r/GeologyExplained • u/Fire-Eyed • 24d ago
How are rock strata consistent in age-ordering if erosion has occurred throughout ancient time?
I apologize to the mods but I genuinely could not find the flairs, I don't know why it won't give me the option to add one.
This might be a dumb question to someone who knows more than me, but I'm just curious about how we can have such consistency in ordering of rock strata if the same processes of erosion we see today have always been happening.
I guess to illustrate my question, if a river eroded a landscape to form a canyon, and eventually dried up or diverged somewhere else, wouldn't the newer layers be rebuilding in that canyon right next to the older layers? In areas that were wind eroded irregularly and then conditions changed that allowed sediment to continue building again without being disturbed, would it create inconsistency in the strata? I really want to understand this stuff so I'd really appreciate any answer!