Geology: Relative Dating Principles

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Questions and Answers

What is the Law of Superposition?

  • All layers are the same age
  • Rock layers will continue indefinitely
  • Each bed is older than the one above it (correct)
  • Each bed is younger than the one below it (correct)

What is the law of Cross-Cutting Relationships?

When a fault cuts through other rocks, the intrusion is younger than the rocks affected.

What is the law of Inclusions?

Inclusions are pieces of one rock unit contained in another, making the inclusions older than the rock containing them.

What is the law of Lateral Continuity?

<p>Rock layers will extend outwards until the environment that produced them changes.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the law of Original Horizontality?

<p>Layers of sediment are deposited by gravity into flat layers.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the laws related to relative dating?

<p>The laws are: Original Horizontality (OH), Law of Lateral Continuity (LC), Law of Inclusions (I), and Cross-Cutting Relationships (cCR).</p> Signup and view all the answers

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Study Notes

Law of Superposition

  • In an undeformed sequence of rock, each bed is older than the one above it and younger than the one below.
  • This principle helps establish the chronological order of rock layers.

Law of Cross-Cutting Relationships

  • A fault or magma intrusion that cuts through existing rocks is younger than the rocks it affects.
  • This principle aids in determining the relative ages of geological features.

Law of Inclusions

  • Inclusions are fragments of one rock unit contained within another rock unit.
  • The rock containing the inclusions is younger than the inclusions themselves, which must predate their incorporation.

Law of Lateral Continuity

  • Rock layers are deposited in continuous sheets that extend outward until an environmental change occurs.
  • This principle allows for the identification and correlation of rock layers across distances.

Law of Original Horizontality

  • Sediments are deposited in flat, horizontal layers due to the force of gravity.
  • Deviations from horizontal layers indicate subsequent geological events.

Summary of Key Laws

  • OH: Original Horizontality
  • LC: Lateral Continuity
  • I: Inclusions
  • cCR: Cross-Cutting Relationships

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