Join us on our other sites!
  • Outspire
  • Hiking
  • Snowshoeing
    • Snowshoe FAQS
  • Bandelier
  • Geology
  • About Us & Santa Fe
    • About Santa Fe
    • Santa Fe Links
    • Outspire Blog
  • Rates&Reservations
    • Reservation form
    • Gift Certificates
  • Contact Us

Episode 3   Super - position

3/5/2021

0 Comments

 
So every deposit of sediment reflects the environment in which it was left.

Generally these deposits are in the shape of flat sheets called strata, or beds. Remember that sediment settles out of water, air, or ice as loose particles. Gravity spreads this material out into horizontal sheets.

Layers of sediment are separated from one another by bedding planes, which mark brief interruptions in deposition. Bedding planes give piles of sediment their characteristic layered or stratified look.

As sediment accumulates, older strata are buried under younger ones. Geologists say that the layers are superimposed upon one another, with the oldest at the bottom of the pile and the youngest at the top.

Look at this exposure of weakly-consolidated alluvial sediment. We may know nothing about the actual age of these layers, in years-ago, but we can literally see the relative time order in which they accumulated. The arrows mark the bedding planes between the stacked layers of clastic sediment.
Picture
The Principle of Superposition is the fundamental "law" of stratified sediment. In an undisturbed sequence of layered sediment, each layer is younger than the one below it, and older than the one above it.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Outspire Blog | Inspiration from the Outdoors

    What we've been seeing around Santa Fe and northern New Mexico on our hikes.

    Archives

    March 2021
    February 2021
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    September 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    September 2012
    April 2012
    January 2012
    September 2011
    August 2011
    May 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011

    Categories

    All
    Animals
    Birds
    Man & Nature
    New Mexico Geology
    News & Events
    Plants

    RSS Feed

    NetworkedBlogs
    Blog:
    Outspire Blog
    Topics:
    Nature, New Mexico Outdoors, Santa Fe Hiking
     
    Follow my blog
Outspire Hiking and Snowshoeing

Check our Facebook page to
see what's happening now!

Tours

Day Hikes
Special Tours
Snowshoeing

Santa Fe

About Santa Fe
Santa Fe Links

Outspire blog

Outspire

Contact Us
About Outspire
Rates & Reservations
Gift Certificates
  • TripAdvisor
#1  for Santa Fe Outdoor Activities
#1 for Santa Fe Tours
Guides are members of Santa Fe Professional Tour Guides LLC