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SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Learning Module
in
EARTH SCIENCE

(Week 14)
 Learning Module in Earth Science

Name:_______________________________________ Grade Level: _____

LESSON 5
HISTORY OF EARTH
Learning competency/ies:
• Describe how layers of rocks (Stratified rocks) are formed
• Describe the different methods (relative and absolute dating) of
determining the age of stratified rocks
• Explain how relative and absolute dating were used to determine the
subdivisions of geologic time

Objectives
This lesson aims to:

d. Explain the stratification process;

e. Differentiate absolute and relative dating; and
f. Value the importance of fossils in determining the history of the Earth.

Review
Sedimentary Rock formation
Directions: Illustrate the processes of sedimentary rock formation.
Describe each processes.

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Pre-assessment
Multiple Choice: Encircle the letter of the correct answer.

1. The rock was formed by smaller pieces of rock that settled at the
bottom of a lake millions of years ago. What type of rock is this?
a. Sedimentary
b. Metamorphic
c. Igneous

2. Which of the following statements on sedimentary rock is not correct?

a. Fossils are not deposited in these layers of rocks
b. Sedimentary rocks are originally deposited horizontally
c. Sedimentary rocks are formed from fragments of pre-existing rocks
d. All of the above

3. The rocks at the bottom layer are older than the top most layer
a. Superposition
b. Horizontality
c. Unconformities
d. Cross-cutting relations

4. Which of the following is an example of parent isotope?

a. Argon
b. Lead
c. Strontium
d. Uranium

5. What method is used to date rocks older than 100000 years.

a. Carbon-14 method
b. Uranium-lead method
c. Potassium-argon method
d. Rubidium-strontium method

Introduction
This lesson will discuss the concept on the formation of stratified
rocks and the different methods (relative and absolute dating) of
determining the age of stratified rocks. It will enhance your
understanding in determining the age of the Earth through absolute and

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relative dating.
One of the most important guiding principle in the study of Earth’s
history is the principle of uniformitarianism by James Hutton. According
to Hutton, the Physical processes occurring today also occurred at
comparable rates in the immensely long past. This principle, commonly
phrased as “the present is the key to the past,” also supported the
concept of “deep time”, which argues that the age Earth is far longer than
what is believed to be at. This deep time concept is due to the processes
the shaped Earth’s surface such as deposition, lithification, and erosion
being slow and continuous process that have been active for very long
periods.
Prior to the discovery of methods to determine the exact age of
materials, geologist relied on their keen observational skill to determine
the chronological sequence in which events happened. Combining this
observational skill with the stratigraphic principles proposed by Nicolas
Steno, the basic component of stratigraphy, or the study of rock layers
and layering, was formed.

Content

Stratification
Stratification, the layering that occurs in most sedimentary rocks
and in those igneous rocks formed at the Earth’s surface, as from lava
flows and volcanic fragmental deposits. The layers range from several
millimetres to many metres in thickness and vary greatly in shape. Strata
may range from thin sheets that cover many square kilometres to thick
lens like bodies that extend only a few metres laterally.

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Stratification of sedimentary rock on the Rainbow Basin syncline near Barstow, Calif., U.S.Mark A.
Wilson (Department of Geology, The College of Wooster)

Principles of Relative Dating

Relative Age Dating

Early geologists had no way to determine the absolute age of a geological
material. If they didn't see it form, they couldn't know if a rock was one
hundred years or 100 million years old. What they could do was
determine the ages of materials relative to each other. Using sensible
principles they could say whether one rock was older than another. They
could also determine when a process occurred relative to those rocks.

Laws of Stratigraphy
The study of rock strata is called stratigraphy. The laws of stratigraphy
can help scientists understand Earth’s past. The laws of stratigraphy are
usually credited to a geologist from Denmark named Nicolas Steno. He
lived in the 1600s. The laws are illustrated in Figure below; refer to the
figure as you read about Steno's laws below.

(a) Original horizontality. (b) Lateral continuity. (c) Superposition.

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Law of Superposition
Superposition refers to the position of rock layers and their relative ages
(Figure below). Relative age means age in comparison with other rocks,
either younger or older. The relative ages of rocks are important for
understanding Earth’s history. New rock layers are always deposited on
top of existing rock layers. Therefore, deeper layers must be older than
layers closer to the surface. This is the law of superposition.

Superposition. The rock layers at the bottom of this cliff are much older than those at the top. What force
eroded the rocks and exposed the layers?

Law of Lateral Continuity

Rock layers extend laterally, or out to the sides. They may cover very
broad areas, especially if they formed at the bottom of ancient seas.
Erosion may have worn away some of the rock, but layers on either side
of eroded areas will still “match up.”
The Grand Canyon (Figure below) is a good example of lateral continuity.
You can clearly see the same rock layers on opposite sides of the canyon.
The matching rock layers were deposited at the same time, so they are
the same age.

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Lateral Continuity. Layers of the same rock type are found across canyons at the Grand Canyon.

Law of Original Horizontality

Sediments were deposited in ancient seas in horizontal, or flat, layers. If
sedimentary rock layers are tilted, they must have moved after they were
deposited.

Law of Cross-Cutting Relationships

Rock layers may have another rock cutting across them, like the igneous
rock pictured below (Figure below). Which rock is older? To determine
this, we use the law of cross-cutting relationships. The cut rock layers
are older than the rock that cuts across them.

Cross-cutting relationships in rock layers. The rock layers at the bottom are cut off by the rock layers that are
higher up. Which layers are older and which are younger?

Unconformities
Geologists can learn a lot about Earth’s history by studying sedimentary
rock layers. But in some places, there’s a gap in time when no rock layers
are present. A gap in the sequence of rock layers is called an
unconformity.
Look at the rock layers pictured below (Figure below); they show a feature
called Hutton’s unconformity. The unconformity was discovered by
James Hutton in the 1700s. Hutton saw that the lower rock layers are
very old. The upper layers are much younger. There are no layers in
between the ancient and recent layers. Hutton thought that the
intermediate rock layers eroded away before the more recent rock layers
were deposited.
Hutton's discovery was a very important event in geology! Hutton

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determined that the rocks were deposited over time. Some were eroded
away. Hutton knew that deposition and erosion are very slow. He realized
that for both to occur would take an extremely long time. This made him
realize that Earth must be much older than people thought. This was a
really big discovery! It meant there was enough time for life to evolve
gradually.

Hutton's unconformity, in Scotland.

Determining Relative Ages

Determining the Relative Ages of Rocks
Steno’s principles are essential for determining the relative ages of rocks
and rock layers. Remember that in relative dating, scientists do not
determine the exact age of a fossil or rock. They look at a sequence of
rocks to try to decipher when an event occurred relative to the other
events represented in that sequence. The relative age of a rock, then, is
its age in comparison with other rocks. (1) Do you know which rock is
older and which is younger? (2) Do you know how old the rock's layers
are in years? For relative ages, you know #1 but not #2.
In some cases, it is very tricky to determine the sequence of events that
leads to a certain formation. In the picture below, can you figure out
what happened in what order (Figure below)? Write it down and then
check the following paragraphs.

A geologic cross section: Sedimentary rocks (A-C), igneous intrusion (D), fault (E).

The principle of cross-cutting relationships states that a fault or

intrusion is younger than the rocks that it cuts through. The fault cuts

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through all three sedimentary rock layers (A, B, and C) and also the
intrusion (D). So the fault must be the youngest feature. The intrusion
(D) cuts through the three sedimentary rock layers, so it must be younger
than those layers. By the law of superposition, C is the oldest
sedimentary rock, B is younger and A is still younger.
The full sequence of events is:
1. Layer C formed.
2. Layer B formed.
3. Layer A formed.
4. After layers A-B-C were present, intrusion D cut across all three.
5. Fault E formed, shifting rocks A through C and intrusion D.
6. Weathering and erosion created a layer of soil on top of layer A.

Radioactive Decay as a Measure of Age

When do you stop counting?

Pretend that the large green cylinder is a parent isotope. Now you can
visualize the decay of the parent to the daughter. It's easy to see that the
second cylinder is half the size of the first. The third is half the size of the
second. But when the cylinders get small, the differences are much
harder to see. At some point, there is too little of the parent left. That
isotope pair is no longer useful for dating.

Radioactive Decay
Radioactive decay is the breakdown of unstable elements into stable
elements. To understand this process, recall that the atoms of all
elements contain the particles protons, neutrons, and electrons.
Isotopes
An element is defined by the number of protons it contains. All atoms of
a given element contain the same number of protons. The number of
neutrons in an element may vary. Atoms of an element with different
numbers of neutrons are called isotopes.
Consider carbon as an example. Two isotopes of carbon are shown below
(Figure below). Compare their protons and neutrons. Both contain six
protons. But carbon-12 has six neutrons and carbon-14 has eight

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neutrons.

Isotopes are named for their number of protons plus neutrons. If a carbon atom had seven neutrons, what
would it be named?

Almost all carbon atoms are carbon-12. This is a stable isotope of carbon.
Only a tiny percentage of carbon atoms are carbon-14. carbon-14 is
unstable. It is a radioactive isotope of carbon. Pictured below is carbon
dioxide (Figure below), which forms in the atmosphere from carbon-14
and oxygen. Neutrons in cosmic rays strike nitrogen atoms in the
atmosphere. The nitrogen forms carbon-14. Carbon in the atmosphere
combines with oxygen to form carbon dioxide. Plants take in carbon
dioxide during photosynthesis. In this way, carbon-14 enters food chains.

Carbon-14 forms in the atmosphere. It combines with oxygen and forms carbon dioxide. How does carbon-
14 end up in fossils?

Decay of Unstable Isotopes

Like other unstable isotopes, carbon-14 breaks down, or decays. The
original atoms are called the parent isotopes. For carbon-14 decay, each
carbon-14 atom loses an beta particle. It changes to a stable atom of
nitrogen-14. The stable atom at the end is the daughter product (Figure
below).

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Unstable isotopes, such as carbon-14, decay by losing atomic particles. They form different, stable elements
when they decay.

The decay of an unstable isotope to a stable element occurs at a constant

rate. This rate is different for each parent-daughter isotope pair. The
decay rate is measured in a unit called the half-life. The half-life is the
time it takes for half of a given amount of an isotope to decay. For
example, the half-life of carbon-14 is 5,730 years. Imagine that you start
out with 100 grams of carbon-14. In 5,730 years, half of it decays. This
leaves 50 grams of carbon-14. Over the next 5,730 years, half of the
remaining amount will decay. Now there are 25 grams of carbon-14. How
many grams will there be in another 5,730 years? The figure below
graphs the rate of decay of a substance (Figure below).

The rate of decay of a radioactive substance is constant over time.

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Radiometric Dating
Can wood give an age in another way?
In the section on tree ring dating, there was a photo of a ruin at Mesa
Verde National Park. This photo is also from Mesa Verde. In archeological
sites, wood can be dated by tree rings. It can also be dated by radiometric
dating. Carbon-14 dating is very useful for ruins that contain wood. If the
tree died around the time the ladder was created, then carbon-14 can tell
the age of the ladder. If the ladder was built for the site, then that age will
be the age of the archeological site.
Radiometric Dating
The rate of decay of unstable isotopes can be used to estimate the
absolute ages of fossils and rocks. This type of dating is called
radiometric dating.
Carbon-14 Dating
The best-known method of radiometric dating is carbon-14 dating. This
method is also called radiocarbon dating. A living thing takes in carbon-
14 (along with stable carbon-12). As the carbon-14 decays, it is replaced
with more carbon-14. After the organism dies, it stops taking in carbon.
That includes carbon-14. The carbon-14 that is in its body continues to
decay. So the organism contains less and less carbon-14 as time goes on.
We can estimate the amount of carbon-14 that has decayed by
measuring the amount of carbon-14 to carbon-12. We know how fast
carbon-14 decays. With this information, we can tell how long ago the
organism died.
Carbon-14 has a relatively short half-life. It decays quickly compared to
some other unstable isotopes. So carbon-14 dating is useful for
specimens younger than 50,000 years old. That’s a blink of an eye in
geologic time. But radiocarbon dating is very useful for more recent
events. One important use of radiocarbon is early human sites. Carbon-
14 dating is also limited to the remains of once-living things. To date
rocks, scientists use other radioactive isotopes.
Other Radioactive Isotopes
The isotopes listed below (Table below) are used to date igneous rocks.
These isotopes have much longer half-lives than carbon-14. Because they
decay more slowly, they can be used to date much older specimens.
Which of these isotopes could be used to date a rock that formed half a
million years ago? How about half a billion years ago?

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At a Half-Life of Dates Rocks Aged

Unstable Isotope Decays to
(years) (years old)

Potassium-40 Argon-40 1.3 billion 100 thousand – 1 billion

Uranium-235 Lead-207 700 million 1 million – 4.5 billion

Uranium-238 Lead-206 4.5 billion 1 million – 4.5 billion

Limitations of Radiometric Dating

Radiometric dating is a very useful tool, but it does have limits:
1. The material being dated must have measurable amounts of the
parent and/or the daughter isotopes.
2. Radiometric dating can only be done on some materials. It is not
useful for determining the age of sedimentary rocks. For this, geologists
date a nearby igneous rock. Then they use relative dating techniques to
figure out the age of the sedimentary rock. They may not get it exactly,
but there will be some idea.

Self-Check Activities
LET ME THINK!

Directions: Answer the question concisely.

1. How do layers of rock explain the history of Earth?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

2. How relative dating determine the Earth’s History? Absolute dating?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

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Key Concepts
• Sediments are deposited horizontally. This is original horizontality.
• The oldest sedimentary rocks are at the bottom of the sequence. This is the
law of superposition.
• Rock layers are laterally continuous.This is the law of lateral continuity.
• Rock B cuts across rock A. Rock A must be older. This is the principle of
cross-cutting relationships.
• A gap in a rock sequence is an unconformity.
• The oldest rock units lie beneath the younger ones.
• Radiocarbon is useful for relatively young, carbon-based materials. Other
longer-lived isotopes are good for older rocks and minerals.
• Different isotope pairs are useful for certain materials of certain ages.
• Radiometric dating cannot be used if parent or daughter are not measurable .

Evaluation
Modified True or False. Write T if the statement is correct and if it is
wrong change the underlined word to make the statement correct. Write
your answer on the space provided before each number.

_______________ 1. Absolute is a method of measuring the age of an

event or
object in years.
_______________ 2. The Carbon-12 method of radiometric dating is used
mainly
for dating things that lived within the last
50000 years.
_______________ 3. Relative dating shows the chronological order of
events
without any reference to the unit of time.
_______________ 4. The oldest sedimentary rocks are at the top of the
sequence.
_______________ 5. The Grand Canyon is a good example of lateral
continuity.

Enrichment Activities

Relative versus Absolute Time

Relative Event/Activity Absolute

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Oldest(1) Wake up 6:30 AM

2 Breakfast 7:00 AM
3 Shower 7:30 AM
4 Drive to work 8:00AM
5 Afternoon Meeting 4:00PM
6 Dinner 7:00PM
Most recent (7) Sleep 10:00PM

Questions:
1. What is the difference of relative from absolute?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_______________.
2. How will you determine the data as relative or absolute?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_______________.

Bibliography

https://www.britannica.com/science/stratification-geology

https://flexbooks.ck12.org/cbook/ck-12-middle-school-earth-science-flexbook-
2.0/section/15.4/primary/lesson/principles-of-relative-dating-ms-es

https://flexbooks.ck12.org/cbook/ck-12-middle-school-earth-science-flexbook-
2.0/section/15.5/primary/lesson/determining-relative-ages-ms-es

https://flexbooks.ck12.org/cbook/ck-12-middle-school-earth-science-flexbook-
2.0/section/15.9/primary/lesson/radioactive-decay-as-a-measure-of-age-ms-es

https://flexbooks.ck12.org/cbook/ck-12-middle-school-earth-science-flexbook-
2.0/section/15.10/primary/lesson/radiometric-dating-ms-es

Olivar II, J.T., Rodolfo, R., & Cabria, H.(2016) Earth Science

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