Numerical Dating in Stratigraphy, 1 and 2

Geology is a historical science, and geologists always have been fascinated with deciphering complex geologic histories by unraveling the relations of rock units where ages were established by fossils or, more recently, by isotopic dating methods. The most direct way to date stratified rocks is by measuring the ages of authigenic minerals in sedimentary rocks. This approach, however, is fraught with such problems as the presence of detrital minerals, the determination of whether authigenic minerals formed at the same time as accumulation of the sedimentary rocks, and whether suitable minerals for age measurements are present. This new book shows that although there has been significant progress, the problems of directly dating sedimentary rocks by isotopic methods persist.