Question

Which principle is used to determine the age of rocks by ordering them from oldest on the bottom to the youngest on the top?

a) Law of Faunal Succession
b) Law of Cross-Cutting Relationships
c) Law of Superposition
d) Law of Original Horizontality

Answer 1

law of superposition, a major principle of stratigraphy stating that within a sequence of layers of sedimentary rock, the oldest layer is at the base and that the layers are progressively younger with ascending order in the sequence.

Answer 2

The principle that determines the age of rocks with the oldest layers at the bottom and the youngest at the top is known as the Law of Superposition.

Step-by-step explanation:

The principle used to determine the age of rocks by ordering them from oldest at the bottom to the youngest at the top is the Law of Superposition. This principle was first proposed by Nicolas Steno in 1669 and is a fundamental concept in relative dating techniques used by geologists. According to the Law of Superposition, in a sequence of undisturbed sedimentary rocks, the oldest layers are at the bottom, and the layers become progressively younger toward the top. This principle helps geologists and paleontologists to understand the chronological order of geological and fossil events as they appear in the strata.