regression
During a marine regression, sea level falls with
respect to the continent
the environments paralleling
the shoreline migrate seaward

Marine Regression
A marine regression
is the opposite of a marine transgression
It yields a vertical sequence with nearshore facies
overlying offshore facie sand rock units become
younger in the seaward direction

Walthers Law
Johannes Walther (1860-1937) noticed that the same
facies he found laterally were also present in a vertical
sequence, now called Walthers Law

holds that
the facies seen in a
conformable vertical sequence
will also replace one another
laterally
Walthers law applies to marine
transgressions and
regressions

Extent and Rates of

Transgressions and Regressions
Since the Late Precambrian, 6 major marine transgressions followed
by regressions have occurred in North America
These produce rock sequences, bounded by unconformities, that
provide the structure for U.S. Paleozoic and Mesozoic geologic history
Shoreline movements are a few centimeters per year
Transgression or regressions with small reversals produce intertonging

Causes of
Transgressions and
Regressions
Uplift of continents causes regression
Subsidence causes transgression
Widespread glaciation causes regression
due to the amount of water frozen in glaciers

Rapid seafloor spreading,

expands the mid-ocean ridge system,
displacing seawater onto the continents

Diminishing seafloor-spreading rates

increases the volume of the ocean basins
and causes regression

Fossils
Fossils are the remains or traces of prehistoric organisms
They are most common in sedimentary rocks and in some
accumulations of pyroclastic materials, especially ash
They are extremely useful for determining relative ages of
strata but geologists also use them to ascertain
environments of deposition
Fossils provide some of the evidence for organic evolution
and many fossils are of organisms now extinct

How do Fossils Form?

Remains of organisms are called body fossils. and consist
mostly of durable skeletal elements such as bones, teeth and
shells

rarely we might find entire animals

preserved by freezing or mummification

Body Fossil
Skeleton of a 2.3-m-long marine reptile in the museum at
Glacier Garden in Lucerne, Switzerland

Body Fossils
Shells of Mesozoic
invertebrate animals
known as ammonoids and
nautiloids on a rock slab in
the Cornstock Rock Shop
in Virginia City Nevada

Trace Fossils
Trace fossils are indications of organic activity including

tracks,
trails,
burrows,
nests

A coprolite is a type of trace fossil consisting of fossilized

feces which may provide information about the size and
diet of the animal that produced it

Trace Fossils
Paleontologists think that a
land-dwelling beaver called
Paleocastor made this
spiral burrow in Nebraska

Trace Fossils
Fossilized feces (coprolite) of a carnivorous
mammal
Specimen measures about 5 cm long and contains
small fragments of bones

Body Fossil Formation

The most favorable conditions for preservation of body
fossils occurs when the organism possesses a durable
skeleton of some kind and lives in an area where burial
is likely
Body fossils may be preserved as
unaltered remains, meaning they retain their original
composition and structure,
by freezing, mummification, in amber, in tar

altered remains, with some change in composition

permineralized
recrystallized
replaced
carbonized

Unaltered Remains
Insects
in amber

Preservation
in tar

Unaltered Remains

40,000-year-old
frozen baby
mammoth found in
Siberia in 1971. It is
1.15 m long and 1.0
m tall and it had a
hairy coat.

Hair around the feet is

still visible

Altered Remains
Petrified tree stump in
Florissant Fossil Beds
National Monument,
Colorado
Volcanic mudflows 3 to 6
m deep covered the
lower parts of many trees
at this site

Altered Remains
Carbon film of a
palm frond
Carbon film of an insect

Molds and Casts

Molds form when buried remains leave a
cavity
Casts form if material fills in the cavity

Mold and Cast

Step a: burial of a shell

Step b: dissolution leaving a

cavity, a mold
Step c: the mold is filled by
sediment forming a cast

Cast of a Turtle
Fossil turtle showing some of the
original shell material
body fossil
and a cast

Fossil Record
The fossil record is the record of ancient life preserved
as fossils in rocks
Just as the geologic record must be analyzed and
interpreted, so too must the fossil record
The fossil record is a repository of prehistoric organisms
that provides our only knowledge of such extinct animals
as trilobites and dinosaurs

 WHY is the fossil record incomplete???

Why are there large gaps of time and
biological strata?

Fossil Record
The fossil record is very incomplete because of
destruction to organic remains

bacterial decay
physical processes
scavenging
metamorphism

In spite of this, fossils are quite common

Fossils and Telling Time

William Smith
1769-1839, an English civil engineer independently discovered
Stenos principle of superposition

Realized that fossils in rocks followed the same principle

He discovered that sequences of fossils, especially groups
of fossils, are consistent from area to area
Thereby discovering a method of relatively dating
sedimentary rocks at different locations

Fossils from Different Areas

To compare the ages of
rocks from two different
localities
Smith used fossils

Principle of Fossil Succession

Using superposition, Smith was able to predict the
order in which fossils would appear in rocks not
previously visited
Alexander Brongniart in France
also recognized this relationship

Their observations lead to the

principle of fossil
succession

Principle of Fossil Succession

Principle of fossil succession holds that fossil
assemblages (groups of fossils) succeed one another
through time in a regular and determinable order
Why not simply match up similar rocks types?
Because the same kind of rock has formed repeatedly through
time

Fossils also formed through time,

but because different organisms existed at different times,
fossil assemblages are unique

Distinct Aspect
An assemblage of fossils
has a distinctive aspect compared with younger or older
fossil assemblages
Rocks that contain similar fossil assemblages had to
have been deposited at about the same time.

Matching Rocks Using Fossils

Geologists use the principle of fossil succession to match ages

of distant rock sequences
Dashed lines indicate rocks with similar fossils thus having the same age

Stratigraphic Terminology
Because sedimentary rock units are time transgressive,
they may belong to one system in one area and to
another system elsewhere
At some localities a rock unit
straddles the boundary between systems

We need terminology that deals with both:

rocksdefined by their content
lithostratigraphic unit rock content
biostratigraphic unit fossil content

and timeexpressing or related to geologic time

time-stratigraphic unit rocks of a certain age
time units referring to time not rocks

Lithostratigraphic Units
Lithostratigraphic units are based on rock type
with no consideration of time of origin

The basic lithostratigraphic element is a formation

a mappable rock unit with distinctive upper and lower boundaries
It may consist of a single rock type
such as the Redwall limestone

or a variety of rock types

such as the Morrison Formation

Formations may be subdivided

into members and beds
or collected into groups and supergroups

Lithostratigraphic Units
Lithostratigraphic units in
Zion National Park, Utah
For example: The Chinle
Formation is divided into
Springdale Sandstone
Member
Petrified Forest Member
Shinarump Conglomerate
Member

Biostratigraphic Units
A body of strata recognized only on the basis of its
fossil content is a biostratigraphic unit
the boundaries of which do not necessarily correspond to those
of lithostratigraphic units

The fundamental biostratigraphic unit

is the biozone

Time-Stratigraphic Units
Time-stratigraphic units
also called chronostratigraphic units

consist of rocks deposited during a particular interval of

geologic time

The basic time-stratigraphic unit is the system

Time Units
Time units simply designate certain parts of geologic time

Period is the most commonly used time designation

Two or more periods may be designated as an era
Two or more eras constitute and eon
Periods can be made up of shorter time units
epochs, which can be subdivided into ages

The time-stratigraphic unit, system, corresponds to

the time unit, period

Correlation
Correlation is the process of matching up rocks in
different areas
There are two types of correlation:
Lithostratigraphic correlation
simply matching up the same rock units over a larger area with no
regard for time

Time-stratigraphic correlation
demonstrates time-equivalence of events

Lithostratigraphic Correlation
Correlation of lithostratigraphic units
such as formations traces rocks laterally
across gaps

Lithostratigraphic Correlation
We can correlate rock units based on

composition
position in a sequence
and the presence of distinctive key beds

Time Equivalence
Because most rock units of regional extent are time
transgressive we cannot rely on lithostratigraphic
correlation to demonstrate time equivalence
Example:
sandstone in Arizona is correctly correlated with similar
rocks in Colorado and South Dakota
but the age of these rocks varies from Early Cambrian in the
west to middle Cambrian farther east

Time Equivalence
The most effective way to demonstrate
time equivalence is time-stratigraphic
correlation using biozones

Biozones
For all organisms now extinct, their existence marks two points
in time
their time of origin
their time of extinction

One type of biozone, the range zone, is defined by the geologic range
(total time of existence) of a particular fossil group, species, or a group of
related species called a genus

Most useful are fossils that are

easily identified
geographically widespread
and had a rather short geologic range

Guide Fossils
The brachiopod Lingula is not useful
because, although it is easily
identified and has a wide geographic
extent, it has too large a geologic
range
The brachiopod Atrypa and trilobite
Paradoxides are well suited for timestratigraphic correlation, because of
their short ranges
They are guide fossils

Concurrent Range Zones

A concurrent range zone is established by plotting
the overlapping ranges of two or more fossils with
different geologic ranges
This is probably the most
accurate method of
determining time equivalence

Short Duration Physical

Events
Some physical events of short
duration are also used to
demonstrate time equivalence:
distinctive lava flow
would have formed over a short period of
time

ash falls
take place in a matter of hours or days
may cover large areas
are not restricted to a specific environment

Absolute ages may be obtained for

igneous events using radiometric dating

Absolute Dates and the

Relative Geologic Time Scale
Ordovician rocks
are younger than those of the Cambrian
and older than Silurian rocks

But how old are they? When did the Ordovician begin
and end?
Since radiometric dating techniques work on igneous and
some metamorphic rocks, but not generally on
sedimentary rocks, this is not so easy to determine

Absolute Dates for

Sedimentary Rocks Are Indirect
Mostly, absolute ages for sedimentary rocks must be
determined indirectly by dating associated igneous and
metamorphic rocks
According to the principle of cross-cutting relationships,
a dike must be younger than the rock it cuts, so an absolute
age for a dike gives a minimum age for the host rock and a
maximum age for any rocks deposited across the dike after
it was eroded

Indirect Dating
Absolute ages of sedimentary rocks are most often
found by determining radiometric ages of associated
igneous or metamorphic rocks

Indirect Dating

The absolute dates obtained from regionally metamorphosed rocks

give a maximum age for overlying sedimentary rocks

Lava flows and ash falls interbedded with sedimentary rocks are the
most useful for determining absolute ages

Both provide time-equivalent surfaces

giving a maximum age for any rocks above
and a minimum age for any rocks below

Indirect Dating

Combining thousands of
absolute ages associated with
sedimentary rocks of known
relative age gives the numbers
on the geologic time scale