Age Determination and Geological Studies
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MARS DURING the PRE-NOACHIAN. J. C. Andrews-Hanna1 and W. B. Bottke2, 1Lunar and Planetary La- Boratory, University of Arizona
Fourth Conference on Early Mars 2017 (LPI Contrib. No. 2014) 3078.pdf MARS DURING THE PRE-NOACHIAN. J. C. Andrews-Hanna1 and W. B. Bottke2, 1Lunar and Planetary La- boratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, [email protected], 2Southwest Research Institute and NASA’s SSERVI-ISET team, 1050 Walnut St., Suite 300, Boulder, CO 80302. Introduction: The surface geology of Mars appar- ing the pre-Noachian was ~10% of that during the ently dates back to the beginning of the Early Noachi- LHB. Consideration of the sawtooth-shaped exponen- an, at ~4.1 Ga, leaving ~400 Myr of Mars’ earliest tially declining impact fluxes both in the aftermath of evolution effectively unconstrained [1]. However, an planet formation and during the Late Heavy Bom- enduring record of the earlier pre-Noachian conditions bardment [5] suggests that the impact flux during persists in geophysical and mineralogical data. We use much of the pre-Noachian was even lower than indi- geophysical evidence, primarily in the form of the cated above. This bombardment history is consistent preservation of the crustal dichotomy boundary, to- with a late heavy bombardment (LHB) of the inner gether with mineralogical evidence in order to infer the Solar System [6] during which HUIA formed, which prevailing surface conditions during the pre-Noachian. followed the planet formation era impacts during The emerging picture is a pre-Noachian Mars that was which the dichotomy formed. less dynamic than Noachian Mars in terms of impacts, Pre-Noachian Tectonism and Volcanism: The geodynamics, and hydrology. crust within each of the southern highlands and north- Pre-Noachian Impacts: We define the pre- ern lowlands is remarkably uniform in thickness, aside Noachian as the time period bounded by two impacts – from regions in which it has been thickened by volcan- the dichotomy-forming impact and the Hellas-forming ism (e.g., Tharsis, Elysium) or thinned by impacts impact. -
Critical Analysis of Article "21 Reasons to Believe the Earth Is Young" by Jeff Miller
1 Critical analysis of article "21 Reasons to Believe the Earth is Young" by Jeff Miller Lorence G. Collins [email protected] Ken Woglemuth [email protected] January 7, 2019 Introduction The article by Dr. Jeff Miller can be accessed at the following link: http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=9&article=5641 and is an article published by Apologetic Press, v. 39, n.1, 2018. The problems start with the Article In Brief in the boxed paragraph, and with the very first sentence. The Bible does not give an age of the Earth of 6,000 to 10,000 years, or even imply − this is added to Scripture by Dr. Miller and other young-Earth creationists. R. C. Sproul was one of evangelicalism's outstanding theologians, and he stated point blank at the Legionier Conference panel discussion that he does not know how old the Earth is, and the Bible does not inform us. When there has been some apparent conflict, either the theologians or the scientists are wrong, because God is the Author of the Bible and His handiwork is in general revelation. In the days of Copernicus and Galileo, the theologians were wrong. Today we do not know of anyone who believes that the Earth is the center of the universe. 2 The last sentence of this "Article In Brief" is boldly false. There is almost no credible evidence from paleontology, geology, astrophysics, or geophysics that refutes deep time. Dr. Miller states: "The age of the Earth, according to naturalists and old- Earth advocates, is 4.5 billion years. -
“Anthropocene” Epoch: Scientific Decision Or Political Statement?
The “Anthropocene” epoch: Scientific decision or political statement? Stanley C. Finney*, Dept. of Geological Sciences, California Official recognition of the concept would invite State University at Long Beach, Long Beach, California 90277, cross-disciplinary science. And it would encourage a mindset USA; and Lucy E. Edwards**, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, that will be important not only to fully understand the Virginia 20192, USA transformation now occurring but to take action to control it. … Humans may yet ensure that these early years of the ABSTRACT Anthropocene are a geological glitch and not just a prelude The proposal for the “Anthropocene” epoch as a formal unit of to a far more severe disruption. But the first step is to recognize, the geologic time scale has received extensive attention in scien- as the term Anthropocene invites us to do, that we are tific and public media. However, most articles on the in the driver’s seat. (Nature, 2011, p. 254) Anthropocene misrepresent the nature of the units of the International Chronostratigraphic Chart, which is produced by That editorial, as with most articles on the Anthropocene, did the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) and serves as not consider the mission of the International Commission on the basis for the geologic time scale. The stratigraphic record of Stratigraphy (ICS), nor did it present an understanding of the the Anthropocene is minimal, especially with its recently nature of the units of the International Chronostratigraphic Chart proposed beginning in 1945; it is that of a human lifespan, and on which the units of the geologic time scale are based. -
Golden Spikes, Transitions, Boundary Objects, and Anthropogenic Seascapes
sustainability Article A Meaningful Anthropocene?: Golden Spikes, Transitions, Boundary Objects, and Anthropogenic Seascapes Todd J. Braje * and Matthew Lauer Department of Anthropology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 27 June 2020; Accepted: 7 August 2020; Published: 11 August 2020 Abstract: As the number of academic manuscripts explicitly referencing the Anthropocene increases, a theme that seems to tie them all together is the general lack of continuity on how we should define the Anthropocene. In an attempt to formalize the concept, the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) is working to identify, in the stratigraphic record, a Global Stratigraphic Section and Point (GSSP) or golden spike for a mid-twentieth century Anthropocene starting point. Rather than clarifying our understanding of the Anthropocene, we argue that the AWG’s effort to provide an authoritative definition undermines the original intent of the concept, as a call-to-arms for future sustainable management of local, regional, and global environments, and weakens the concept’s capacity to fundamentally reconfigure the established boundaries between the social and natural sciences. To sustain the creative and productive power of the Anthropocene concept, we argue that it is best understood as a “boundary object,” where it can be adaptable enough to incorporate multiple viewpoints, but robust enough to be meaningful within different disciplines. Here, we provide two examples from our work on the deep history of anthropogenic seascapes, which demonstrate the power of the Anthropocene to stimulate new thinking about the entanglement of humans and non-humans, and for building interdisciplinary solutions to modern environmental issues. -
Geologic Time and Geologic Maps
NAME GEOLOGIC TIME AND GEOLOGIC MAPS I. Introduction There are two types of geologic time, relative and absolute. In the case of relative time geologic events are arranged in their order of occurrence. No attempt is made to determine the actual time at which they occurred. For example, in a sequence of flat lying rocks, shale is on top of sandstone. The shale, therefore, must by younger (deposited after the sandstone), but how much younger is not known. In the case of absolute time the actual age of the geologic event is determined. This is usually done using a radiometric-dating technique. II. Relative geologic age In this section several techniques are considered for determining the relative age of geologic events. For example, four sedimentary rocks are piled-up as shown on Figure 1. A must have been deposited first and is the oldest. D must have been deposited last and is the youngest. This is an example of a general geologic law known as the Law of Superposition. This law states that in any pile of sedimentary strata that has not been disturbed by folding or overturning since accumulation, the youngest stratum is at the top and the oldest is at the base. While this may seem to be a simple observation, this principle of superposition (or stratigraphic succession) is the basis of the geologic column which lists rock units in their relative order of formation. As a second example, Figure 2 shows a sandstone that has been cut by two dikes (igneous intrusions that are tabular in shape).The sandstone, A, is the oldest rock since it is intruded by both dikes. -
Terminology of Geological Time: Establishment of a Community Standard
Terminology of geological time: Establishment of a community standard Marie-Pierre Aubry1, John A. Van Couvering2, Nicholas Christie-Blick3, Ed Landing4, Brian R. Pratt5, Donald E. Owen6 and Ismael Ferrusquía-Villafranca7 1Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway NJ 08854, USA; email: [email protected] 2Micropaleontology Press, New York, NY 10001, USA email: [email protected] 3Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades NY 10964, USA email: [email protected] 4New York State Museum, Madison Avenue, Albany NY 12230, USA email: [email protected] 5Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon SK7N 5E2, Canada; email: [email protected] 6Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Lamar University, Beaumont TX 77710 USA email: [email protected] 7Universidad Nacional Autónomo de México, Instituto de Geologia, México DF email: [email protected] ABSTRACT: It has been recommended that geological time be described in a single set of terms and according to metric or SI (“Système International d’Unités”) standards, to ensure “worldwide unification of measurement”. While any effort to improve communication in sci- entific research and writing is to be encouraged, we are also concerned that fundamental differences between date and duration, in the way that our profession expresses geological time, would be lost in such an oversimplified terminology. In addition, no precise value for ‘year’ in the SI base unit of second has been accepted by the international bodies. Under any circumstances, however, it remains the fact that geologi- cal dates – as points in time – are not relevant to the SI. -
MANAGEMENT PLAN November 2003
MANAGEMENT PLAN November 2003 for Stikine Country Protected Areas Mount Edziza Provincial Park Mount Edziza Protected Area (Proposed) Stikine River Provincial Park Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park Gladys Lake Ecological Reserve Ministry of Water, Land Pitman River Protected Area and Air Protection Environmental Stewardship Chukachida Protected Area Division Skeena Region Tatlatui Provincial Park Stikine Country Protected Areas M ANAGEMENT LAN P November 2003 Prepared by Skeena Region Environmental Stewardship Division Smithers BC Stikine Country Protected Areas Management Plan National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data British Columbia. Environmental Stewardship Division. Skeena Region. Stikine Country Protected Areas management plan Cover title: Management plan for Stikine Country Protected Areas. Issued by: Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, Environmental Stewardship Division, Skeena Region. “November 2003” “Mount Edziza Provincial Park, Mount Edziza Protected Area (Proposed), Stikine River Provincial Park, Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park, Gladys Lake Ecological Reserve, Pitman River Protected Area, Chukachida Protected Area, Tatlatui Provincial Park”—Cover. Also available on the Internet. Includes bibliographical references: p. ISBN 0-7726-5124-8 1. Protected areas - British Columbia – Stikine Region. 2. Provincial parks and reserves - British Columbia – Stikine Region. 3. Ecosystem management - British Columbia – Stikine Region. I. British Columbia. Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection. -
Fish 2002 Tec Doc Draft3
BRITISH COLUMBIA MINISTRY OF WATER, LAND AND AIR PROTECTION - 2002 Environmental Indicator: Fish in British Columbia Primary Indicator: Conservation status of Steelhead Trout stocks rated as healthy, of conservation concern, and of extreme conservation concern. Selection of the Indicator: The conservation status of Steelhead Trout stocks is a state or condition indicator. It provides a direct measure of the condition of British Columbia’s Steelhead stocks. Steelhead Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) are highly valued by recreational anglers and play a locally important role in First Nations ceremonial, social and food fisheries. Because Steelhead Trout use both freshwater and marine ecosystems at different periods in their life cycle, it is difficult to separate effects of freshwater and marine habitat quality and freshwater and marine harvest mortality. Recent delcines, however, in southern stocks have been attributed to environmental change, rather than over-fishing because many of these stocks are not significantly harvested by sport or commercial fisheries. With respect to conseration risk, if a stock is over fished, it is designated as being of ‘conservation concern’. The term ‘extreme conservation concern’ is applied to stock if there is a probablity that the stock could be extirpated. Data and Sources: Table 1. Conservation Ratings of Steelhead Stock in British Columbia, 2000 Steelhead Stock Extreme Conservation Conservation Healthy Total (Conservation Unit Name) Concern Concern Bella Coola–Rivers Inlet 1 32 33 Boundary Bay 4 4 Burrard -
GEOLOGY of the EARLY JURASSIC TOODOGGONE FORMATION and GOLD-SILVER DEPOSITS in the TOODOGGONE RIVER MAP AREA, NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA by Larry J
Province of British Columbia MINERAL RESOURCES DIVISION Ministry oi Energy, Mines and Geological Survey Branch Petroleum Resources Hon. Anne Edwards, Minister GEOLOGY OF THE EARLY JURASSIC TOODOGGONE FORMATION AND GOLD-SILVER DEPOSITS IN THE TOODOGGONE RIVER MAP AREA, NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA By Larry J. Diakow, Andrejs Panteleyev, and Tom G. Schroeter BULLETIN 86 MINERAL RESOURCES DIVISION Geological Survey Branch Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Diakow, Larry, I. Geology of the early Jurassic Toodoggone Formation and gold-silvei depositsin the Toodoggone River map area, northern British Columbia VICTORIA BRITISH COLUMBIA (Bulletin, ISSN 0226-7497; 86) CANADA Issued by Geological Survey Branch. Includes bibliographical references: p January 1993 ISBNO-7718-9277-2 1. Geology - Stratigraphic - Jurassic. 2. Gold ores Geological researchfor this -Geology - British Columbia - Toodoggone River Region. 3. Silver ores - British Columbia - Toodoggone River publication was completed during Region. 4. Geology - British Columbia - Toodoggone the period 1981 to 1984. River Region. 5. Toodoggone Formation (B.C.) I. Fanteleyev, Andrejs, 1942- 11. Schroeter, T. G. In. British Columbia. Geological Survey Branch. IV. British Columbia. V. Title. VI. Series: Bulletin (British Columbia. Minisrry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources); 86. TN414C32B731992 551.7'66'0971185 C92-092349.6 Lawyers gold-silver deposit looking northwesterly with Amethyst Gold Breccia (AGB) and Cliff Creek (CC) zones indicated. Cheni Gold Mines camp is in the lower centre and the mill site at the left of the photograph. Flat-lying ash-flow tuffs of the Saunders Member (Unit 6) form the dissected plateauand scarps in the foreground. Silica-clay-alunite capping Alberts Hump, similar to nearby precious metal bearing advanced argillic altered rocks of the A1 deposit (AI), are barely visible to the north of Toodoggone River and 5 kilometres beyond Metsantan Mountain. -
PHANEROZOIC and PRECAMBRIAN CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHY 2016
PHANEROZOIC and PRECAMBRIAN CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHY 2016 Series/ Age Series/ Age Erathem/ System/ Age Epoch Stage/Age Ma Epoch Stage/Age Ma Era Period Ma GSSP/ GSSA GSSP GSSP Eonothem Eon Eonothem Erathem Period Eonothem Period Eon Era System System Eon Erathem Era 237.0 541 Anthropocene * Ladinian Ediacaran Middle 241.5 Neo- 635 Upper Anisian Cryogenian 4.2 ka 246.8 proterozoic 720 Holocene Middle Olenekian Tonian 8.2 ka Triassic Lower 249.8 1000 Lower Mesozoic Induan Stenian 11.8 ka 251.9 Meso- 1200 Upper Changhsingian Ectasian 126 ka Lopingian 254.2 proterozoic 1400 “Ionian” Wuchiapingian Calymmian Quaternary Pleisto- 773 ka 259.8 1600 cene Calabrian Capitanian Statherian 1.80 Guada- 265.1 Proterozoic 1800 Gelasian Wordian Paleo- Orosirian 2.58 lupian 268.8 2050 Piacenzian Roadian proterozoic Rhyacian Pliocene 3.60 272.3 2300 Zanclean Kungurian Siderian 5.33 Permian 282.0 2500 Messinian Artinskian Neo- 7.25 Cisuralian 290.1 Tortonian Sakmarian archean 11.63 295.0 2800 Serravallian Asselian Meso- Miocene 13.82 298.9 r e c a m b i n P Neogene Langhian Gzhelian archean 15.97 Upper 303.4 3200 Burdigalian Kasimovian Paleo- C e n o z i c 20.44 306.7 Archean archean Aquitanian Penn- Middle Moscovian 23.03 sylvanian 314.6 3600 Chattian Lower Bashkirian Oligocene 28.1 323.2 Eoarchean Rupelian Upper Serpukhovian 33.9 330.9 4000 Priabonian Middle Visean 38.0 Carboniferous 346.7 Hadean (informal) Missis- Bartonian sippian Lower Tournaisian Eocene 41.0 358.9 ~4560 Lutetian Famennian 47.8 Upper 372.2 Ypresian Frasnian Units of the international Paleogene 56.0 382.7 Thanetian Givetian chronostratigraphic scale with 59.2 Middle 387.7 Paleocene Selandian Eifelian estimated numerical ages. -
Isotopegeochemistry Chapter2.Pdf
Isotope Geochemistry W. M. White Chapter 2 DECAY SYSTEMS & GEOCHRONOLOGY I 2.1 BASICS OF RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPE GEOCHEMISTRY 2.1.1 Introduction We can broadly define two principal applications of radiogenic isotope geochemistry. The first is geo- chronology. Geochronology makes use of the constancy of the rate of radioactive decay to measure time. Since a radioactive nuclide decays to its daughter at a rate independent of everything, we can deter- mine a time simply by determining how much of the nuclide has decayed. We will discuss the signifi- cance of this time at a later point. Geochronology is fundamental to our understanding of nature and its results pervade many fields of science. Through it, we know the age of the Sun, the Earth, and our solar system, which provides a calibration point for stellar evolution and cosmology. Geochronology also al- lows to us to trace the origins of culture, agriculture, and civilization back beyond the 5000 years of re- corded history, to date the origin of our species to some 200,000 years, the origins of our genus to nearly 2 million years, and the origin of life to at least 3.5 billion years. Most other methods of determining time, such as so-called molecular clocks, are valid only because they have been calibrated against ra- diometric ages. The history of geochronology begins with Yale University chemist Bertram Boltwood. In collabora- tion of Ernest Rutherford (a New Zealander working at Cambridge University), Boltwood had deduced that lead was the ultimate decay product of uranium. In 1907, he analyzed a series of uranium-rich minerals, determining their U and Pb contents. -
The Matuyama Chronozone at ODP Site 982 (Rockall Bank): Evidence for Decimeter-Scale Magnetization Lock- in Depths
The Matuyama Chronozone at ODP Site 982 (Rockall Bank): Evidence for Decimeter-Scale Magnetization Lock- in Depths J. E. T. Channell Department of Geological Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida Y. Guyodo1 Institute for Rock Magnetism, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota At ODP Site 982, located on the Rockall Bank, component magnetizations define a polarity stratigraphy from the middle part of the Brunhes Chronozone to the top of the Gauss Chronozone (0.3–2.7 Ma). The Cobb Mountain and Reunion sub- chronozones correlate to marine isotope stages (MIS) 35 and 81, respectively. The Gauss/Matuyama boundary correlates to the base of MIS 103. The slope of the nat- ural remanence (NRM) versus the anhysteretic remanence (ARM) during stepwise alternating field demagnetization is close to linear (r > 0.9) for the 900–1700 ka inter- val indicating similarity of NRM and ARM coercivity spectra. The normalized remanence (NRM/ARM) can be matched to paleointensity records from ODP Sites 983/984 (Iceland Basin) and from sites in the Pacific Ocean. The age model based on δ18O stratigraphy at ODP Site 982 indicates sedimentation rates in the 1–4 cm/kyr range. At ODP Site 980/981, located ~200 km SE of Site 982 on the eastern flank of the Rockall Plateau, sedimentation rates are 2–7 times greater. According to the δ18O age models at Site 982 and Site 980/981, the boundaries of the Jaramillo, Cobb Mountain, Olduvai and Reunion subchronozones appear older at Site 982 by 10–15 kyr. We model the lock-in of magnetization using a sigmoidal magnetization lock- in function incorporating a surface mixed layer (base at depth M corresponding to 5% lock-in) and a lock-in depth (L) below M at which 50% lock-in is achieved.