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9 votes

How old is Steptoe Butte (WA, USA)?

Without directly knowing anything about WA geology myself, you're dealing with two ages here: the age the rock deposited as a sandstone (protolith age, 1.4-1.5 Ga), and the age of metamorphism (400 Ma)...
desander's user avatar
  • 415
6 votes
Accepted

Predicting rock type from seismic processing

This is a ginormous question; a complete answer is probably worth an MSc in exploration geophysics. But I can try to give some pointers for places to find out more. Preface: in general, considering ...
Matt Hall's user avatar
  • 11k
5 votes

What are these geological horizontal lines formed on this mountain called and why they are formed?

Just to add on this point from the comments: But this mount is the only mouth with this kind of formation in local mountain range First, the image on the mountain's Wikipedia page clearly shows that ...
Gimelist's user avatar
  • 23.1k
4 votes

How was the onset of the Cambrian period dated?

Fossils are only in very rare cases dated directly, because they do not contain sufficient radioactive isotopes for dating. Most geological periods are first and foremost defined by biostratigraphy- ...
Geochron's user avatar
  • 851
4 votes
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How are stratigraphic limits defined before the Phanerozoic?

The standard stratigraphic nomenclature is a chronostratigraphic system based on palaeontological intervals of time defined by recognised fossil assemblages. That's wikipedia for you. This is ...
David Hammen's user avatar
  • 23.9k
4 votes
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Relative dating of intrusion

It does seem like it's impossible to know unless you have additional information. However, I think there is a hint in there. See this white halo around the intrusion? My guess (and I could be wrong ...
Gimelist's user avatar
  • 23.1k
3 votes

What did tunnel digging teach us about the formation of chains of mountains?

Tunnels have provided nothing more than what was learned from conventional geological drilling and surface mapping. Tunnels provide supplemental information. Very rarely do they provide "make or break"...
Fred's user avatar
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3 votes
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Can we call the Precambrian eons (i.e. Archaic and Proterozoic) eras?

It is and is not an an error depending on how it is used. They are Eons but in older literature they were also, sort of, eras as the Eons were not subdivided as they are now. Especially in literature ...
John's user avatar
  • 7,026
3 votes
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Boundary problems in stratigraphy

I believe what is being referred to here is the problem of determining where, in a continuous deposition sequence, a particular geologic time transition occurs. If you have uniform depositional ...
verisimilidude's user avatar
3 votes

How is geological time divided into units?

The divisions in the geologic time scale have evolved over time. Its origins can be traced back to Nicolaus Steno in 1669 described two basic geologic principles. The first stated that sedimentary ...
Earth Science Expatriate's user avatar
3 votes

Methods and Software for Interpolating/Modelling of Stratigraphic Well Data in 2D/3D

I believe that Leapfrog 3D will do this. They have academic licenses. I also seem to recall that Intrepid Geomodeller does what you are after. Both of these options are probably overkill though.
stevej's user avatar
  • 1,044
3 votes

Methods and Software for Interpolating/Modelling of Stratigraphic Well Data in 2D/3D

OpendTect may do this, however getting to that stage would be a painful experience. Petrel can do this very easily, however, that is not anywhere near free... If you're a student, your department ...
Coastal's user avatar
  • 146
3 votes

There is soil in Archean?

I don't totally understand what you are asking but yes there was soil in the Archean. In some locations around the world, these soils were buried and preserved as paleosols. The Archean paleosols are ...
haresfur's user avatar
  • 4,419
3 votes
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What are the key elements defining the separation between Jurassic and Cretaceous?

Short answer, there isn't one. The J-K boundary does not have a well defined fingerprint or marker, because of this it is in flux with different studies constantly offering to tweek or redefine its ...
John's user avatar
  • 7,026
3 votes
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Stratigraphy of limestone applied to the Great Pyramid of Giza

Theoretically? Maybe! Practically? No. Identifying the general quarry site by comparing lithology is often possible. It might be possible to identify a block as coming from a particular level in a ...
Andy M's user avatar
  • 2,090
3 votes
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If dinosaurs lived in cities, would we be able to find traces?

"Lack of evidence is not evidence of lack." That said, there is no evidence of any intelligent civilization prior to humanity. If dinosaurs, or for that matter, some other species, had ...
David Hammen's user avatar
  • 23.9k
2 votes

What is the time period of these chalk/clay layers?

The layers correspond to thousands of years, i.e. 23,000 years in the Danien timeline: The page sais that there is a variation of 23,000 for precession of the equinoxes and 100,000 for variation of ...
bandybabboon's user avatar
  • 1,349
2 votes

What does the term "founder" in "load and founder structure" mean in sedimentary geology?

If we look at definitions online, at Merriam-Webster online we find this as one of the options: 3: to become submerged: SINK This would seem to coincide with the usage in a geological context from the ...
justCal's user avatar
  • 1,185
2 votes
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What methods do geologists employ to detemine the age of a petroleum deposit?

Crude oil is a product of partial degradation of organic matter, e.g. of plants that lived long time ago. During photosynthesis, they constantly incorporate carbon (from $\ce{CO2}$) to accumulate ...
Buttonwood's user avatar
2 votes
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Will a new glacial age take place on Earth or Holocene will become a new climatic epoch?

The reason the Holocene began about 12000 years ago was because that was when Northern Hemisphere summers were hot but short. Those hot summers started a melting process. Right now, July is when the ...
David Hammen's user avatar
  • 23.9k
1 vote

How does a sepiolite deposit form?

Perhaps I am completely wrong, this is kindof a guess: Sepiolite happens in clay regions like those produced by ice age glacial activity from orogeny. If there are great lakes with high clay contents, ...
bandybabboon's user avatar
  • 1,349
1 vote

What methods do geologists employ to detemine the age of a petroleum deposit?

They microscopically examine drill debris to determine if they are in the target formation , typically coral/marine shells. This is not done for all wells but for exploratory and step-out wells ( ...
blacksmith37's user avatar
  • 1,043
1 vote

Have we looked for human-like signals in the geological record?

Any nuclear activity would be visible in the changes of the isotope ratios far longer than the existence of our Universe. Nothing was found until now, except one in Gabon. It was natural phenomenon: ...
peterh's user avatar
  • 670
1 vote

What are the key elements defining the separation between Jurassic and Cretaceous?

No great extinction or burst of diversity separated the Cretaceous from the Jurassic Period that had preceded it. If there are no strong elements, some key feature are: flower plants diatoms in ...
Stephane Rolland's user avatar

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