ConcepTest: Relative Layer Age #39

ConcepTest questions by David McConnell , David Steer , Walter Borowski, Jeffrey Dick, Annabelle Foos, Jeffrey Knott, Alvin Konigsberg, Michelle Malone, Heidi McGrew, Kathie Owens, and Stephen Van Horn
This material was originally created for Starting Point:Introductory Geology
and is replicated here as part of the SERC Pedagogic Service.

Question:

What principle would be the best to apply to determine the relative order in which rock units A and B in the image below were formed?

Tilted Layers 4
Image courtesy of USGS

a. Original horizontality
b. Cross-cutting relationships
c. Superposition

Student Responses:

No data yet. The correct response is b.

If you would like to help acquire more Before and After statistics for this example, please contact the authors (see link at top of page).

References and Notes: