Rock Layer Sequencing Activity for Relative Age Inference

1. 8.E.6A.2 Analyze and interpret data from index fossil records and the ordering of rock layers to infer the relative age of rocks and fossils.

2. Activity # 1 • On your desk, you have 8 large colored index cards with nonsense letters placed on them. • Your task is to determine what the correct sequence of the letters are. • You have two clues: • The card with the letters “C” and “T” is on the bottom, or the oldest layer • Look for a card that has either a “T” or “C” written on it for the second layer

3. You have two clues:The card with the letters “C” and “T” is on the bottom, or the oldest layerLook for a card that has either a “T” or “C” written on it for the second layer • Questions when you finish: • What letter is the oldest? • What letter is the youngest? • What letter showed up the most? • Which letters only showed up once? • Which letters could be index fossils? • How did you know which was older: “M” or “X”?

4. M D X O N B U A G C T • This is one possible way to arrange the cards. • Questions: • What letter is the oldest? • What letter is the youngest? • What letter showed up the most? • Which letters only showed up once? • Which letters could be index fossils? • How did you know which was older: “M” or “X”? • MD • DXO • ON • NB • NBU • UA • AGC • C T

5. ESSENTIAL QUESTION • What is the law of superposition?

6. 8.E.6A.2 Analyze and interpret data from index fossil records and the ordering of rock layers to infer the relative age of rocks and fossils.

7. The relative age means the age of one object compared to the age of another object. Relative age does not tell the exact age of an object.The relative age of rocks and fossils can be determined using two basic methods: • 1.ordering of rock layers • 2. index fossils:

8. Relative and Absolute Ages • Relative Age The age of a rock compared to the ages of rock layers. Ex: younger vs. older • Absolute AgeThe age of a rock given as the number of years since the rock formed. • Ex: 10, 20, 50, 100

9. PRACTICE

10. PRACTICE

12. ORDERING OF ROCKS • Scientists read the rock layers knowing that each layer is deposited on top of other layers. • The law of superpositionstates that each rock layer is older than the one above it. So, the • relative age of the rock or fossil in the rock is older if it is farther down in the rock layers. • Relative dating can be used only when the rock layers have been preserved in their original sequence.

13. Position of Rock Layers Its difficult to determine the absolute age so geologists use methods to find a rock’s relative age. Use the: LAW OF SUPERPOSITION: in horizontal sedimentary rock layers, the oldest layer is at the bottom and the youngest layer is at the top. Each higher layer is younger than the layers below it.

17. Complex layering due to intrusions and extrusions, faults, or unconformities can make dating rocks and fossils challenging.

18. Other Clues to Relative Age • Clues from Igneous Rocks: 1. Lava that hardens on the surface is called an Extrusion (example – an eruption would put a layer of igneous rock on top of sedimentary rocks. Rock layers below an extrusion are alwaysolder than the extrusion.

19. The extrusion is in black

20. Now the extrusion is the youngest layer.

21. Clues from Igneous Rocks: 2. Magma that cools and pushes into bodies of rock and hardens is called an Intrusion An intrusion is always younger than the rock layers around and beneath it. It is considered a cross-cutting section.

22. The intrusion (in red) is now younger than the surrounding rocks.

23. Draw this in your notes and label each of the parts listed below. • Intrusion • Extrusion • Oldest rock • Youngest rock

25. Clues from Faults: Fault: is a break in the Earth’s crust. • Forces inside the Earth cause movement of the rock on opposite sides of a fault. • Fault is always younger than the rock it cuts through. It is considered a cross-cutting section.

32. REVIEW • Geologists use the Relative and Absolute Age of rocks to determine age. • Using the Law of Superposition • Other clues are from Igneous rocks • Extrusion • Intrusion • Clues from Faults

33. Question • Which is most likely to become a fossil? • A. a skeleton in a large lake • B. a jellyfish in the ocean • C. an earthworm in a damp forest • D. a skeleton in a riverbed that is drying up

34. GAPS IN THE GEOLOGIC RECORD - Record of sedimentary rock layers is not always complete - Deposition slowly builds layers upon layer of sedimentary rock, BUT some of these layers may erode away, exposing an older rock surface. Unconformity – is a gap in the geologic record. An unconformity shows where some rock layers have been lost because of erosion.

36. USING FOSSILS TO DATE ROCKS To date rock layers, geologists first give a relative age to a layer of rock at one location. THEN they can give the same age to matching layers of rock at other locations. Certain fossils, called Index Fossils help geologist match rock layers. INDEX FOSSILS – Fossils of widely distributed organisms that lived during only one short period.

37. Index Fossils • Certain fossils, called index fossils, can be used to help find the relative age of rock layers. To be an index fossil – • an organism must have lived only during a short part of Earth’s history; • many fossils of the organism must be found in rock layers; • the fossil must be found over a wide area of Earth; • the organism must be unique. • ARE EXTINCT • Found only in ONE rock layer • Only lived for a Short period of time

38. TRILOBITES: A key example of an organism used as an index fossil are ___TRIOBITES___, a group of hard-shelled animals whose body had three sections, lived in shallow seas, and became extinct about 245 million years ago. Therefore, if a trilobite is found in a particular rock layer, it can be compared with trilobites from other layers to estimate the age of the layer in which it was found. • Note: Fossils that are found in many rock layers, therefore living long periods of time, do not qualify as index fossils.

40. The World's Biggest Trilobite • A team of Canadian paleontologists working along Hudson Bay in northern Manitoba has discovered the world's largest recorded complete fossil of a trilobite, a many-legged, sea-dwelling animal that lived 445 million years ago. The giant creature is more than 70 cm long (about 28 inches), 70 percent larger than the previous record holder. "This is an important and amazing find," says Bob Elias, a professor in the department of geological sciences at the University of Manitoba. "It looks like a huge bug!"

47. Radioactive element decay can also be used to tell the age of fossils and rocks. Until the middle of the last century, "older" or "younger" was the best scientists could do when assigning ages to fossils. There was no way to calculate an "absolute" age (in years) for any fossil or rock layer. But after scientists learned that the nuclear decay of radioactive elements takes place at a predictable rate, they realized that the traces of radioactive elements present in certain types of rock, such as hardened lava and tuff (formed from compacted volcanic ash), could be analyzed chemically to determine the ages, in years, of those rocks.

48. Law of Superposition: Oldest sedimentary rock layers will be on the bottom, youngest on top. • Principle of Original Horizontality: When layers of sedimentary rock are first made, they are layered horizontally.

49. Rock Layers Can Change! •  Rock layers can fold underground. Can you still figure out the order from oldest to youngest? • Intrusions of igneous rock can cut through different layers, like A. The intrusion is always younger than the layers it cuts through (even if it comes from the bottom!).

50. A fault or crack could form in the middle of rock layers (B). If this happens, the fault is always younger than the layers it cuts through.