GEOL342: Sedimentation and Stratigraphy Spring 2011 Chronostratigraphy:

Numerical or absolute dating There are many methods, each with its own strengths and limitations:

Varves Dendrochronology Thermoluminescence dating Fission track dating Cosmogenic nuclide dating Amino acid racemization Tephrachronology Astronomical dating/Milankovitch cycles Radiometric dating

Radiometric dating

 Antoine Becquerel (1852-1908): Discovered natural radioactivity (1896). In the following years, a large number of radioactive isotopes and their daughter products became known. Pierre (1859-1906) and Marie (1867-1934) Curie: Discovered that the radioactive element radium continuously releases newly generated heat - radiogenic heat. With this discovery, it became clear that the decay of radioactive substances provided a continuous source of new heat that Thomson hadn't accounted for. The Earth might, indeed, be much older than his calculations indicated. But how old?

History:

At the beginning of the 20th century, Ernest Rutherford and Frederick Soddy developed the concept of the half-life - For any radioactive substance, there is a specific period of time in which half of a sample will decay to a daughter substance. E.G., if we have a newly created 1 kg. sample of a substance whose half-life is 10 years, then ten years from its creation, half of the radioactive material will remain in the sample. The other half will be the daughter product. After twenty years, 0.25 kg. will remain (with the rest being daughter product), and after thirty years, 0.125 kg. of the original radioactive substance will remain in the sample. In 1904, Rutherford made the first attempt to use this principle to estimate the age of a rock. His analysis was technically problematic because of his choice of a gas, helium as a radioactive product (gasses have a way of migrating out of rocks), but it was a start.

In 1905, Bertram Boltwood noted a specific parent-daughter relationship between an isotope of uranium, 235U, a radioactive isotope, and lead (Pb) suggesting that one decayed into the other - the uranium-lead system. Because lead is usually found as a solid, this method was more promising. Like Rutherford's, Boltwood's attempt to apply the principle to the dating of rocks was technically flawed but a step forward. Beginning in 1911, Arthur Holmes began a long career of applying the concept of radiometric dating to rocks, and is given credit for ironing out the technical issues that hampered earlier attempts. After a century of applying the method we now know that thet oldest known Earth rocks are aprox 4.2 billion years old (abbreviated "ga"). The oldest in the Solar System are 4.56 ga.

The current understanding: Radioactive decay - unstable parent atoms change into more stable daughter atoms. This involves one of the following transformations:

Loss of neutron(s) Loss of proton(s) Loss of alpha () particles (= 2 neutrons, 2 protons, i.e. He atom) Loss of beta () particle - 1 neutron and 1 electron Electron capture - 1 electron joins with a proton to form a neutron (i.e. gamma particle )

Decay constant () - The probability that a given nucleus will decay at a given time. This is unique to each element. If one assumes that the parent:daughter ratio present in a crystal is determined only by the elapsed time since the parent and daughter were locked into the crystal and neither have escaped N = N0e-t Where:

N = # radioactive nuclei present t = time elapsed N0 = # radioactive nuclei present at t=0

Half-life (t1/2) - increment of time needed for half the parent atoms to decay to daughters t1/2 = 0.693/ t = (1/) ln(d/p +1) where t is the age of the rock/mineral

Caveats: Radiometric dating records the closure time when a crystal cooled to solid state and locked radiogenic elements into its structure.

 Most dating is done on igneous and metamorphic rocks. Sediments are remnants of other rocks - radiometric ages obtained from sedimentary rocks are often the age of the protolith, not the sedimentary rock. Thus, for sediments, we typically rely on igneous marker beds that constrain the ages of adjacent sediments. Some parent or daughter atoms can escape if the system is not fully closed. (This is why we don't continue to use Rutherford's He system.) Potassium (40K) Argon (40Ar) by electron capture and decay.

t1/2 = 1.3 billion years Feldspars, micas, ashes Benefits: K is extremely common Limitations: Ar is an inert gas and diffuses out of minerals. Ar is common in atmosphere and must be accounted for. It is sensitive to metamorphic resetting and weathering (allows Ar to escape).

Uranium (238U) Lead (206Pb) by series of and decays.

t1/2 = 4.5 billion years Zircon, monazite, badellyite, apatite Benefits: Zircons are very stable and withstand weathering, can be sedimentary minerals. Thus we can date things from Earth's earliest times. Limitations: detrital zircon records mineral formation age, not sedimentary rock age.

Uranium (234U) Thorium (230Th) by decay.

t1/2 = 250 kyr Carbonates Benefits: Abundances can be used to measure sedimentation rates (U preferentially stays in solution) Limitations: 230Th decays rapidly to 232Th. Because the decay pathway of U is so complex multiple isotopes have to be taken into account.

Several other systems are useful for dating igneous and metamorphic rocks, including:

87

Rb87Sr 147 Sm143Nd 176 Lu176Hf various U/Pb/Th systems

Several other methods operate along the same general principles as rediometric dating. Suppose, for example, we want to the age of a sample since it was last heated.

14

C Dating

This method is not used on minerals. Rather, it exploits the fractionation of radioactive 14C and stable 12C by plants during photosynthesis.14C is produced in the upper atmosphere by bombardment of 14N by cosmogenic neutrons and incorporated in plant tissue in a fixed ratio to 12C. This fractionation is conserved across green plants and tells us the initial ratio of these isotopes when the plant was growing. Because of its short half-life, 14C dating is useful only as far back as 40,000 yrs. Note:

Well calibrated samples show that the rate of 14C generation has varied slightly over time, thus, 14Cdates must be adjusted to take these variations into account. The application to geochronology comes in when datable plant material is found in association with sediments.

Thermoluminescence The elements uranium and thorium in minerals, like zircon, quartz, and fluorite (right) decay to produce alpha particles. These can get trapped in imperfections of the crystal lattice in quantum-mechanically stable states. If this goes on long enough, ultimately the crystal can become saturated. Since this is a background process the accumulation of alpha particles can be used to constrain the age of ambient minerals. Heat will release the trapped particles' energy as light, producing luminescence, which can be quantified. If the minerals are pristine, one can expose them to heat and measure their luminescence to get an age. Because heating releases the trapped energy, it effectively "resets" a sample's thermoluminescence clock. Thus, archeologists use the method on items like fired pottery. Sedimentologists have used thermoluminsecence as a method for tracking the migration rates of different sizes of beach and river sands. Range: 5,000 - 300,000 yrs. Saturation of the crstal sets upper limit on recoverable ages.

Fission track dating particles resulting from the decay of 238U make tracks (holes) in crystals as they escape (10-20m long). These tracks can be thought of as if they were the "daughter products" of radioactive decay and can be used for dating provided:

They can be counted The concentration of 238U in the sample is known.

So:

Fission tracks are physically revealed by chemical etching, then counted under a microscope. The concentration of When the concentration of 238U is determined by placing the specimen in a nuclear reactor along with a calibrated standard material and bombarding it with neutrons, inducing the formation of new fission tracks. The ratio of the concentration of 238U to the concentration of fission tracks provides an estimate of the mineral's age.

Fission tracks close when the crystal is heated to modest temperatures (74-200C depending on the mineral). Thus, fission track dating provides the sample's age since its last episode of heating, when the crystal experienced closure - the immobilization of its crystal lattice.

 Provides estimates of heating events in the crystal's history, including burial and tectonic uplift. The precise information is a function of the mineral involved. Apatite, whose fission tracks close at temperatures as low as 74 C gives the age of last cooling. Zircon, whose tracks close at higher temperatures, records something closer to the crystal's actual age. Commonly applied to zircon and apatite. Range 100,000yrs-2MA

Cosmogenic nuclide dating This method allows us to infer the length of time for which a specimen has been sitting on an exposed surface. Consider:

The earth is constantly bombarded by cosmic rays, which create radioactive element during nuclear collisions (e.g., 14C). They do this with many elements, creating nuclides like 10Be, 26Al, and 39Cl. These nuclides appear in MANY different mineral types (e.g., olivine, quartz, calcite). As long as these minerals are exposed at the surface, they will collect cosmogenic elements until reaching a balance between the acquisition and decay rates. Estimates are more precise if multiple elements are cross-compared. This technique is good for calculating uplift and erosion rates. Range: 10,000 - 300,000. Saturation of the crystal sets upper limit on recoverable ages.

Amino acid racemization A method for determining the relative age of biological samples, based on the deterioration or racemization of amino acids.

Biological amino acids all have the same chirality or "handedness" - they spiral to the left.

This spiraling, or chirality, requires active maintenance on the part of the organism. When it dies, changes through molecular kinetics cause amino acids randomly to switch to a right-handed configuration. In principle, one could measure the chirality of amino acids in a biological sample (mollusk shell, vertebrate bone, wood, etc.) to determine its age. Alas, the rate of racemization is very sensitive to: o temperature o pH o humidity o characteristics of the enclosing matrix but if these can be constrained, (and this is possible in very predictable environments like deserts and deep oceans) the smaple's age can be determined by calculating a ratio between left- and right-handed amino acids.

Typically, for a given site and geologic interval, amino-acid dates must be calibrated using more reliable indicators like 14C. This technique's advantage is that it can be used on a wider range of biologic samples than 14C (wood only) so is good for dating shells and uplift terraces, although the uncertainties are often large. Range: 10,000 - 100,000 yrs.

Tephrachronology

Here we apply the concepts of chemostratigraphy to datable material.

Ash layers represent a single geologically instantaneous event that can be correlated with datable deposits of crystalline igneous rock, even when the ash, itself, contains no crystals amenable to radiometric dating. Ash often spreads globally if the eruption is large enough Each ash layer has a unique chemical signature: o Trace element abundances o stable isotope ratios, etc. Range 0-2MA. Upper limit typically results from diagenetic alteration of the ash. Eg. Bishop Tuff (0.78MA) and Mazama ash(6000 yrs)

Some methods involve simply counting seasonal units that display some kind of identifiable secular variability in thickness or chemical composition. Varves and ice cores

Lake sediments that record seasonal variations enabling years to be counted. Within a basin, patterns of variation between seasons can be correlated.

 While physically different, ice cores can be employed similarly. The deep cores from Greenland and Antarctic ice date back 180,000 yrs.

Dendrochronology Here, the seasonal units in question are layers of wood laid down in growing trees.

Annual variability in tree ring widths has been used to create a global record that extends back to 8000 yrs. Also provides info on temperature, runoff, precipitation, and soil moisture.

Astronomical dating Milankovitch cycles: In the 1920s, the Yugoslavian meteorologist Milutin Milankovitch realized The Earth's movement through space is subject to three kinds of cycles:

Orbital eccentricity: The orbit around the Sun is an ellipse that changes shape (becoming more and less circular) in a cycle of 100,000 years.

Axial inclination: The axis of rotation is tilted. The angle of tilt varies from 21.5 deg. to 24.5 deg. in a cycle of 41,000.

Axial precession: The axis of rotation wobbles around an axis like that of a toy top. So, today the axis points toward Polaris, the north star, but in earlier times, it didn't. One full precessional wobble takes 23,000 years.

Solar forcing: The sum of the effects of these cycles gives the general tendency for glaciers to

form. Note: Solar forcings are different at different latitudes and in different hemispheres. Solar forcings can stimulate positive feedback processes that result in global climate changes, tipping climate systems into glacial and interglacial modes. These cycles can be seen in records of ice and sediments. Unique insolation character associated with a given period of time Milankovitch cycles control ice cover, eustatic sea level, and accommodation space. Weathering rates, sediment supply, ocean circulation, and sediment accumulation change in response to these cycles. Milankovitch cycles can be tracked in carbonates, deep sea, and lake sedimentary packages. Range as far back as 10MA Chronostratigraphy: The web of correlation Establishing the time relationships among geologic units by means of integrated methods including:

Irreversible processes that operate continuously in one direction: biostratigraphy and geochronology Cyclic processes (pattern recognition and placement): o lithostratigraphy o sequence stratigraphy o chemostratigraphy o seismic stratigraphy o magnetostratigraphy

Considerations and caveats:

Precision - repeatability of measurements. We can assess this more easily than we can accuracy - the degree to which they approach the unattainable ideal of "truth." Difficult to obtain a numeric value for some methods, like biostratigraphy. Avoidance of circularity. E.G.: o The primitive Triassic Ichthyosaur Thaisaurus Mazin et. al 1991 came from poorly constrained sediments of Thailand that were assumed to be of Early Triassic age because of the presence of a primitive ichthyosaur. o A biostratigrapher 1995 employs Thaisaurus as an index taxon for the Olenekian stage (Early Triassic) based on the above presumption.

Resolution - ability to discriminate between two closely spaced events in geologic time. Radiometric methods lose resolution with increasing age because of increasing margins of error. Magnetostratigraphic methods don't.

Can vary within a method (eg. Radiometric dating)