Last week you were introduced to different geologic structures and the related symbols use to represent those structures on a geologic map. In today's lab you are presented with an idealized rock outcrop. Your objective will be to construct a geologic map and interpret the cross-section of that map of the outcrop.
For this assignment you should review the geologic map symbols presented last week and review the important rules of relative age dating which you may have discussed in your lecture section. These concepts will help you reconstruct the order of events which preduced this outcrop. Here are those important concepts:
Principle of Superposition: states when sediment is deposited, younger material is deposited on top of older material. Hence, sedimentary rock layer lying on top of another is younger.
Principle of Original Horizontality: states that sediments are deposited in flat horizontal layers. Later, tectonic events or igneous intrusions can alter their original positions.
Principle of Cross-cutting Relationships: states that igneous intrusions or faults are always YOUNGER than the material they intrude into or displace.
Principle of Inclusions: inclusions(fragments of pre-existing rock) tend to be older than the material they are contained in.
Principle of Faunal Succession: Fossil assemblages follow one another through time in an orderly and determinable fashion. Because of this, fossils can be used to determine the relative ages of rock units. See Principle of superposition.
