GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -The principle of cross-cutting relationships states that a fault or intrusion is younger than the rocks that it cuts. The fault labeled ‘E’ cuts through all three sedimentary rock layers (A, B, and C) and also cuts through the intrusion (D). So the fault must be the youngest formation that is seen.

Detailed explanation-2: -A fault is a break in Earth’s crust. A fault is always younger than’ the rock it cuts through. The surface where new rock layers meet a much older rock surface beneath them is called an unconformity.

Detailed explanation-3: -An example of this is given in Figure 8.7, which shows three different sedimentary layers. The lower sandstone layer is disrupted by two faults, so we can infer that the faults are younger than that layer.

Detailed explanation-4: -The layers in order are Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, (Mississippian and Pennsylvanian), Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Tertiary, and Quaternary. Sedimentary rock is the type of rock in which fossils are most likely to form.

Detailed explanation-5: -Therefore, fault is older than rock layer D because it contains fossils from an older time period.