Historical Geology


0. Contents and introduction

0.1 Contents
0.2 Introduction

1. Minerals and rocks

1.1 Minerals
1.2 Silicate minerals
1.3 Rocks
1.4 Igneous rocks
1.5 Sedimentary rocks
1.6 Metamorphic rocks

2. Erosion and deposition

2.1 Mechanical weathering and erosion
2.2 Chemical weathering
2.3 Glaciers
2.4 Deserts
2.5 Volcanic ash
2.6 Soils and paleosols
2.7 Rivers
2.8 Deltas
2.9 Lakes
2.10 Peat and coal
2.11 Nearshore sediments
2.12 Marine sediments
2.13 Turbidites
2.14 Reefs
2.15 Ooids and oolite
2.16 Calcareous ooze
2.17 Siliceous ooze
2.18 Pelagic clay
2.19 Deposition rates
2.20 Glacial marine sediment
2.21 Saline giants
2.22 Banded iron formations

3. Plate tectonics

3.1 Physical properties of rocks
3.2 Seismic waves
3.3 The structure of the Earth
3.4 Geomagnetic reversals
3.5 Plate tectonics: overview
3.6 Continental drift
3.7 Sea floor spreading
3.8 Subduction
3.9 Hotspots
3.10 Terranes
3.11 Ophiolites
3.12 Orogeny

4. Stratigraphy

4.1 Actualism
4.2 Steno's principles
4.3 Way-up structures
4.4 Fossils
4.5 The principle of faunal succession
4.6 Index fossils
4.7 The geological column
4.8 Unconformities
4.9 Faults
4.10 Folds
4.11 Walther's principle
4.12 Cross-cutting relationships
4.13 Igneous rocks and stratigraphy

5. Absolute dating

5.1 Concepts in absolute dating
5.2 Erosion, deposition, and time
5.3 Dendrochronology
5.4 Varves
5.5 Amino acid dating
5.6 Radioactive decay
5.7 K-Ar dating
5.8 Ar-Ar dating
5.9 Rb-Sr dating
5.10 Other isochron methods
5.11 U-Pb, Pb-Pb, and fission track dating
5.12 Radiocarbon dating
5.13 Cosmogenic surface dating
5.14 U-Th, U-Pa, and Ra-Pb dating
5.15 Paleomagnetic dating
5.16 Sclerochronology
5.17 Tidal rhythmites and dating
5.18 Fossils and absolute dating
5.19 Absolute dating: an overview

6. Paleoclimatology

6.1 Paleoclimatology: introduction
6.2 Sediments and climate
6.3 Paleocurrents
6.4 Biogeography and climate
6.5 Leaf shape and temperature
6.6 Dendroclimatology
6.7 Scleroclimatology
6.8 Uk'37
6.9 TEX86
6.10 Ice cores
6.11 Milankovitch cycles
6.12 Climate models
6.13 Ice ages
6.14 Sea level variations

Appendices

A Glossary and index
B Bibliography
C Chemistry for geologists

Introduction