Valo S.

Gonzalez

GEO-151

Assignment 6

1. Explain the evidence for the age of Earth and why the oldest expected rocks will

probably never be found.

The age of the earth is scientifically accepted to be approximately 4.5 billion years old. So far

scientists have not found a way to determine the exact age of the Earth directly from Earth rocks

because Earth's oldest rocks have been recycled and destroyed by the process of plate tectonics.

If there are any of Earth's primordial rocks left in their original state, they have not yet been

found. The oldest rocks which have been found so far (on the Earth) date to about 3.8 to 3.9

billion years ago. Some of these rocks are sedimentary, and include minerals which are

themselves as old as 4.1 to 4.2 billion years. Rocks of this age are relatively rare, however rocks

that are at least 3.5 billion years in age have been found on North America, Greenland, Australia,

Africa, and Asia. While these values do not compute an age for the Earth, they do establish a

lower limit (the Earth must be at least as old as any formation on it). This lower limit is at least

concordant with the independently derived figure of 4.55 billion years for the Earth's actual age.

Nevertheless, scientists have been able to determine the probable age of the Solar System and to

calculate an age for the Earth by assuming that the Earth and the rest of the solid bodies in the

Solar System formed at the same time and are, therefore, of the same age.

1
Valo S. Gonzalez

GEO-151

Assignment 6
2. How have new discoveries changed our knowledge about the extinction of dinosaurs?

Dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago. Many other groups of animals also became

extinct at this time, including ammonites, mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs, herbivorous

turtles and crocodiles, most birds, and many groups of mammals. This mass extinction is

known as the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event which occurred approximately 65.5

million years ago. Widely known as the K–T extinction event, it is associated with a

geological signature known as the K–T boundary, usually a thin band of sedimentation found

in various parts of the world. K is the traditional abbreviation for the Cretaceous Period

derived from the German name Kreidezeit, and T is the abbreviation for the Tertiary Period.

The K-T boundary clay was found to have about 30 times the amount of the rare element

iridium as is normal for crustal rocks. Iridium is relatively abundant in meteorites and other

extraterrestrial objects such as comets, and the scientists suggested that the iridium was

brought in by an extraterrestrial body. Scientists theorize that the K–T extinctions were

caused by one or more catastrophic events, such as massive asteroid impacts, or increased

volcanic activity. Several impact craters and massive volcanic activity have been dated to the

approximate time of the extinction event. The impactor's estimated size was about 10 km

(6 mi) in diameter and may have released an estimated 400 zettajoules of energy, equivalent

to 100 teratons of TNT on impact. By contrast, the most powerful man-made explosive

device ever detonated, the Tsar Bomba or Emperor Bomb, had a yield of only 50 megatons

making the Chicxulub impact 2 million times more powerful. Upon impact, part of the ocean

would have been vaporized and a crater created on the ocean floor. The impact would have

caused some of the largest megatsunamis in Earth's history, reaching thousands of feet high

sending water crisscrossing across the oceans, devastating life anywhere near shorelines.

2
Valo S. Gonzalez

GEO-151

Assignment 6
These geological events may have reduced sunlight and hindered photosynthesis, leading to a

massive disruption in the entire food chain. Dinosaur fossils are only found below the K–T

boundary, indicating that dinosaurs became extinct immediately before, or during the event.

A very small number of dinosaur fossils have been found above the K–T boundary, but they

have been explained as reworked, that is, fossils that have been eroded from their original

locations then preserved in later sedimentary layers.

3. Define: atoms, protons, neutrons, electrons, ions, and isotopes.

The atom is a basic unit of matter consisting of a dense, central nucleus surrounded by a cloud of

negatively charged electrons. The atomic nucleus contains a mix of positively charged

protons and electrically neutral neutrons (except in the case of hydrogen-1, which is the only

stable nuclide with no neutron).

Protons: a subatomic particle with an electric charge of +1 elementary charge. It is found in the

nucleus of each atom but is also stable by itself and has a second identity as the hydrogen

ion, 1H+. It is composed of 3 even more fundamental particles comprising two up quarks and

one down quark.

Neutrons: The neutron is a subatomic particle with no net electric charge and a mass slightly

larger than that of a proton. Neutrons are usually found in atomic nuclei. The nuclei of most

atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons.

The number of protons in a nucleus is the atomic number and defines the type of element the

atom forms. The number of neutrons determines the isotope of an element. For example, the

3
Valo S. Gonzalez

GEO-151

Assignment 6
carbon-12 isotope has 6 protons and 6 neutrons, while the carbon-14 isotope has 6 protons and 8

neutrons.

Electrons: The electron is a subatomic particle that carries a negative electric charge. Electrons

participate in gravitational, electromagnetic and weak interactions.

Ions: An ion is an atom or molecule where the total number of electrons is not equal to the total

number of protons, giving it a net positive or negative electrical charge. Since protons are

positively charged and electrons are negatively charged, if there are more electrons than protons,

the atom or molecule will be negatively charged. Conversely, if there are more protons than

electrons, the atom or molecule will be positively charged. This is called a cation.

Isotopes: Isotopes are any of the different types of atoms of the same chemical element, each

having a different atomic mass. Isotopes of an element have nuclei with the same number of

protons (the same atomic number) but different numbers of neutrons. Therefore, isotopes

have different mass numbers, which give the total number of nucleons, the number of protons

plus neutrons.