Lecture 2
Introduction to Earth History
Outline
I
II
Components of Geology
A)
B)
Physical Geology
Historical Geology
A)
B)
James Ussher
Nicolaus Steno
Founders of
C)
D)
E)
F)
G)
H)
I)
1)
2)
3)
Superposition
Original Horizontality
Original Lateral Continuity
1)
2)
3)
Plutonism
Uniformitarianism
Hutton's Corollaries to Superposition
John Strachey
Giovanni Arduino
Abraham Gottlob Werner
James Hutton
a)
b)
Cross-Cutting Relationships
Inclusion
William Smith
Charles Lyell
Charles Darwin
geology
Geological Science
the study of the planet Earth - the materials
of which it is made, the processes that act
on these materials, the products formed,
and the history of the planet and its life
forms since its origin.
physical geology a broad division of geology that concerns
itself with the processes and forces
involved in the inorganic evolution of the
Earth and morphology, and with its
constituent minerals, rocks, magmas, and
core materials.
historical geology a major branch of geology that is concerned
with the evolution of the Earth and its life
forms from its origins to the present day.
Catastrophism
catastrophism the doctrine that sudden violent, short-lived, more
or less worldwide events outside our present
experience or knowledge have greatly modified the
Earth's crust accounting for its present configuration
as well as for the observed distribution of life forms.
James Ussher
(1581-1656)
Founders of Historical Geology
Nicolaus Steno (1638-1687)
fossil descriptions
first stratigrapher
Steno's Laws
Superposition
Original Horizontality
Original Lateral Continuity
Steno's Laws
Superposition
Steno's Laws
Original Horizontality
Steno's Laws
Original Lateral Continuity
Founders of Historical Geology
John Strachey (1671-1743)
local stratigraphy of English coal beds
described first angular unconformity
an unconformity in which
younger sediments rest
upon the eroded surface
of tilted or folded older
rocks.
Founders of Historical Geology
Giovanni Arduino (1714-1795)
founder of stratigraphy
Italian mines specialist
Founders of Historical Geology
Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749-1817)
mining inspector and teacher
first to systematically classify minerals
Woodward (1733)
neptunism the theory that the rocks of the Earth's crust all
consist of material deposited from, or crystallized
out of, water.
Founders of Historical Geology
Georges Leopold Cuvier (1769-1832)
founder of vertebrate paleontology
scientific catastrophism
Founders of Historical Geology
William Smith (1769-1839)
first geologic map
Principle of Faunal Succession
Life on Earth has evolved through time.
Therefore,
Like assemblages of fossils are of like age, and,
The rocks containing them are of like age
Founders of Historical Geology
James Hutton (1726-1797)
dynamic/cyclic concept of Earth history (rock cycle)
plutonism
deep time
uniformitarianism
recognized significance of unconformities
corollaries to superposition
Hutton's Rock Cycle
Plutonism
plutonism the concept of the formation of the Earth
by solidification of a molten mass.
Kircher (1655)
Deep Time
Uniformitarianism
the fundamental principle that geological processes and natural
laws now operating to modify the Earth's crust have acted in
much the same manner and with essentially the same intensity
throughout geologic time, and that past geologic events can be
explained by forces observable today; "The present is the key
to the past."
James Hutton (1726-1797)
Hutton's Unconformities
Hutton's Corollaries
Cross-cutting Relationships
Hutton's Corollaries
Inclusions
Founders of Historical Geology
Charles Lyell (1797-1875)
first geologic time scale
relative time
Founders of Historical Geology
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
Evolution of Species through Natural Selection
Components of Historical Geology
geochronology
paleoclimatology
sea level
stratigraphy
plate tectonic movements
paleontology
General Patterns in Earth History
General Patterns in Earth History
Heat Flow
Heat
production 4
billion years
ago was 4 to
6 times as
great as it is
now
General Patterns in Earth History
Major Trends
General Patterns in Earth History
Atmospheric Oxygen
General Patterns in Earth History
The History of Life
General Patterns in Earth History
Biodiversity in Earth History
CENOZOIC
Era
Period
Range of Global Biodiversity
QUATERNARY
TERTIARY
MASS
EXTINCTION
MESOZOIC
CRETACEOUS
JURASSIC
MASS
EXTINCTION
TRIASSIC
PERMIAN
PALEOZOIC
CARBONIFEROUS
MASS
EXTINCTION
MASS
EXTINCTION
DEVONIAN
SILURIAN
ORDOVICIAN
CAMBRIAN
MASS
EXTINCTION
General Patterns in Earth History
Paleogeography (Tectonics)
600 million years ago
450 million years ago
300 million years ago
today
General Patterns in Earth History
Climate
General Patterns in Earth History
Sea Level
General Patterns in Earth History
Summary