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Concept
Cross-cutting relationships
Summary
Cross-cutting relationships is a principle of geology that states that the geologic feature which cuts another is the younger of the two features. It is a relative dating technique in geology. It was first developed by Danish geological pioneer Nicholas Steno in Dissertationis prodromus (1669) and later formulated by James Hutton in Theory of the Earth (1795) and embellished upon by Charles Lyell in Principles of Geology (1830).
There are several basic types of cross-cutting relationships:
Structural relationships may be faults or fractures cutting through an older rock.
Intrusional relationships occur when an igneous pluton or dike is intruded into pre-existing rocks.
Stratigraphic relationships may be an erosional surface (or unconformity) cuts across older rock layers, geological structures, or other geological features.
Sedimentological relationships occur where currents have eroded or scoured older sediment in a local area to produce, for example, a channel filled with sand.
Paleontological relationships occur where the animal activity or plant growth produces truncation. This happens, for example, when animal burrows penetrate into pre-existing sedimentary deposits.
Geomorphological relationships may occur where a surficial feature, such as a river, flows through a gap in a ridge of rock. In a similar example, an impact crater excavates into a subsurface layer of rock.
Cross-cutting relationships may be compound in nature. For example, if a fault were truncated by an unconformity, and that unconformity cut by a dike. Based upon such compound cross-cutting relationships it can be seen that the fault is older than the unconformity which in turn is older than the dike. Using such rationale, the sequence of geological events can be better understood.
Cross-cutting relationships may be seen cartographically, megascopically, and microscopically. In other words, these relationships have various scales. A cartographic crosscutting relationship might look like, for example, a large fault dissecting the landscape on a large map.
Official source
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