The Earth Through Time, 11th Edition

Cover......Page 1
Title Page......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Contents......Page 9
Chapter 1 The Science of Historical Geology......Page 14
Geology Lives in the Present and the Past......Page 15
A Way to Solve Problems: The Scientific Method......Page 16
An Example of the Scientific Method......Page 17
Deep Time......Page 19
Evolution of Life (Biological Evolution)......Page 20
What Lies Ahead?......Page 21
Chapter 2 Early Geologists Tackle History’s Mysteries......Page 26
The Intrigue of Fossils......Page 27
Principle of Original Lateral Continuity......Page 28
English and European Researchers Unravel the Succession of Strata......Page 30
Uniformitarianism......Page 31
Actualism......Page 32
The Principle of Fossil Succession......Page 33
The Great Uniformitarianism–Catastrophism Controversy......Page 34
The Principle of Cross-Cutting Relationships......Page 35
Evolution: How Organisms Change Through Time......Page 37
Western Geology......Page 38
The Dinosaur Rush......Page 39
Chapter 3 Time and Geology......Page 44
Divisions in the Geological Time Scale......Page 45
Evolution of the Geological Time Scale......Page 47
Early Attempts to Determine Earth’s Age......Page 50
Reviewing Atoms......Page 51
The Alpha, Beta, and Gamma of Decay......Page 52
Why Igneous Rocks Give the Most Trustworthy Dates......Page 53
Uranium‐Lead Methods......Page 55
The Potassium‐Argon Method......Page 56
How Carbon‐14 Enters the Environment......Page 57
How Carbon‐14 Dating Works......Page 58
How Old is Earth?......Page 59
Chapter 4 Rocks and Minerals: Documents That Record Earth’s History......Page 64
Minerals and Their Properties......Page 65
Silicate Minerals......Page 67
Nonsilicate Minerals......Page 71
Earth’s Three Families of Rock and How They Form......Page 72
Igneous Rocks: From Magma to Stone......Page 73
What Does the Texture of Igneous Rocks Tell Us about Their History?......Page 74
Some Minerals Form Early, Others Later......Page 76
Sequence of Mineral Crystallization......Page 77
Volcanic Activity Has Produced Enormous Volumes of Rock......Page 78
Sedimentary Rocks: Layered Pages of History......Page 81
Classifying Sedimentary Rocks......Page 82
What Do Sedimentary Rocks Tell Us about Earth History?......Page 86
Kinds of Metamorphic Rocks......Page 87
What Do Metamorphic Rocks Tell Us about Earth History?......Page 89
Chapter 5 The Sedimentary Archives......Page 96
Cratons, Shields, Platforms, and Orogenic Belts......Page 97
Environments where Deposition Occurs......Page 98
Marine Depositional Environments......Page 99
Continental Depositional Environments......Page 101
Transitional Depositional Environments......Page 103
What Rock Color Tells Us......Page 104
Shades of Black......Page 105
Grain Size and Sorting......Page 106
The Shape of Grains......Page 108
What Sedimentary Structures Tell Us......Page 109
Which Way Is Up?......Page 110
What Four Sandstone Types Reveal about Tectonic Setting......Page 113
Limestones and How they Form......Page 114
How We Name Rock Units: Geography + Rock Type......Page 118
What Are Facies?......Page 119
Sea-Level Change Means Great Environmental Change......Page 121
Correlating Rock Bodies......Page 122
Using Lithostratigraphic Correlation......Page 123
Unconformities: Something is Missing......Page 124
Geological Columns and Cross‐sections......Page 127
Isopach (Thickness) Maps......Page 128
Lithofacies Maps......Page 130
Historical Geology in Parks Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona......Page 133
Chapter 6 Life on Earth: What Do Fossils  Reveal?......Page 140
How Does Life of the Past Become Preserved?......Page 141
In Some Places Only Traces Remain......Page 144
Why Are Some Fossils Rare, Yet Others Abundant?......Page 145
What Is Taxonomy?......Page 146
Evolution: Continuous Changes in Life......Page 147
Inheritance, Genes, and DNA......Page 148
Cell Division and Reproduction: Bringing Variety to Offspring......Page 150
Mutation: Source of Variations......Page 151
How New Species Arise and Adaptively Radiate......Page 152
Phylogeny: Depicting How Ancestors Relate to Their Descendants......Page 154
Evidence from Paleontology......Page 156
Evidence from Biology......Page 157
The Geological Range of Fossils: From First Appearance to Last......Page 159
Using Fossils to Correlate Rock Units......Page 160
Index Fossils: Especially Useful......Page 162
Biostratigraphic Zones (Biozones)......Page 163
The Marine Ecosystem: Diverse Habitats for Diverse Organisms......Page 164
Paleogeographic Mapping......Page 168
Species Diversity and Geography......Page 169
How Fossils Indicate Past Climates......Page 171
How the Oxygen‐16/Oxygen‐18 Isotopic Ratio Indicates Ancient Sea‐water Temperature......Page 172
The History of Plants......Page 173
The History of Animals......Page 174
Mass Extinctions......Page 175
Chapter 7 Plate Tectonics Underlies All Earth History......Page 180
Body Waves......Page 181
Mohorovičič Discontinuity (Moho)......Page 182
Earth’s Liquid/Solid Core......Page 183
The Mantle......Page 184
Earth’s Two Types of Crust......Page 185
Plate Tectonics Ties it all Together......Page 186
Alfred Wegener......Page 189
Clues from Fossils......Page 190
Paleomagnetism: Ancient Magnetism Locked into Rocks......Page 192
How Is Earth’s Ancient Magnetic Field Recorded in Rocks?......Page 193
Earth’s Wandering Magnetic Poles......Page 194
Sea‐Floor Spreading (Divergent Boundaries)......Page 195
What Happens at Plate Margins?......Page 199
Continental–Continental Crust Convergence......Page 200
Continental–Oceanic Crust Convergence......Page 202
Wilson Cycles: Closings and Openings of Oceanic Basins......Page 204
Thermal Plumes......Page 205
Ridge‐Push and Slab‐Pull Model......Page 206
Further Paleomagnetic Evidence......Page 207
Gravity Evidence......Page 209
Thermal Plumes, Hotspots, and Hawaii......Page 211
Exotic Terranes......Page 213
Exotic Terranes and Earth History......Page 214
Faults......Page 215
Folds......Page 216
Historical Geology in Parks Hawaii Volcanoes National Park......Page 220
Chapter 8 The Earth’s Formative Stages and the Archean Eon......Page 226
The Solar Nebula Hypothesis......Page 227
Meteorites: Samples of the Early Solar System......Page 230
The Four Inner Planets......Page 232
The Four Outer Planets......Page 236
Following Accretion, Earth Differentiates......Page 238
The Archean Crust......Page 239
Growing an Oxygen‐Rich Atmosphere......Page 240
The Primitive Ocean and the Hydrologic Cycle......Page 241
Origin of Precambrian “Basement” Rocks......Page 242
Where Can We See Precambrian Rocks?......Page 243
The Earliest Plate Tectonics......Page 245
The Origin of Life......Page 248
Simulating the Origin of Life......Page 249
Hyperthermophiles and Chemosynthesis......Page 250
Feeding Life on Earth......Page 252
Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes......Page 253
Archean Fossils......Page 254
Historical Geology in Parks Voyageurs National Park......Page 256
In Retrospect......Page 257
Chapter 9 Proterozoic: Dawn of a More Modern World......Page 262
Early Plate Tectonics: Evidence from Canada’s Northwest Territories......Page 263
Evidence of Earth’s First Ice Age?......Page 266
BIFs—Earth’s Great Iron Treasure Trove......Page 267
End of Paleoproterozoic......Page 268
An Aborted Rift, Rich in Copper......Page 269
Building a New Supercontinent—Rodinia......Page 270
Glacial Deposits Beneath Tropical Rocks......Page 271
Proterozoic Rocks of the United States......Page 272
Proterozoic Life......Page 273
Microfossils of the Gunflint Chert......Page 274
The Rise of Eukaryotes......Page 275
Acritarchs......Page 276
Ediacaran Biota......Page 277
Ediacaran Fossils and Neoproterozoicglaciation......Page 280
Oxygen and Climate Changes in Proterozoic Environments......Page 281
Chapter 10 Early Paleozoic Events......Page 286
The Stable Interior......Page 288
Orogenic Belts......Page 291
Early Paleozoic Events......Page 292
Ordovician’s Increased Cosmic Bombardment......Page 293
Islands in the Inland Sea......Page 294
Cambrian Rocks in the Southwest: A Transgressive Succession......Page 295
The Second Transgression......Page 296
Evaporites Mark the Sea’s “Last Stand”......Page 297
In the Beginning, a Passive Margin......Page 298
The Canadian Rockies......Page 299
Orogeny Begins......Page 300
Dynamic Events in the East......Page 301
Historical Geology in Parks Jasper National Park......Page 302
Taconic Orogeny......Page 304
The Caledonian Orogenic Belt......Page 306
Aspects of Early Paleozoic Climate......Page 308
Chapter 11 Late Paleozoic Events......Page 314
The Kaskaskia Sequence......Page 315
The Absaroka Sequence......Page 319
Colorado’s Uncompahgre Mountains......Page 323
The Permian Basin of Western Texas and New Mexico......Page 325
To the East, A Clash of Continents......Page 326
The Catskill Clastic Wedge......Page 327
After Devonian......Page 329
The Alleghenian Orogeny......Page 332
The Ouachita Deformation......Page 333
Sedimentation and Orogeny in the West......Page 335
Europe During Late Paleozoic......Page 337
Gondwana During Late Paleozoic......Page 338
Climates of Late Paleozoic......Page 339
Oil and Gas......Page 340
Historical Geology in Parks Acadia National Park......Page 341
Other Economic Minerals......Page 343
Chapter 12 Paleozoic Life......Page 346
Cambrian Explosion of Life: Amazing Fossil Sites in Canada and China......Page 347
The Burgess Shale Fauna......Page 349
The Chengjiang Fauna......Page 353
A Variety of Living Strategies......Page 354
Radiolaria......Page 355
Sponges: Phylum Porifera......Page 356
Corals and Other Cnidaria......Page 357
Brachiopods......Page 359
Mollusks: Clams, Snails, Squid, and Kin......Page 360
Arthropods: Jointed Bodies and Limbs......Page 362
Spiny‐Skinned Animals: Echinoderms......Page 367
The Echinoderm–Chordate Connection......Page 369
Advent of the Vertebrates......Page 370
The Rise of Fishes......Page 372
Agnathids (Jawless Fish)......Page 373
Evolution of the Jaw......Page 375
Osteichthyes (Fish with Bony Skeletons)......Page 376
Arrival of the “Fishapods”......Page 378
Advent of Tetrapods......Page 380
Amniotes: Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals......Page 382
Land Plants......Page 384
Mass Extinctions......Page 386
Late Cambrian Extinctions......Page 387
Late Ordovician Extinctions......Page 388
End‐Permian Extinctions......Page 389
Chapter 13 Mesozoic Events......Page 394
The Breakup of Pangea......Page 395
Triassic and Jurassic......Page 396
Cretaceous (the “Chalk” Period)......Page 398
Mesozoic in Western North America......Page 399
Accretionary Tectonics: A Way to Grow......Page 400
Triassic Period: Volcanism, Orogenies, and Arizona’s Petrified Logs......Page 401
Historical Geology in Parks Zion National Park......Page 403
Jurassic Orogenies: Nevadan, Sevier, and Laramide......Page 404
Jurassic: Habitats for Marine Reptiles and Dinosaurs......Page 408
The Great Cretaceous Epicontinental Sea......Page 409
The Tethys Sea in Europe......Page 415
Historical Geology in Parks Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument......Page 416
Africa......Page 419
India......Page 420
Cretaceous Ocean Anoxic Events......Page 421
Cretaceous Internal Earth Events......Page 422
Chapter 14 Mesozoic Life......Page 426
Continents and Currents......Page 427
Cretaceous Cooling......Page 429
Marine Invertebrates—Back from the Brink......Page 430
“Age of the Ammonoids”......Page 431
Protistans......Page 434
The Rise of Modern Amphibians......Page 435
The Triassic‐Jurassic Extinction Event......Page 436
Theropods: Nature Raw with Tooth and Claw......Page 438
Historical Geology in Parks Dinosaur National Monument......Page 439
Lizard‐Hipped Quadrupedal Plant Eaters (The Saurischian Sauropodomorphs)......Page 443
Bird‐Hipped Plant‐Eaters (Ornithischians)......Page 447
Thyreophorans: Stegosaurs and Ankylosaurs......Page 448
Marginocephalia: Pachycephalosauria and Ceratopsia......Page 451
Dinosaurs: Cold-Blooded, Warm-Blooded, or Both?......Page 453
Permian and Triassic Gliders......Page 454
Dragons of the Sky: The Flying Pterosaurs......Page 455
Nothosaurs and Placodonts......Page 456
Ichthyosaurs......Page 457
The Rise of Modern Birds......Page 458
The Mammalian Vanguard......Page 460
Mammal Types......Page 462
Marine Phytoplankton......Page 463
Silicoflagellates and Diatoms......Page 464
Land Plants......Page 465
Gymnosperms......Page 466
The End-Cretaceous Catastrophe......Page 467
It Came from Outer Space......Page 468
Chicxulub Crater......Page 470
Environmental Change and the Mass Extinction......Page 471
Chapter 15 Cenozoic Events......Page 476
The Tectonics–Climate Connection......Page 477
Stability and Erosion Along the North American Eastern Margin......Page 479
Sediment and Mineral Wealth......Page 482
Remarkable Fossils......Page 484
Miocene Crustal Unrest......Page 485
Creating the Basin and Range Province......Page 486
Historical Geology in Parks Badlands National Park, South Dakota......Page 487
Columbia Plateau and Cascades Volcanism......Page 488
Sierra Nevada and California......Page 493
North of the Tethys......Page 494
Rifting Africa......Page 495
Semi‐tropical Antarctica......Page 496
Cenozoic Climates: Global Warming then Cooling......Page 497
Big Freeze: The Pleistocene Ice Age......Page 499
Pleistocene and Holocene Chronology......Page 501
Stratigraphy of Terrestrial Pleistocene Deposits......Page 502
Pleistocene Deep‐Sea Sediments......Page 503
Many Effects of Pleistocene Glaciation......Page 504
What Caused the Ice Age?......Page 507
Milankovitch Cycles......Page 508
Other Factors......Page 509
Chapter 16 Cenozoic Life......Page 514
Grasslands Expand, Mammals Respond......Page 516
Marine Invertebrates......Page 517
Corals and South Pacific Atolls......Page 518
Echinoderms, Bryozoans, Brachiopods, and Arthropoda......Page 519
Reptiles......Page 521
Birds......Page 522
Characteristics of Mammals......Page 525
Mammal Groups and Their Features......Page 527
Marsupials......Page 528
Insectivores......Page 529
Rodents......Page 530
Rabbits......Page 531
Bats......Page 532
Ungulates—Hoofed Animals......Page 533
Elephants and Kin......Page 541
Demise of the Pleistocene Giants......Page 547
Chapter 17 Human Origins......Page 552
Primate Characteristics......Page 553
Primate Taxonomy or What’s in a Name......Page 554
Anthropoidea......Page 555
Primate Beginnings......Page 556
Early Anthropoids......Page 559
Australopithecine Stage and the Emergence of Hominins......Page 561
Rich African Fossil Sites......Page 562
Genus Homo......Page 563
Homo Erectus Stage......Page 565
The Neandertals......Page 566
Little People of the South Pacific......Page 570
Beginnings of Recorded History......Page 571
Humans Arrive in the Americas......Page 572
Human Population: 7 Billion and Growing......Page 574
What Lies Ahead?......Page 575
Glossary......Page 577
Index......Page 587
EULA......Page 602