What are the principles of relative dating?

Relative Dating Principles 1: Lower strata are older than those lying on top of them. Principle of Superposition: In an otherwise undisturbed sequence of sedimentary strata, or rock layers, the layers on the bottom are the oldest and layers above them are younger.

How can you tell if a fault is older or younger than the rock layers it is in?

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.

What is an intrusion intrusions are always younger than what?

There, the magma cools and hardens into a mass of igneous rock called an intrusion. An intrusion is always younger than the rock layers around and beneath it.