Dating rock strata

What Is Relative Dating and Which Principles to Use

Cutler, A. The Seashell on the Mountaintop. New York: Dutton. Levin, H. The Earth Through Time [6th Ed. McPhee, J. Annals of the Former World. Prothero, D.

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The law of superposition is a geologic principle used to determine the relative ages of rock layers. The law of superposition is one of the principles of geology scientists use to determine the relative ages of rock strata , or layers. This principle states that layers of rock are superimposed, or laid down one on top of another. The oldest rock strata will be on the bottom and the youngest at the top. Think about it like this: You have a magazine subscription and get one magazine in the mail every month. You read the January magazine and place it in a box when you are finished. When you complete the February magazine you place it on top of the January issue.

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Relative dating is the process of determining if one rock or geologic event is older or younger than another, without knowing their specific ages—i. The principles of relative time are simple, even obvious now, but were not generally accepted by scholars until the scientific revolution of the 17th and 18th centuries [ 3 ]. James Hutton see Chapter 1 realized geologic processes are slow and his ideas on uniformitarianism i.

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Principles of Relative Dating

Relative dating is the science of determining the relative order of past events i. In geology, rock or superficial deposits , fossils and lithologies can be used to correlate one stratigraphic column with another. Prior to the discovery of radiometric dating in the early 20th century, which provided a means of absolute dating , archaeologists and geologists used relative dating to determine ages of materials. Though relative dating can only determine the sequential order in which a series of events occurred, not when they occurred, it remains a useful technique.

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