Outline for Dr. Heaton's ESCI 103 class
Principles of Earth Science II or Historical Geology
Textbook: Harold L. Levin, The Earth Through Time, 8th Edition
Levin Chapter 2 – Early Geologists Tackle History’s Mysteries
Key Historical Figures and their Contributions
Herodotus (450 B.C.) and later Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Recognized fossils as remnants of ancient life that lived where the fossils are found
Nicolaus Steno (1638-1687)
Principal of Superposition (higher layers of rock are younger than lower layers)
Principal of Original Horizontality (tilted layers of rock were formed horizontal)
Principal of Original Lateral Continuity (rock layers are continuous over large areas)
Abraham Werner (1749-1817)
Neptunist (believed all rocks, including basalt, precipitated out of the ocean)
James Hutton (1726-1797)
Plutonist (believed that igneous rocks formed from a liquid melt)
Proposed long geologic cycles (like a heat engine) to explain origin of soil for farming
Father of Uniformitarianism (old earth, gradual change, "present is the Key to the past")
Principal of Unconformities (sedimentary discontinuities representing time hiatuses)
William "Strata" Smith (1769-1839)
Principal of Fossil Succession (using fossils to correlate rock ages)
Mapped the rocks of England using fossils
Georges Cuvier (1769-1832)
Famous anatomist, defender of Catastrophism and mass extinction
Mapped the rocks of France using fossils
Charles Lyell (1797-1875)
Principal expounder of Uniformitarianism, Gradualism, and a cyclic history of life
Principal of Cross-cutting Relations (dating of features by their effects on each other)
Principal of Inclusions (pieces of older rock are encased within younger rock)
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
Follower of Lyell, defender of Uniformitarianism and Gradualism
Proposed Evolution by Natural Selection to explain faunal succession
Proposed another evolutionary theory to explain coral reefs
Lord Kelvin (1824-1907)
Physicist who claimed that Lyell's earth was an absurd perpetual motion machine
Claimed that the sun and the earth were rapidly cooling from an original molten state
Calculated that the earth was too young for Darwin's evolution to take place
His ideas were negated with the discovery (around 1900) of nuclear reactions
Key Historical Issues
The age of the earth and its features
Rapid catastrophic change vs. slow gradual change
Time's arrow vs. time's cycle
The ultimate cause of things (natural or supernatural)
Historical science requires different approaches than laboratory science
Detailed study of modern processes, comparison with past features (Actualism)
Recognition of past processes no longer operating today
Hypothesis testing, multiple working hypotheses
Levin Chapter 3 – Time and Geology
The Geologic Time Scale: "type sections" named locally and later correlated worldwide
Hierarchy of Eons, Eras, Periods, Epochs, developed in early 1800's
Dates in years added in 1950's using radiometric dating
Learn Eons, Eras, Periods, Epochs of Cenozoic, and dates of era boundaries
Stratigraphy is the science of correlating sedimentary rocks.
Geochronology is the science of dating geologic events.
Adam Sedgwick--named Cambrian, used lithology as basis (bad for correlation)
Roderick Murchison--named Silurian, used fossils as basis (better method)
Charles Lyell--named epochs of Cenozoic based on percentage of modern species
Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian: named for places and tribes in Great Britain
Carboniferous: named for the important coal deposits it bears in Europe
Subdivided into Mississippian and Pennsylvanian in North America
Permian: named for the Ural Mountains that separate Europe and Asia
Triassic: named for the three-fold division of rocks of this age in Germany
Jurassic: named for the Jura Mountains between France and Switzerland
Cretaceous: named for the chalk deposits it contains throughout Europe (and in South Dakota!)
Tertiary and Quaternary: remnant names from the original "Primary, Secondary" nomenclature
Paleogene and Neogene: modern official periods of the Cenozoic Era
Classification & Hierarchy of Sedimentary Units
Time Units
Eon
Era
Period
Epoch
Age
Chron
=
=
=
=
=
=
Time-Stratigraphic Units
Eonothem
Erathem
System

Series

Stage

Zone (chronozone)
Rock Units
Group
Formation
Member
Lithostratigraphy—using rock type as the basis of correlation
Formations are based on lithology (rock type) and can be "time transgressive"
They also cover a limited geographic area and cannot be correlated worldwide
The trick is relating stratigraphy (rock layers) with time (actual age)
Biostratigraphy—using fossils as the basis of correlation
Fossil zones are the stratigraphic ranges covered by index fossils (short-lived species)
Strategies for aging events
Relative dating--establishing a sequence of events irrespective of time or duration
Examples: superposition, cross-cutting relations, fossil correlation, etc.
Absolute dating--giving a date (i.e. in years) to each past event
Levin Chapter 3 – Time and Geology, continued
Requirements of a natural clock
1) Irreversible, non-cycling process
2) Constant or uniformly changing rate
3) Measurable initial condition
4) Measurable final condition
Early (failed) attempts at dating the earth
Rates of deposition & rates of erosion (non-uniform rate, but did show that the earth was old)
Saltiness of the ocean (involves a cycling process rather than cumulative process)
Heat flow from the earth [Lord Kelvin] (failed to account for heat from radioactivity)
Radiometric dating (works best with igneous rocks)
Atoms, nuclei, protons, neutrons, atomic number, mass number, and isotopes (nuclides)
Radioactive decay, parent isotope, daughter isotope
Types of decay: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Electron capture
Statistical probability and the law of large numbers
The Half-life concept: the time required for half the unstable atoms to decay
Each radioisotope has its own half-life value which must be experimentally determined.
Isotopes useful in geology have very long half-lives because they are dating old events.
Isotopes most useful in dating past events on earth
Uranium-238 >> Lead-206
4.5 billion year half-life
Uranium-235 >> Lead-207
0.7 billion year half-life
Potassium-40 >> Argon-40
1.3 billion year Half-life
Rubidium-87 >> Strontium-87 49 billion year half-life
Carbon-14
>> Nitrogen-14
5730 year half-life
Multiple α and ß decays
Multiple α and ß decays
Electron capture
ß decay
ß decay
A closed system is needed to maintain the components and predict the initial condition.
Blocking temperature is the temperature below which a mineral becomes a closed system.
Isochrons are plots from multiple samples that indicate potential problems with the dates.
Concordant dates: similar results from multiple radioisotopes (always good)
Discordant dates: inconsistent results from multiple radioisotopes (sometimes bad)
Know the assumed initial conditions and what event is being dated with each method.
Know what assumptions each dating method is based upon and any potential for error.
Know what type(s) of decay is (are) involved with each method and the half-life.
Other dating techniques
Fission track dating--counting holes in minerals made by energetic decay products
Magnetostratigraphy--the record of reversals of the earth's magnetic field
Time-parallel surfaces: ash beds, tillites, magnetic reversals, fossil origins & extinctions
Relative and absolute dating can be used in conjunction with one another to bracket true ages.
Radiocarbon Dating
Carbon-14 is generated in the atmosphere and cycles through the food chain with Carbon-12/13.
When an organism dies its Carbon-14 decays back to nitrogen and escapes into the atmosphere.
Comparing Carbon-14 to Carbon-12 & 13 in a sample tells you when the organism died.
Levin Chapter 4 – Rocks and Minerals: Documents that Record Earth’s History
Minerals (naturally occurring solids, orderly atomic arrangement and chemical comp.)
Silicates
Framework silicates: quartz, feldspars (orthoclase, plagioclase)
Sheet silicates: biotite, muscovite, chlorite, clay minerals (kaolinite, talc)
Double chain silicates: amphiboles (hornblende)
Single chain silicates: pyroxenes (augite)
Single tetrahedra: olivine, garnet
Carbonates: calcite, dolomite
Phosphates: apatite, turquoise
Sulfates: gypsum, barite
Sulfides: pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena
Chlorites: halite, fluorite
Oxides: hematite, limonite, magnetite, corundum, ice
Native elements: copper, gold, sulfur, graphite, diamond
Igneous Rocks (form from a liquid melt, rocks in bold are most common)
Composition
Felsic: Granite/Rhyolite
Intermediate: Diorite/Andesite
Mafic: Gabbro/Basalt
Ultramafic: Peridotite/Komatiite
Texture
Plutonic (coarse-grained, intrusive): Granite, Diorite, Gabbro, Peridotite
Volcanic (fine-grained, extrusive): Rhyolite, Andesite, Basalt, Komatiite
Volcanic glass: Obsidian, Pumice
Sedimentary Rocks (formed at earth's surface from sedimentary particles, layered)
Clastic sediments--made from fragments of pre-existing rocks (via erosion)
Conglomerate/Breccia, Sandstone, Siltstone, Shale, Coal
Chemical sediments--sediments precipitated out of water (organic or inorganic)
Limestone (Chalk, Coquina, Oolitic ls.), Dolostone, Chert, Rock salt, Rock gypsum
Lithification--occurs by the compaction and/or cementation of sediments
Sorting--the process by which similar clastic particles are collected together
Sedimentary structures--cross bedding, mud cracks, varves
Metamorphic Rocks (recrystallized in the solid state)
Factors: temperature, pressure, intergrannular fluids
Low vs. high grade metamorphism--indicated by index minerals, partial melting
Foliation--planar texture in rock running perpendicular to stress
Settings: burial metamorphism, regional metamorphism, contact metamorphism
Sandstone
Limestone
Shale
Granite
Basalt
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Quartzite (non-foliated)
Marble (non-foliated)
Slate >>> Phyllite >>> Schist >>> Gneiss (foliated)
Gneiss (foliated)
Greenstone (non-foliated)
Levin Chapter 5 – The Sedimentary Archives
Tectonic Settings
Mountain Belts--areas of recent uplift from either collision or inflation by magma
Cratons—non-mountainous portion of continents, eroded flat, very old
1) Shields: exposed basement metamorphic complexes, often gneiss intruded by granite
2) Platforms: areas with flat-lying sedimentary rocks covering the basement complex
Environments of Deposition
Marine Deposition (fine sediments, clastic or biogenous/hydrogenous, great lateral uniformity)
Continental Shelves: shallow water, abundant life, much sediment (much shale & limestone)
Continental Slope: unstable accumulation, erosional canyons formed by turbidity currents
Continental Rise: turbidites form deep-sea fans at base of submarine canyons
Abyssal Plains: slow sediment accumulation covers abyssal hills (very fine clays & oozes)
Transitional Deposition (shoreline, high rates of deposition, clastic sediments from rivers)
Deltas: very thick accumulations of lag gravels, channel sands, backswamp clays and coal
Beaches: longshore drift, clean quartz & magnetite sand accumulation
Barrier Island/Lagoon Sequences: sandstone and coal form in adjacent environments
Tidal Flats: muds carried by tidal waters in areas of constantly-changing shoreline
(Narrow linear environments along coast, resultant rock units are often time-transgressive)
(Thick accumulations of sediments can form in shallow water because of subsidence)
Continental Deposition (includes coarsest sediments, mixed local environments)
Meandering Rivers: floodplains, point bars, lag gravels, backswamps, oxbow lakes
Braided Rivers: thick & wide deposits of channel sands
Alluvial Fans/Playa Lakes: coarse conglomerates interfingering with alkali muds
Sand Dunes: crossbeded sands, indicates strong winds and lack of vegetation
Glaciers: tillite (with striated cobbles), loess, associated lake & braided stream deposits
Large Lakes: like continental shelves but with freshwater fossils
Catastrophic Flooding: rare and distinct, scouring of bedrock, well sorted conglomerates
Features of Sedimentary Rocks
Coloration
Black Coloration: unoxidized organic carbon, FeS2, H2S (poor circulation, organic deposition)
Red Coloration: ferric (oxidized) iron (with evaporites indicate warm & arid conditions)
Can result from red source rock, subaerial oxidation, or subsurface alteration
Texture
Particle size (Wentworth scale), sorting, roundness/sphericity, grain orientation, matrix/cement
Sedimentary Structures (features larger than grains)
Mud cracks: intermittent wet and dry conditions
Cross-bedding: planar (beach and dune deposits), trough (braided rivers sediments)
Ripple Marks: symmetric (oscillating waves), asymmetric (stream or wind currents)
Graded Bedding: fining upward (turbidity currents: coarse fraction settles first, fine fraction last)
Geopetal structures: indicate "up" direction during deposition (ripples, mud cracks, foot prints)
Levin Chapter 5 – The Sedimentary Archives, continued
Sandstones (indicate source rock & distance of transportation [maturity])
Quartz Sandstone: rounded quartz grains, other minerals weathered away (long transportation)
Arkose: >25% feldspar (close proximity to granite or gneiss source rock)
Graywacke: poor sorting, fine matrix (fast erosion or high volcanic input, active tectonic areas)
Lithic Sandstone: many rock fragments (deltaic coastal plains, short transportation)
Limestones (carbonates, form in precipitation settings far from clastic sediment sources)
Can be composed of shell fragments, tiny algae fragments, inorganic oöids, etc.
Carbonate Platforms are broad shallow continental shelves dominated by carbonate deposition
During periods of high sea level (Cambrian, Mississippian) carbonate deposition was extensive
Dolomite forms when evaporating sea water develops high concentrations of magnesium
Shales (made of very fine particles derived from erosion, mostly of clay minerals)
Clay minerals form from the weathering of other minerals
These particles are so small that they can be carried great distances suspended in water
Typical Depositional Settings
Sandstone--in deltas and beaches (nearest shore)
Shale--near shore where carried by local currents
Limestone--farthest from shore where clay particles are not present to dilute precipitates
Changes in Sea Level
Transgression--a rise in sea level causing flooding ("transgression") of the land
Regression--a fall in sea level causing the exposure of previously drowned land
Transgression sequences: unconformity (bottom), sandstone, shale, limestone (top)
Regression sequences: limestone (bottom), shale, sandstone, unconformity (top)
Unconformities
Disconformity--sedimentary layers are parallel above and below the unconformity
Angular unconformity--sedimentary layers below meet the unconformity at an angle
Nonconformity--igneous or metamorphic rocks underlie the unconformity
Levin Chapter 6 – Life on Earth: What do Fossils Reveal?
Previous assumption: special creation of fixed species, spontaneous regeneration, no extinctions
Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778)
Classified life hierarchically: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species
Georges de Buffon (1707-1788)
Defined the species concept, observed that environments change species over time
Noted that characters are inherited in all species, proposed a vague notion of evolution
Jean Baptiste de Lamarck (1744-1829)
Believed in an automatic regeneration of life (extinctions impossible)
Believed that life forms evolve with the most complex species being the oldest
Proposed a mechanism for evolution: the inheritance of acquired characters
Georges Cuvier (1769-1832)
Opposed the evolutionary ideas of Buffon and Lamarck, believed in the fixity of species
Demonstrated the reality of extinction, short-lived "index fossils" useful time indicators
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)
Demonstrated that life can only arise from existing life (no spontaneous generation)
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
An excellent biological observer from his youth, dabbled in medicine & the clergy
Converted to the notion of a very old & uniformitarian earth by writings of Charles Lyell
Voyage of the Beagle (1831-1836) exposed him to fossils and to island biogeography
Set a whole new standard for the collection of scientific specimens, meticulous researcher
Convinced of evolution (descent with modification) of species by "natural selection"
Natural Selection (adapted from socioeconomic theories by Adam Smith & Thomas Malthus)
Organisms produce far more offspring than the environment can sustain
Offspring exhibit variation, and these variations are heritable
Environmental factors "select" which variants survive to produce the next generation
By sustained selective pressure a species can be radically modified over time
A gradually changing earth (Lyell) produces gradually changing species (Darwin)
Evidences of evolution (i.e. facts that evolution explains well)
Historic small-scale changes within species in nature (natural selection)
Historic large-scale changes in domesticated plants and animals (human selection)
Common body plans and biochemistry in diverse organisms (homologies)
Common embryologic developmental stages in all vertebrates
Rudimentary or "vestigial" organs
Blatant imperfections (maladaptations) and oddities with historical explanations
Biogeographic distributions (habitat barriers, colonization factors, isolated populations)
The fossil record (the only true documentation of evolution)
a) Linking fossils on the large scale (intermediate forms)
b) The dilemma of the fossil record at the species level
"Phyletic Gradualism" vs. "Punctuated Equilibrium"
Levin Chapter 6 – Life on Earth: What do Fossils Reveal? continued
Genetics of Gregor Mendel (1822-1884)
Provided the long-sought basis for inheritance
At first seemed contradictory to evolution because it limited possible variation
Eventually formed a foundation for evolution via mutations and genetic recombination
Disorder of the genetic code (like a jumbled computer program) suggestive of evolution
Inheritance of Acquired Characters has some truth to it
Human culture is passed on in a Lamarckian fashion
Immunities (via acquired antibodies, not genes) are often inherited
Viral DNA and "jumping genes" may sometimes be passed on to offspring
Know the definition and examples of these terms
Divergent evolution--a single species giving rise to morphologically distinct species
Convergent evolution--distant species coming to look superficially alike
Iterative evolution--one lineage repeatedly giving rise to similar descendants
Adaptive radiation--one form quickly giving rise to many diverse descendants
Evolutionary trend--a long-term evolutionary change in the same direction in a lineage
Sympatric speciation--a single population diverging into two different species
Allopatric speciation--isolated populations of a species diverging to form different species
Preadaptation--a body structure switching from one function to another
Neoteny--a juvenile trait being retained into adulthood
Microevolution--small-scale changes in a lineage
Macroevolution--development of an entirely new body form or structure
Extinction--the termination of a lineage
Uses of Fossils
1) Learning about ancient life to better understand our world (Paleobiology)
2) Geologic time correlation (Biostratigraphy)
Index fossils (fossils with a short geologic time range)
Biozones: range zones, assemblage zones, concurrent range zones
The problem of reworked fossils
3) Environmental indicators (Paleoecology)
Subdivisions of the marine and terrestrial realms, habitats
Ecosystems, trophic levels, niches
4) Reconstructing ancient geography (Paleobiogeography)
Dispersal (corridors, filter routes, sweepstakes routes)
Body fossils--bodily remains of prehistoric organisms
Trace fossils--tracks, trails, burrows, etc. (Ichnology)
Types of preservation--permineralization, carbonization, etc.
Advantages for preservation--hard parts, rapid burial, etc.
The fossil record (an accidental historical record) is a good but incomplete record of life
The Evolution/Creation Debate
Ideas Popular in Western Religions
God created the universe (primarily for Man) and is the ultimate authority on all matters.
Prophets reveal God's will and purpose; past scripture is a substituted for prophets today.
Argument from Design: the best proof of God's existence is his creations (William Paley, 1802)
Deism: the world is a self-running machine set in motion by God (René Descartes, 1596-1650)
Biblical Creationism: the world was created in 6 literal days, a world-wide flood killed most life
The Fundamentals of Science
Observation and Experiment—collecting data from the physical world itself to learn its history
Rational Thinking—careful evaluation, hypothesis testing, theory generation (no higher authority)
Naturalism—the belief that all things have come about by way of consistent natural laws
The Dethroning of God as Creator (finding explanations for origins that don't invoke God)
1) Nebular Hypothesis of Laplace & Kant for the origin of the solar system and the earth
2) Uniformitarian Geology of Hutton & Lyell for the origin of the earth's rocks and features
3) Evolution by Natural Selection of Darwin & Wallace for life on earth
The Genesis Account
1) God created heaven and earth and the various "kinds" of life (Genesis 1:1-2:7, Exodus 20:11)
2) The Fall of Adam brought death into the world (Genesis 2:16-17, 3:1-24, I Cor. 15:21-23)
3) The Flood of Noah killed off nearly all life on earth (Genesis 6:5-8:19)
Ways of Harmonizing Geological Observations with Genesis
1) Day-Age Theory: each "day" of Creation is really a long geologic time period
2) Gap Theory: there was a long time gap between the first two verses of Genesis
3) Creation Science: earth is ~6,000 years old, Noah's Flood created the sedimentary rocks
Spectrum of Positions on Science and Religion
1) Atheistic Evolution: evolution is the only explanation needed for life on earth
2) Theistic Evolution: evolution is true, but God guided the process (Catholic viewpoint)
3) Day-Age & Gap Theories: evolution is false but there were long geological ages
4) Creation Science: the earth is young, Noah's Flood deposited most sedimentary rocks
The History and Nature of Creation Science
Originated with a Seventh Day Adventist named George McCready Price (1870-1963)
Price differed from other creationists by attacking geology rather than biology.
Made popular to Protestants by Whitcomb & Morris' The Genesis Flood (1963) & Jerry Falwell
Morris' Scientific Creationism presents Creationism as a Science rather than a religion.
Science is the modern way of knowing all truth, so even religion must be scientific.
Creationists have tried (unsuccessfully) to get Creationism into the science classroom.
Creationism in Court
1) Tennessee Anti-Evolution Act (1925) prohibited the teaching of evolution in public schools
Scopes Monkey Trial at Dayton resulted (William Jennings Bryan vs. Clarence Darrow)
2) Equal Time laws (equal time required for evolution and Biblical view of origins)
These were ruled unconstitutional at the outset because of Separation of Church and State.
3) Arkansas Balanced Treatment Act (1981) based on the Evolution/Creation science distinction
Judge Overton banned implementation of the law because of its obvious religious basis.
Creationist Societies
Religion and Science Association (1935-1937): All camps represented, failed over disagreements
Deluge Geology Society (1938-1947): Mostly Adventists, all believers in Flood Geology
American Scientific Affiliation (1941-present): Gradually came to accept theistic evolution
Creation Research Society (1963-present): Membership requires M.S. and acceptance of a creed
Institute for Creation Research (1970-present): The center of modern creationism, San Diego, CA
Creationist Strategies
Attack evolution as the cause of all social ills (crime, homosexuality, communism, etc.)
Attack evolutionary science (intermediate fossils, geological sequences, radiometric dating)
Appeal to the Second Law of Thermodynamics (argue that evolution violates that law)
Claim there are only two possible models, so disproving one proves the other to be true
Tune arguments and examples to education level of the audience
Use debate platform to argue their case (Duane T. Gish is a prominent debating creationist)
Never propose a comprehensive theory for opponents to evaluate and compare with their own
Is Creation Science Really Scientific?
Creationists claim it is because they appeal to scientific laws, observations, and principles to support
their theory. They also claim that evolution is as much a religion as their position is. Their books
contain mostly scientific arguments (mostly trying to discredit scientific viewpoints).
Mainstream scientists discount Creationism as a science because it begins with religious conclusions
and then only accepts the "evidence" that supports them (they never test hypotheses and accept the
results), and because most creationist claims (young earth, world-wide flood, etc.) were proven false
(based on scientific observations) almost 200 years ago.
Most scientists, philosophers, and legal experts see Creation Science as a political movement by
conservative Christian fundamentalists to advance their cause and oppose atheism. However, about
half of Americans believe the creationist position, and a majority feels that both evolution and creation
should be taught in the public schools to expose students to both positions.
Intelligent Design: a new brand of Creationism
Intelligent Design proponents seek scientific evidence for the existence of God but do not make any
other conclusions (no claims about the age of the earth, the truth of evolution, etc.). Most proponents
are theistic evolutionists and other liberal Christians rather than Fundamentalists.
Michael Behe: argued that certain biochemical machines have Irreducible Complexity
William Dembski: said random and non-random causes can be distinguished by Design Inference
Phillip Johnson: Berkeley law professor who wrote Darwin on Trial attacking Naturalism
Most traditional scientists oppose Intelligent Design because 1) these arguments are just a rehash of old
ideas that were thoroughly addressed by Darwin and others long ago, and 2) accepting these arguments
leads nowhere because the "intelligent designer" is not known well enough to apply as a causality in
any kind of scientific research study.
Other Comments on the Conflict between Science and Religion
Science struggles over the origin of life, whereas death needs no special explanation.
Religion needs no explanation for the origin of life, but it struggles over the issue of death.
Humans used to view all actions imposed on them as "Acts of God" (good weather, bad weather,
lightning, etc.), whereas now we attribute all such immediate actions to natural causes. Only very big
things are still sometimes attributed to God's will (our origin, birth, and death).
Science is about understanding cause and effect, discovering new phenomena, and revealing the history
of the universe. Prophets, scriptures, and psychics have not been helpful in making scientific
discoveries or breakthroughs, whereas exploration, experiments, and brainstorming have been very
helpful. It is therefore logical to view supernatural sources of information as invalid or irrelevant.
Naturalism (the idea that only natural causes can be accepted) is a philosophy, a procedural strategy,
and a religion (effectively atheism). It is therefore a murky legal and political issue as to where good
science ends and the religion of atheism begins.
Levin Chapter 7 – Plate Tectonics Underlies All Earth History
Paradox of thickest sedimentary sequences being found in highest mountain belts
Early theories sought a cause & effect relationship between the two (vertical tectonics)
Continental Drift theory of Alfred Wegener (horizontal tectonics, focus on continents)
-Geographic fit of continents like puzzle pieces
-Continuation of geographic or stratigraphic features across widely-spaced continents
Mountain ranges like Appalachians
-Sedimentary sequences including lake deposits and tillites
Glacial-striated rocks that are paradoxical in their current positions
-Odd positioning of late Paleozoic climate indicators
Tillites and glacial striations near the equator on South America and India
Thick coal deposits and trees without annual growth rings in Eurasia and United States
Evaporite deposits in northern Europe and United States
Coral reefs in the United States and Eurasia
-Strange biographic patterns of Paleozoic fossils
Tropical Glossopteris flora found on all Gondwana continents
Terrestrial reptile Lystrosaurus found on all Gondwana continents
Freshwater reptile Mesosaurus found only on Africa and South America
-Strange biogeographic patterns of modern animals (some false evidences)
Similar earthworms, lungfishes, and flightless birds on Gondwana continents
Anteaters found on South America, Africa, and Australia (really convergence)
Similar mammalian faunas on North America and Eurasia (really from Bering Strait)
The alternate biographic theory of Land Bridges and why Wegener correctly rejected it
Bimodality of the earth's crust (basaltic oceanic vs. granitic continental crust), isostatic balance
The failed search for a mechanism to drive horizontal continental movements
Sea-floor Spreading concept of 1950's (ocean centered, based on knowledge of seafloor)
Paleomagnetism: Earth's magnetic field, remnant magnetism in basalt, apparent polar wandering
Parallel symmetric magnetic stripes on the sea floor: the search for an explanation
The Vine/Matthews hypothesis, Morley's manuscript rejected!
Plate Tectonics (a unifying theory for geology, explaining all features of the earth's crust)
"Floating" lithospheric plates of continental and/or oceanic crust moving horizontally
Plate movement driven by convection currents in mantle, ridge push, slab pull
1) Divergent plate boundaries: mid-oceanic ridges and continental rifts
2) Transform plate boundaries: transform faults, the San Andreas Fault
3) Convergent plate boundaries: deep-sea trenches, island arcs and andesitic mountains
a) Ocean/ocean collisions, b) continent/ocean collisions, c) continent/continent collisions
Plate boundaries site of mountain ranges, volcanoes, and earthquake epicenters
Hot spot island chains (Hawaiian Islands): not a plate boundary, but shows plate movement
Allochthonous or accreted terrains (Alaska): formation of large continent from small islands
Origin of the Earth's Crust
1) Oceanic crust is formed from partial melting of the mantle below mid-oceanic ridges.
2) Continental crust is formed from partial melting of oceanic crust in subduction zones.
Continental crust with its lower density will not subduct and therefore "lasts forever."
Levin Chapter 8 – Earliest Earth: The Hadean and Archean Eons
Universe mostly Hydrogen & Helium; Earth mostly Iron, Oxygen, Silicon, Magnesium
Heavy elements created in supernova explosions, recycled into new solar systems
Origin of the solar system: Solar nebula hypothesis of Kant and Laplace
The solar system began as a nebula of hydrogen, helium, and a trace of heavier elements
Contraction caused spinning by conservation of angular momentum
Contraction converted gravitational potential energy to heat, igniting fusion in the sun
Planetesimals formed in nebula and fused by gravity to form protoplanets
Solar winds blew the hydrogen and helium off the inner (terrestrial) planets
The forming planets swept up most of the excess debris in the solar system
Meteorites
Ordinary chondrites: ferromagnesian silicates (like earth's mantle) & spherical chondrules
Carbonaceous chondrites: chondrites with 5% organic compounds, same composition as sun
Achondrites: chondrites lacking chondrules
Iron meteorites: crystals of iron-nickel alloy (like earth's core)
Stony-iron meteorites: mixture of silicates and iron-nickel
Radiometric age of meteorites: up to 4.566 billion years (Allende meteorite)
The Moon
Large for the size of the planet it orbits, ¼ size of earth, 1/6 gravity of earth, no atmosphere
Theory of origin: a Mars-sized object struck Earth, throwing material into Earth orbit
Orbital and axial cycles the same, so one side always faces earth
Cratered highlands of anorthosite (4.6-4.0 b.y. old), maria basins of basalt (3.8-3.2 b.y. old)
Unconsolidated lunar regolith ("soil") from impacts blankets the moon, micrometeorites
The moon is a museum of the solar system's early history—nothing to obliterate old features
Other Inner or "Terrestrial" Planets
Mercury: similar to earth's moon but without maria, heavily cratered, close to sun
Venus: similar in size to earth, thick carbon dioxide atmosphere, 475 surface temperature
Lack of oceans prevents incorporation of carbon dioxide into carbonate rocks
Lack of liquid water prevents hydrologic erosion
Continent-like highlands, large volcanoes, and rolling hills are present.
Internally (tectonically) Venus appears to be much like the earth.
Mars: ½ the diameter of earth, thin atmosphere, giant volcanoes
Winds create dust storms and create a desert-like landscape
Ice caps show presence of water, evidence of past stream erosion, no oceans
Outer Planets or Gas Giants
Jupiter: largest planet in solar system, thick stormy atmosphere
Saturn: similar to Jupiter, has prominent ring system
Uranus and Neptune are smaller gas giants
Pluto and the moons of the gas giants are similar to the terrestrial planets
Studying Earth's interior
Density of the earth: 5.5 g/cm3 for whole earth, 2.8 g/cm3 for crustal rocks
Earth's magnetic field: requires iron in motion (liquid outer core)
Seismic waves and their shadow zones provide a picture of Earth’s layering.
Primary waves: particles move parallel to wave motion, circular shadow zone
Secondary waves: particles move perpendicular to wave motion, ring shadow zone
Surface waves: particles move in circles along surface of earth, local only
Levin Chapter 8 – Earliest Earth: The Hadean and Archean Eons, continued
Mohorovicic discontinuity: base of earth's crust, top of earth's mantle (5-70 km deep)
Seismic low velocity zone: partly molten region in upper mantle (100-170 km deep)
Gutenberg discontinuity: base of silicate mantle, top of metallic core (2900 km deep)
Inner Core: Solid iron and nickel (intense pressure keeps it in the solid state)
Outer Core: Liquid iron and nickel (intense heat keeps it in the liquid state)
Mantle: Ultramafic rocks (peridotite and komatiite) composed of mafic minerals like olivine
Asthenosphere: partly molten low velocity zone, source of magma, drives tectonic plates
Lithosphere: crust and mantle above low velocity zone, moves in pieces called tectonic plates
Oceanic crust: thin (5-12 km), dense (3.0 g/cm3), dark (basaltic), young (<200 M.Y.)
Continental crust: thick (35-70 km), less dense (2.7 g/cm3), light (granitic), old (<4 B.Y.)
The earth probably began as a uniform body but underwent differentiation into layers as gravity pulled
the densest components to the core and let the lightest components float to the surface
Earth's Atmosphere
1) Hydrogen/helium blown away by solar winds from young sun
2) Water/nitrogen/carbon dioxide from volcanic outgassing and/or carbonaceous chondrites
3) Nitrogen/oxygen from photochemical dissociation and photosynthesis (allowed ozone layer)
Current atmosphere: 78% Nitrogen (N2), 21% Oxygen (O2), 1% Argon (Ar), 0.03% CO2
Outgassing also produced ocean water and carbonate/sulfate rocks (excess volatiles).
Banded iron formations exist from the second atmosphere, most over 3 B.Y. old
Red beds of oxidized iron become abundant at about 1.8 B.Y. ago
Earth during the Archean (different than today; uniformitarianism difficult to apply)
Shallow oceans overlying thin, actively-moving basaltic crust (early oceanic crust)
Small protocontinents forming as island arcs, fusing by collisions to form continents
Continents mountainous with small cratons and virtually no continental shelves
Back-arc structural basins filling with sediments and volcanics formed greenstone belts
Greenstone belts grade upward from ultramafic to felsic volcanic sediments, intruded by granite
Upper Sediments sometimes contain unoxidized Banded Iron Formations (rich iron ore)
Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa is greenstone belt containing half the world's gold deposits
Carbon dioxide & water vapor in atmosphere cause a warming "greenhouse" effect: solar energy
(visible light) enters atmosphere freely, but escaping energy (infrared light) is held by the atmosphere
and released slowly.
Origin of Life and the Earliest Fossils
Conditions of the primitive atmosphere and ocean were very different from today.
The Urey and Miller Experiment produced amino acid chains inorganically.
Proteins (long amino acid chains) and nucleic acids are necessary for life.
The basis of life is the ability to metabolize energy and replicate (reproduce).
Experimental microspheres formed of proteinoids resemble cells and may have been cell precursors.
Heterotrophs probably developed first and consumed organic soup of early oceans.
Autotrophs developed the ability to derive energy from inorganic chemicals and from sunlight.
Anaerobic respiration (fermentation) is an inefficient energy process.
Aerobic respiration (using oxygen) is much more efficient but requires more sophistication.
Prokaryotic cells vs. Eukaryotic cells and the Endosymbiotic Theory
The earliest fossils: tiny cells, filaments, and stromatolites
Levin Chapter 9 – The Proterozoic: Dawn of a More Modern World
Precambrian time: named by Sedgwick for "basement" rocks and "pre-fossil" strata
Turns out to comprise 87% of earth history and to have an extensive record of primitive life
Early classification
Hadean Eon: earliest (4.6-4.0 B.Y.), no surviving rocks, probably many meteorite impacts
Archean Eon: middle (4.0-2.5 B.Y.), highly metamorphosed rocks ("basement" of continents)
Proterozoic Eon: later (2.5-0.5 B.Y.), early "non-fossiliferous" sedimentary rocks
Degree of metamorphism turns out not to be a good measure of age, but the eon names are still used.
Earth during the Proterozoic Eon
Transition to a more modern tectonic style including large continental masses.
Large cratons had formed via long-term erosion by the end of the Archean, allowing continental
shelves and epeiric seas (like modern Hudson Bay).
Tills in the Gowganda Formation of Ontario, Canada indicate a period of early Proterozoic glaciation.
Worldwide tills of late Proterozoic age indicate world-wide glaciation 700-800 M.Y. ago. This may
have resulted from an accumulation of continents along the equator.
Proterozoic sediments include both immature graywackes (from volcanic sediment) and mature quartz
sandstones (from weathering of granite and gneiss), indicating larger and more stable continents.
Limestones with stromatolites (algal mats) are also present, showing that primitive life was abundant
in broad shallow seas. Banded Iron Formations give way to red beds during the Proterozoic,
indicating the presence of free oxygen in the atmosphere.
Precambrian History of Laurentia (proto North America)
Most Precambrian Provinces formed in the Archean and fused together by 1.9 B.Y. ago.
The Wopmay Orogeny added another microcontinent to NW Laurentia about 1.8 B.Y. ago.
Continents collided in Mazatzal Orogeny to form the first supercontinent about 1.4 B.Y. ago.
Large-scale rifting broke up this supercontinent 1.2 B.Y. ago (Keweenawan Rift a remnant).
A continent to the SE collided with Laurentia in Grenville Orogeny about 0.9 B.Y. ago.
Laurentia was mostly stable during late Proterozoic, leading to thick sedimentary accumulation:
Belt Supergroup (Western North America, famous for its later thrust faulting)
Grand Canyon Supergroup (exposed in Grand Canyon below the angular unconformity)
Animikie Group (Eastern Canada, contains BIFs and fossiliferous Gunflint Chert)
Other Continents during the Proterozoic
All the continents joined briefly in the late Proterozoic to form a supercontinent called Rodinia.
Gondwanaland formed in the late Proterozoic and was the world's largest continent.
The Andes (South American edge of Gondwanaland) were already forming in the Proterozoic.
The Tasman Orogenic Belt of eastern Australia formed at opposite end of Gondwanaland.
What is now Eurasia was several separate, small continents.
Life of the Proterozoic
Stromatolites become widespread and abundant in Proterozoic, due in part to large continental shelves.
The origin of the eukaryotic cell was the first great evolutionary event of the Proterozoic.
Acritarchs seem to represent planktonic algae in a resting phase with a hard cell wall.
Ediacara Fauna: the first large organisms, shaped like pancakes, ribbons, and threads
These sort-bodied organisms are preserved in sandstone because there were no scavengers to eat them.
Glaessner interpretation: Ediacaran species are primitive forms of modern animal phyla.
Seilacher interpretation: Ediacaran fauna is a separate, failed radiation of life.
The origin of large organisms and the problem of surface area to volume ratio: Why be big?
Levin Chapter 10 – Early Paleozoic Events
Plate Tectonic Configuration in the Cambrian
Paleomagnetics reveal orientation and latitude of continents but not longitude.
Laurentia (proto North America) was at the equator & turned 90 from its present orientation.
Other small continents: Baltica (proto Europe); Siberia, China, and Kazakhstania (proto Asia)
The giant Gondwanaland was at the equator but was headed south.
The continents were all close together but were moving apart after a late Proterozoic breakup.
Vendian normal faults and basalt intrusions around the continental margins demonstrate this.
The Cambrian was a quiet time tectonically: no continental collisions & little mountain building.
The Paleozoic Era is marked by the opening then closing of the "Iapetus Ocean" of eastern N.A.
Sedimentary Rocks of the Paleozoic
Four major Paleozoic transgression/regression cycles (cratonic sequences) in North America:
1) Sauk (Cambrian/Ordovician)
2) Tippecanoe (Ordovician/Silurian)
3) Kaskaskia (Devonian/Mississippian)
4) Absaroka (Pennsylvanian/Permian)
Low sea level is indicated by widespread unconformities separating deposits of these cycles.
High sea level is indicated by widespread marine sedimentation on the continent, especially limestone
(i.e. when water covers most of a continent, there is little exposed land to produce clastic sediments and
much shallow water for animals to live & grow skeletons).
Arches--high areas that receive deposition only during the highest sea levels, prone to erosion
Basins--low areas under nearly constant deposition that accumulate great thickness of sediment
Aulacogens--large grabens from rifting that receive thick sedimentary deposition
Cambrian transgression (base of Sauk Cycle) left a classic transgression sequence:
1) Unconformity (old erosional land surface), 2) Sandstone, 3) Shale, 4) Limestone
The sea advanced across the continent at about ½ an inch per year during the transgression
Cambrian rock thicknesses: 5000 m in California, 500 m in Arizona, 50 m in Colorado
Only a narrow Transcontinental Arch was left above water (no deposition) by late Cambrian
This explains why Cambrian rocks exist in western but not eastern South Dakota (Arch in Iowa)
Sediments along Transcontinental Arch are near-shore facies (sandstones, e.g. Wisconsin Dells)
The Arch may have always been above water or experienced alternating deposition and erosion
Basal sandstones are derived from continental areas via river, wind, and beach transport
The lack of any land plants during the Cambrian subjected sediments to constant transportation
Long periods of current, wind, and wave action created very mature quartz sandstones
Different kinds of ripple marks indicate final deposition by wind, rivers, or ocean waves
Overlying shales formed from smaller rock fragments (mostly clay minerals) washed offshore
Most marine invertebrates like warm, shallow (lighted & oxygenated), sediment-free ocean water
The abundance of such conditions during the Cambrian must have helped early animals diversify
Most Cambrian limestones are made up primarily of shell fragments (clastic limestones)
Warm, shallow, wave-agitated waters led to inorganic precipitation of some oolitic limestones
Sometimes the inland seas became hypersaline from evaporation (leading to low animal diversity)
Levin Chapter 10 – Early Paleozoic Events, continued
The Ordovician Ocean (Laurentia)
The Sauk Sea regressed in the early Ordovician, leading to a widespread disconformity.
The Tippecanoe Sea transgressed in the later Ordovician and covered virtually all of Laurentia.
The base of the Tippecanoe is the St. Peters Sandstone, covered by extensive limestones.
There is also a very extensive black shale layer loaded with graptolites (graptolitic shale facies).
Niagara Falls is eroding a sandstone/shale/limestone sequence from the Tippecanoe Cycle.
Tectonic Events of the Ordovician (Laurentia)
Western North America (northern Laurentia) remained a quiet trailing continental margin.
The Iapetus Ocean of eastern North America (southern Laurentia) began to close via subduction.
A huge volcanic eruption left a meter-thick ash layer over much of North America and Europe.
Subduction-related volcanism created an island arc (microcontinent) just south of Laurentia.
The collision of this microcontinent with Laurentia caused the Taconic Orogeny (first of three
orogenies that formed the Appalachians) and created a huge wedge of clastic sediment.
The Taconic Orogeny is the same as the Caledonian Orogeny of Scotland and Norway.
(Modern analog of the Taconic Orogeny are found in Indonesia and southern Europe.)
Tectonic Events of the Ordovician (Elsewhere)
Baltica and Siberia were approaching each other, closing the Uralian Seaway by subduction.
Gondwanaland moved south, with the present-day Sahara Desert glaciated over the south pole.
The resulting lowering of global sea level helped cause the Late Ordovician mass extinction.
The closing of the Cambrian seaways (Iapetus Ocean and Uralian Seaway) brought together
landmasses (and their Cambrian fossils) that formed in distant locations. The trilobite Paradoxides
was named for its paradoxical distribution (only Europe and New England).
Levin Chapter 11 – Late Paleozoic Events
Beginning the Assembly of Pangea
Baltica and Laurentia collided to form Laurussia (Acadian/Caledonian Orogeny, Devonian)
This uplifted the northern Appalachians and the Caledonian mountains of Scandinavia
Thick clastic wedges in NE United States (Catskill Delta) and Great Britain (Old Red Sandstone)
Kaskaskia Sea formed Chattanooga Shale adjacent to Catskill Delta, carbonates farther west
Transcontinental arch still a highland in central United States, no deposition there
Williston Basin in northwestern North America at equator, rimmed by reefs and evaporites
Island arc collided with Laurentia (Nevada/Idaho region) in Antler Orogeny (Devonian)
Gondwanaland joined Laurussia (Allegheny/Hercynian Orogeny, Pennsylvanian)
Kazakhstania, Siberia, then China joined Laurussia to form Pangea (Permian/Triassic)
Mississippian Period in Laurussia
Acadian and Antler Mountains eroded down somewhat, no new collisions, less clastic sediment
Continent-wide inland Kaskaskia Sea between E and W mountains, clean limestone deposition
Most caves in the USA (including Black Hills) have formed in Mississippian limestone.
A late Mississippian regression (of Kaskaskia Sea) left a widespread unconformity in the United
States; this is why the Carboniferous is divided into Mississippian and Pennsylvanian.
Pennsylvanian Period in Laurussia
Collision of Gondwanaland with Laurussia formed Appalachian/Ozark/Ouachita Mountains
Transgression of Absaroka Sea, repeated small transgressions/regressions formed Cyclothems (~50
non marine/coal/marine sequences) in the eastern United States (possible from glacial cycles in
Gondwanaland).
Regional uplifts and basins in the western United States led to thick local deposition of sands, shales,
and impure limestones, often in repeating cycles.
In Europe the entire Carboniferous system has extensive coal deposits.
Permian Period in Laurussia
Uplift of Appalachian/Ozark/Ouachita Mountains continued but finally ended in late Permian
Subduction along the western margin of the United States formed volcanoes.
Absaroka Sea slowly retreated, leaving restricted basins in which evaporite deposits formed.
The late Permian was a time of very low sea level, much like today.
Levin Chapter 12 – Life of the Paleozoic
Tommotian Fauna: tiny shelly fossils of the latest Proterozoic, prelude to Cambrian Explosion
Life of the Cambrian
First complex animals with hard skeletons, restricted to oceans, evolutionary rates very high.
Dominated by trilobites and other arthropods, inarticulate brachiopods, and weird echinoderms
Sponges (Porifera) are the simplest large animals, each cell being identical.
Archaeocyathids (cup animals) took over from stromatolites as the main structural reef formers.
Burgess Shale Fauna (middle Cambrian) shows there were many strange soft-bodied creatures.
Anomalocaris of the Burgess Shale appears to have been the first big carnivore.
Most of these animals went extinct before the end of the Cambrian; trilobites were reduced.
The Cambrian was a time of experimentation with basic body forms.
The Ordovician was a time of standardization and specialization.
Cambrian Fauna
Anomalocaris (top carnivore)
Archaeocyathids (reefs)
Trilobites
Inarticulate brachiopods (unhinged)
Weird echinoderms
Weird Burgess Shale creatures
Ordovician/Paleozoic Fauna
Eurypterids (top carnivores)
Rugose and tabulate corals (reefs)
Bryozoans (reefs)
Articulate brachiopods (hinged)
Burrowing bivalves
Crinoids ("sea lilies" with long stalks)
Graptolites (floaters)
The first vertebrates (jawless fishes called Ostracoderms) appeared in the Ordovician.
The land was still completely barren during the Ordovician.
A mass extinction in late Ordovician killed off many invertebrate families but no major groups.
The Paleozoic Marine Fauna
Rugose and tabulate corals, bryozoans, and stromatoporoids the main structural reef formers
Crinoids, articulate brachiopods, and molluscs (gastropods, bivalves, cephalopods) also common
Important shelled cephalopods: nautiloids, ammonoids (goniatites and ceratites)
Graptolites and conodonts are two hard-to-interpret animals that provide excellent index fossils.
Asteroids (star fishes) and cephalopods were also important predators.
The Origin of Vertebrates
Pikaia of the Burgess Shale is the first known chordate, similar to living Amphioxus.
Vertebrae replaced the notochord as main structure, myotomes (muscle blocks) cause propulsion.
Disarticulated fish scales are found in the late Cambrian.
Ostracoderms are armored jawless fishes of the early Paleozoic, like living lampreys & hagfishes.
Jaws formed as modified gill arches, gave vertebrates predatory advantage.
Four classes of jawed fishes arose in Silurian/Devonian: Placoderms (armored fishes), Chondrichthyes
(cartilaginous fishes: sharks, skates, rays), Acanthodians (spiny fishes), Osteichthyes (bony fishes:
most modern fishes)
Two kinds of osteichthyes developed: ray-fin fishes (no lungs, most diverse) and lobe-fin fishes
(lungfishes, coelacanths [like Latimeria], and rhipidistians [gave rise to amphibians])
Devonian "age of fishes," Ostracoderms and Placoderms gone by end of Devonian
Levin Chapter 12 – Life of the Paleozoic, continued
The Invasion of the Land
Living on land requires a waterproof "skin" and structural support to resist the force of gravity.
Green algae (Chlorophytes) probably gave rise to land plants, though little similarity exists.
A vascular system developed to distribute water from the ground and food from above ground.
Simple psilophytes appeared in Silurian, began stabilizing ground and forming soil.
Devonian and Carboniferous dominated by lycopods, sphenopsids, ferns (formed coal deposits)
The first seed plants were the "seed ferns" (including Glossopteris) of the late Carboniferous.
Primitive gymnosperms (ancestors of conifers) and ginkgoes arose in the Permian.
Insects arose from marine arthropods and became very large; many flying forms
The Origin of Amphibians
Ichthyostega appeared in Devonian; shares limb structure, skull bone structure, labyrinthodont teeth,
and tail fin with rhipidistian fishes
Labyrinthodont amphibians of late Paleozoic became large predators of fish and insects.
Lepospondyls are odd small amphibians of Paleozoic, some had boomerang-shaped heads.
Anthracosaurs developed into reptiles.
Major groups are classified by the structure of the vertebral centrum.
The Origin of Reptiles
Development of amniotic egg (equivalent to seed in plants), complete divorce from water bodies
Major groups classified by temporal openings in skull: anapsids (stem forms, turtles), synapsids
(mammal-like reptiles, some with "sails"), diapsids (includes lizards, snakes, dinosaurs)
Took over most niches from amphibians by end of Paleozoic, synapsids particularly dominant
The Great Permian Extinction
Complete extinction of trilobites, rugose and tabulate corals, fusulinids, and acanthodian fishes
Heavy losses by brachiopods, bryozoans, crinoids, ammonoids, and synapsid reptiles
Levin Chapter 13 – Mesozoic Events
Breakup of Pangea
Gondwanaland separated from Laurasia (North America, Europe, Asia), leaving Florida behind.
Gondwanaland and Laurasia broke up from east to west, and the Atlantic Ocean began opening.
Africa moved north, closing the Tethys Sea into its remnant, the Mediterranean Sea.
India moved north, Australia moved east, and Antarctica moved south to form the Indian Ocean.
Panthalassa shrank by subduction at its edges to produce the modern Pacific Ocean.
Evidence of Triassic rifting abundant in Newark Group of eastern United States
Normal faults, alluvial fan redbeds (with dinosaur footprints), and basalt flows are common.
The newly-opening Gulf of Mexico was a restricted basin that accumulated Jurassic evaporites
The resulting salt domes of the Gulf Coast are excellent petroleum and natural gas traps
Sonoma Orogeny (Permian-Triassic)
An island arc collided with western North America to form a long cordilleran mountain belt.
Many such "displaced" or "accreted" or "exotic" terranes exist from California to northernmost Alaska
and added significant area to the North American continent.
Mountains formed by these collisions shed large volumes of sediment to the continental interior.
Triassic Period in North America
An unconformity exists almost everywhere between Permian and Triassic formations.
The Triassic is famous for continental (non-marine) redbeds formed from eroding sediments of the
Appalachian and Sonoma highlands (including the Spearfish Formation of South Dakota).
The Moenkopi Formation is a classic redbed shale/limestone throughout the Four Corners region.
The overlying Chinle Formation is famous for its plentiful petrified wood and uranium deposits.
Jurassic Period in North America
The Navajo Sandstone of the Four Corners region is a famous wind-blown sand deposit.
The Sundance Sea invaded the central U.S. from the north & deposited the Sundance Formation.
Sediments silted up the Sundance Sea and formed the swampy deposits of the Morrison Formation,
famous for its Jurassic dinosaur fossils (including the largest land creatures).
Cretaceous Period in North America
An early Cretaceous transgression formed a northern and southern sea that didn't meet.
A late Cretaceous transgression formed a continuous seaway north to south across the continent.
Coal formed from swamp deposits along the coasts of the sea, and dinosaurs were abundant.
The interior (including South Dakota) accumulated marine sediments from the sea, most notably the
Dakota Sandstone (sand of early transgression), the Niobrara Chalk (similar in age & rock type to the
White Cliffs of Dover in England), and the Pierre Shale (famous for its ammonoid and marine reptile
fossils as well as bentonite deposits)
Mesozoic Orogenies Forming Early Rocky Mountains
Nevadan (Jurassic of California): mostly emplacement of granitic plutons, metamorphism
Sevier (Cretaceous of Utah to Alberta): overthrusting and shortening of crust
Laramide (Tertiary of Arizona to South Dakota): vertical domal uplifts like Black Hills
Mesozoic climates were warm and equable with no glaciation anywhere.
Continents were separating but were still close together compared to today.
Levin Chapter 14 – Life of the Mesozoic
Plant Life
New marine phytoplankton: Coccolithophorids, Silicoflagellates, Diatoms
Gymnosperms (naked seed plants) dominant on land: Cycads, Ginkgoes, Conifers
Angiosperms (flowering plants, enclosed seeds) first appeared in the Cretaceous
Invertebrates
Foraminifera (unlike Paleozoic fusulinids) underwent adaptive radiation
Scleractinian corals dominated reefs in tropical waters of Tethys Sea
Bivalves dominate over brachiopods after Permian extinction
Rudist bivalves shaped like horn corals dominated many reefs in the Cretaceous
Ammonite ammonoids with complex sutures make excellent Mesozoic index fossils
Belemnites were a group of cephalopod mollusks with internal chamber skeletons
Echinoids (sea urchins) join starfishes as prominent echinoderms
Terrestrial Vertebrates (Mesozoic "Age of Reptiles")
Synapsid reptiles declined in the Triassic but give rise to mammals before disappearing.
Therapsid/mammal transition gradual, reptile jaw articulation bones became middle ear bones
Mammals developed teeth with precise occlusion for chewing their food, teeth good index fossils.
Mammals remained small and inconspicuous (probably all nocturnal) during the Mesozoic.
Diapsid reptiles, especially archosaurs (ruling reptiles), took over all the big land niches.
Thecodonts (basal archosaurs) were bipedal runners that gave rise to crocodilians, phytosaurs,
pterosaurs, saurischian and ornithischian dinosaurs, and birds
Saurischians ("lizard hip" dinosaurs) include the great carnivorous bipeds (Theropods) like
Tyrannosaurus and the gigantic quadrupeds (Sauropods) like Apatosaurus
Ornithischians ("bird hip" dinosaurs) include the armored and bizarre dinosaurs like Stegosaurus,
Ankylosaurus, Triceratops, and the dome head and duck bill dinosaurs
Triassic dinosaurs were small, Jurassic dinosaurs included the giant sauropods (the largest land animals
of all time), and Cretaceous dinosaurs were the most diverse and bizarre
The great dinosaur controversy: were they warm or cold blooded, active or sluggish?
Marine Reptiles
Placodonts were clam crushers similar to modern walruses, lived only during the Triassic.
Ichthyosaurs were the most fish-like, totally aquatic, gave birth to live young in the water.
Plesiosaurs swam using limbs as paddles, some had long necks up to 40 feet long
Mosasaurs were giant sea-going varanid lizards of the Cretaceous that ate ammonoids.
There were also giant marine crocodiles and turtles.
Avian Reptiles and Birds
Pterosaurs were primarily gliders that supported a membrane on an elongated little finger, includes
largest flyers with wingspan up to 50 feet, some had aerodynamic head crests
First bird Archaeopteryx from the Jurassic Solenhofen Limestone of Bavaria, evolved from early
theropod dinosaurs, basically a reptile with feathers (lacks bone fusions and other skeletal
specializations of modern birds)
True flight developed three times in vertebrate history (pterosaurs, birds, bats), but each group turned
the vertebrate forelimb into a wing in a different way
The Great Terminal Mesozoic Extinction
Complete extinction of ammonoids, belemnites, rudist bivalves, dinosaurs, pterosaurs, ichthyosaurs,
plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs; big losses among other groups also
The asteroid impact hypothesis of Alvarez (1980), or the return of catastrophism!
Evidence of impact: iridium layer worldwide at K-T boundary, shocked quartz, microtectites
The possibility of periodic mass extinction: galactic cycle, planet X, Nemesis
Lingering questions: Was extinction gradual or sudden, the cause earth-based or extraterrestrial?
Levin Chapter 15 – Cenozoic Events
The Cenozoic epochs were named by Lyell for percentage of modern marine genera.
The names Tertiary and Quaternary are remnants from earliest geologic time scale.
The Paleogene and Neogene are now the accepted periods of the Cenozoic Era.
The Closing of the Tethys Sea
There were many continental collisions as southern landmasses moved north, and this cut off much of
the equatorial circulation around the globe and increased polar circulation.
The Alps and Pyrenees were formed when microcontinents collided with southern Europe.
Later Africa sutured to Eurasia forming the Mediterranean Sea, which dried up in Miocene.
Rifting opened up the Red Sea and made Arabia (from Gondwanaland) part of Eurasia.
India (of Gondwanaland) smashed into Asia beginning in the Eocene to form the Himalayas.
The Isthmus of Panama formed to connect North and South America in the Pliocene.
The isthmus was formed more by subduction and volcanism than by continental collision.
Eastern and Southern United States
The Appalachian Mountains continued to erode during the Cenozoic Era.
Several marine transgressions brought the sea as far north as southern Illinois.
Much of the Gulf states were under water during the early Cenozoic, accumulating much sediment.
Sea level gradually dropped during the late Cenozoic then fluctuated during the Ice Age.
Orogenies Forming Modern Rocky Mountains
Nevadan (Jurassic of California): mostly emplacement of granitic plutons, metamorphism
Sevier (Early Cretaceous of Utah to Alberta): overthrusting and shortening of crust
Laramide (Cretaceous-Tertiary of Arizona to South Dakota): vertical domal uplifts like Black Hills
Basin and Range rifting (Miocene to Recent of California to Colorado): normal faulting, basalt
The Rocky Mountains are a rare case of inter-plate mountain building and volcanism.
The cause may have been plate reconfiguration on California coast & subduction of mid-ocean ridge.
The San Andreas Fault (strike-slip fault, Baja to San Francisco) also developed as a result.
Tertiary lakes formed in intermontane basins (Cannonball Sea, Green River Lake).
Tertiary terrestrial sediments of western U.S. are famous for spectacular scenery and fossils.
Badlands National Park is a classic example, full of Eocene-Oligocene fossils.
Giant volcanic ash falls covered the western United States during the Oligocene and Miocene.
The Colorado Plateau is a raised but undeformed region between Basin and Range Faults.
The Grand Canyon is bounded by a Laramide fold on the east, Basin and Range faults on the west.
The Great Basin (Nevada and surrounding areas) is a large area of north-south trending normal faults.
The Columbia Plateau and Snake River Plain were covered by thick Basalt Flows from a hot spot.
Active volcanism continues in Cascade Mountains (northern California to Washington state).
The Ice Age
Glaciation began in the Miocene on Antarctica as it reached the South Pole.
Glaciation increased in the Pliocene but expanded dramatically in the Pleistocene.
The Pleistocene Epoch is named for the great Ice Age in North America and Eurasia.
Originally four glacial intervals were recognized: Nebraskan, Kansan, Illinoian, Wisconsinan.
It is now known that there were dozens of glacial intervals with interglacials between them.
Levin Chapter 15 – Cenozoic Events, continued
Effects of the Ice Age
Cycles of glaciation, separated by interglacials, modified the higher latitudes.
Laurentide and Cordilleran Ice Sheets covered Canada in the east and west, respectively.
Tillites cover northern North America and central Europe, loess surrounds drainages.
Sea level dropped during glacials, making the Bering Strait a wide land bridge.
River systems were deranged, Mississippi drainage expanded, Great Lakes formed.
Valley glaciers formed as far south as Mexico at high elevations.
Pluvial lakes formed in Great Basin (Great Salt Lake a remnant of Lake Bonneville).
Plant zones were driven far south of their current ranges, then returned north again.
Coastal Zones of the United States affected by Glaciation (from north to south)
Glacial Erosion--many fjords and islands with hard bedrock (coast of Maine, Canada, Alaska)
Glacial Deposition--peninsulas and islands made of glacial till (Cape Cod, Long Island)
Estuaries--drowned river valleys cut by glacial runoff (Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Bay)
Barrier islands & lagoons--stable coasts south of glacially-effected areas (Carolinas, Florida)
Possible Causes of the Ice Age
Long-term global cooling may have occurred due to changes in continental positions that altered the
flow of ocean currents (oceans now connected only around the South Pole).
Individual Ice Ages may be controlled by Milankovich Cycles or by natural glacial cycles.
The earth's reflectivity (albedo) may have been a positive feedback for formation of glaciers.
Cold high pressure centers and inundation by sea water may have been negative feedbacks.
The Holocene may be only an interglacial stage!
The Ice Age and Life
The Ice Age was a cool and wet time, and plant and animal life was abundant and diverse.
Extinction of giants at end of Pleistocene in North America: mammoths, mastodons, ground sloths,
horses, camels, giant lions, saber-tooth cats, dire wolves, short-faced bears, etc.
Climatic change and human hunting are competing theoretical causes of the megafauna extinction.
Levin Chapter 16 – Life of the Cenozoic
Marine protozoans and invertebrates (except ammonoids) continue much as in the Mesozoic.
Angiosperms (flowering plants) dominate the flora; grasses and grasslands originate in the Miocene.
Insects diversify together with angiosperms in symbiotic relationships.
Rodents, songbirds, frogs, and bats diversify as seed and insect eaters.
Carnivorous mammals, birds, and snakes diversify as predators of rodents, frogs, and songbirds.
Endothermic mammals and birds are the great success stories of the Cenozoic.
Birds
Birds originated in the Jurassic from thecodonts or theropod dinosaurs, Archaeopteryx
Birds became the most successful and diverse group of flyers ever, especially song birds.
Birds became successful predators of fish, shellfish, reptiles & mammals; Penguins fly in water.
Ratites are flightless herbivorous birds; Diatryma was a giant Eocene carnivorous bird.
The fossil record of birds is poor because of their thin bones and lack of teeth.
Mammals
Mammals originated from synapsid (mammal-like) reptiles in the Triassic Period.
Mammals remained small and nocturnal during the Mesozoic, diversified after the dinosaurs died.
Mammals have one lower jaw bone, three middle ear bones, and precise tooth occlusion.
Mammal fossils are scarce in the Mesozoic but very plentiful in the Cenozoic.
Multituberculates were rodent-like mammals with a huge tooth that survived into the Oligocene.
Monotremes (platypus & echidna) are living egg-laying mammals of the Australia region.
Eupantotheres gave rise to marsupial (pouched) and placental mammals in the Cretaceous.
Marsupials originated in North America, migrated to South America, Antarctica, Australia.
They thrived in South America until the Isthmus of Panama formed in the Pliocene.
The opossum was the only marsupial successful at invading North America.
Australian marsupials are now threatened by competition with invading placentals.
Placentals originated in Eurasia and invaded North America and Africa in the Late Cretaceous.
Edentates (sloths, anteaters, armadillos) made it to South America from North America.
Caviamorph rodents & monkeys somehow got to South America from Africa (Oligocene).
Mammals are excellent evolutionary examples of variations on a theme.
Shrews are the most similar to the original placental mammals of the Cretaceous.
Bats are similar to shrews except for the elongate fingers with a flying membrane.
Rodents retain a primitive skeleton but undergo huge variations in tooth morphology.
Primates remain primitive except for grasping digits and an enlarged brain.
Creodonts and carnivores elongate the feet and develop shearing teeth.
Whales loose the pelvic girdle and develop a horizontal fluke for swimming.
Artiodactyls (camels, deer, cattle) walk high on two toes, have high crescent-shaped teeth
Perissodactyls (horses, rhinos) walk high on three or one toe(s), have high-crowned teeth.
Proboscidians (elephants, mastodons) have pillar-like limbs, sequential tooth eruption.
The earliest large mammals (titanotheres, giant rhinos) went extinct; iterative evolution
The Ice Age was a cool and wet time, and plant and animal life was abundant and diverse.
Extinction of giants at end of Pleistocene in North America: mammoths, mastodons, ground sloths,
horses, camels, giant lions, saber-tooth cats, dire wolves, short-faced bears, etc.
Climatic change and human hunting are competing theoretical causes of the extinction.
Levin Chapter 17 – Human Origins
Order Primates
Suborder Prosimii
Superfamily Tupaioidea (tree shrews)
Superfamily Lemuroidea (lemurs)
Superfamily Lorisoidea (bush babies)
Superfamily Tarsioidea (tarsiers)
Suborder Anthropoidea
Superfamily Ceboidea (South American monkeys, prehensile tail)
Superfamily Cercopithecoidea (African Monkeys)
Superfamily Hominoidea
Family Hylobatidae (gibbons, siamangs)
Family Pongidae (orangutans, chimps, gorillas)
Family Hominidae (humans)
Primate specializations include shortened face, forward-facing eyes, enlarged brain, long limbs, and
grasping hand with opposable thumb. Otherwise primates are unspecialized.
Early primate adaptations are attributable to living in trees and catching insects by hand.
Earliest primate Purgatorius from Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation of Montana
Prosimians diversified in North America and Eurasia during the early Cenozoic
Cooling temperatures reduced their range to southern Asia and Africa
Monkeys reached South America from Africa by an unknown route in the Oligocene.
Apes arose in the Miocene of Africa as grasslands developed there, have 5-cusp molars.
Early Miocene: Dryomorphs (large canines, Africa to Eurasia)
Middle Miocene: Ramapithecines (small canines, very diverse)
Late Miocene/Early Pliocene: poor fossil record
It was long believed that Ramapithecus was the first human and that the human/ape split occurred at
least 15 M.Y. ago. DNA and protein similarities, however, suggested a mere 5 M.Y. ago split with
man, chimp, and gorilla being equally similar. Discovery of more skeletal material revealed that
Ramapithecus is an orangutan. Earliest fossil humans are middle Pliocene
Hominid species
Age
Brain size
Height
Australopithecus afarensis 4.0-3.0 M.Y. 380-450 cc
1.2 m ("Lucy," fully bipedal)
Australopithecus africanus 3.0-2.5 M.Y. 380-450 cc
1.4 m
Australopithecus robustus 1.9-1.6 M.Y. 380-450 cc
1.5 m
Australopithecus boisei
2.2-1.2 M.Y. 380-450 cc
1.5 m
Homo habilis
2.0-1.6 M.Y. 650-800 cc
1.2 m
Homo erectus
1.6-0.3 M.Y. 800-1300 cc 1.7 m
Homo sapiens
0.1-0.0 M.Y. 1000-2000 cc 1.8 m
Neanderthal Man (replaced Homo erectus, large brow ridges, elaborate burials)
Cro-Magnon Man (replaced Neanderthal 40,000 B.P., made cave art in France & Spain)
Modern Man (developed from earlier forms, domesticated plants & animals)
All human species appear to have evolved in Africa. The Piltdown Man hoax of England (1912-1953)
was believed because it fit the expectation of finding human fossils in Europe.
Human evolution is a case of neoteny (retention of juvenile characters: large head, sparse hair).
Human evolution was an Ice Age phenomenon and has been linked with the simultaneous appearance
of many "grotesque giants" among the northern mammals (Irish elk, polar bear, etc.)
ESCI 103 -- Review sheet for final exam
Know important contributions of the following scientists:
Louis Alvarez
Charles Darwin
Charles Lyell
Georges Cuvier
Lord Kelvin
Adolph Seilacher
William Smith
Alfred Wegener
Know the age, plate boundary type, and continents involved in the formation of the following
mountain ranges:
Alps
Andes
Appalachians (3 Paleozoic orogenies)
Himalayas
Rockies (5 Mesozoic/Cenozoic orogenies)
Urals
Know era of origin and peak diversity for the following:
Prokaryotes (bacteria and cyanobacteria, including stromatolites)
Eukaryotes (single celled and multicellular)
Ediacara Fauna (know significance and reason for preservation)
Burgess Shale Fauna (know significance and reason for preservation)
Gymnosperms
Angiosperms
Fishes (ostracoderms, placoderms, acanthodians, cartilaginous fishes, bony fishes)
Amphibians
Ancestral (large) forms
Frogs
Reptiles
Dinosaurs, pterosaurs, marine reptiles
Snakes
Birds
Archaeopteryx
Penguins
Carnivorous giants
Song birds
Mammals
Whales, bats, odd-toed ungulates, even-toed ungulates, proboscidians, rodents
Humans
Know prominent fossils (including reef formers, good index fossils, and top carnivores) of the
following time periods:
Archean
Proterozoic
Cambrian
Paleozoic
Mesozoic
Cenozoic
Have a full grasp of the important aspects of the following topics:
Uniformitarianism, composition of atmosphere, history of solar system and earth, relative and
absolute dating, geologic time scale, organic evolution, plate tectonics, glaciation events