The Elements of Geology; Adapted to the Use of Schools and Colleges

by Justin R. Loomis

SECTION VII.—THE TIME NECESSARY FOR THE FORMATION OF THE STRATIFIED ROCKS.

There are no means of which the geologist can avail himself to determine the antiquity of the earth, or the amount of time since the sedimentary deposits commenced. But a nigh degree of antiquity may yet be shown.

The materials for all the stratified rocks have been obtained by the destruction of previously solidified igneous rocks. This destruction may have been accomplished in part by the operation of volcanic forces, but much of it is the result of slow disintegration, and of the eroding power of running water; and we can scarcely conceive of a period sufficiently protracted for such results.

This conclusion of the high antiquity of the earth is confirmed by observing that the stratified rocks consist of layers often not thicker than sheets of paper, and probably not averaging the tenth of an inch; and yet each layer is separate from the rest, in consequence of some change in the conditions under which it was deposited. Each layer was probably produced by the deposition of all the sediment furnished at one time, and hence only as many layers would be formed in a year as the number of freshets in the rivers which furnished the materials. If we consider the fossiliferous and metamorphic rocks to be each forty thousand feet in thickness,—which is not too large an estimate,—we must reckon the years by hundreds of thousands to make the time sufficiently extended for the result.

All the formations of any considerable extent now above the surface of the sea existed before the creation of man, for none of them contain any evidence of the existence of human beings; and if they had existed while these strata were forming, sufficient evidence would have been left of the fact, either in the form of fossilized human bones, or of works of human art. Hence, whatever be the estimate which we form of the antiquity of the earth, from the slowness of denudation, or from the thickness of the strata, we must now add to that estimate the period elapsed since the creation of the human species.

We have seen that at different periods of the earth’s history different species of animals inhabited it. We are unable to fix with accuracy the ordinary duration of species. But the species which are now extinct probably had an existence as long-continued as will be enjoyed by species now living. Many recent species are known to have existed at least nearly six thousand years, without, in most cases, any indications of their soon becoming extinct. Whatever period be assigned as the ordinary duration of species, that period has been several times repeated; for the earth has been several times re-peopled, and every time by species which had not before existed.

Moreover, the amount of organic matter in the strata must have required long periods of time for its accumulation. The vegetable deposits, now converted into coal, are generally several feet thick, and often over a hundred feet, and are known to extend over several thousand square miles, both in this country and in Europe. Many of the sedimentary rocks consist almost entirely of animal remains. The mountain limestone, for instance, is eight hundred feet or more in thickness, and in some places consists of the exuviæ of encrinites and testacea.

In other cases the length of time required is shown, not from the amount of organic remains, but from the evidence that they were deposited very slowly. The polishing stone called tripoli is found in beds of ten or twelve feet in thickness, and is composed entirely of the siliceous shells of animalcules, so minute that, according to the estimate of Ehrenberg, the number in a cubic inch is forty-one billions. Several other rocks, such as semi-opal and flint, are sometimes found to have a similar constitution. The time necessary for the accumulation of beds several feet thick by the shells of animalcules so minute must have been very great.

Each of these facts carries us back to a period immeasurably anterior to the creation of man, as the epoch when the sedimentary deposits commenced. There are no facts in geology which point to a different conclusion. It is of the utmost importance to the geological student to familiarize himself with this principle. It will assist him in comprehending the greatness of geological changes, and in applying other principles in explanation of geological phenomena.

This principle, so obvious to any one who allows himself to reason from the facts which geology presents, has sometimes been regarded as at variance with the Mosaic account of the creation. And if this account really assigns an antiquity to the earth of not more than six thousand years, the difficulty exists.