Types of Fossils
History of the Earth
Dating
Divisions of Time
Miscellaneous
100
Any naturally preserved evidence of animal activity is called a(n)
Trace Fossil
100
A principle that states that geologic change occurs suddenly
Catastrophism
100
Any method of determining whether an event or object is older or younger than other events or objects
Relative Dating
100
the standard method used to divide Earth's long natural history into manageable parts
Geologic Time Scale
100
the scientific study of fossils
Paleontology
200
A type of fossil that forms when sediments fill in the cavity left by a decomposed organism
Cast
200
A principle that geologic processes that occurred in the past can be explained by current geologic processes
Uniformitarianism
200
Any method of measuring the age of an event or object in years
Absolute dating
200
a unit of geologic time that includes two or more periods Examples include the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic
Era
200
fossils of organisms that lived for a relatively short, well-defined geologic time span, and are used to establish the age of a rock layer
Index fossil
300
a mark or cavity made in a sedimentary surface by a shell or other body
Mold
300
When James Hutton wrote Theory of the Earth in 1788, how old did most people believe Earth was?
10,000 years old
300
An ordered arrangement of rock layers that is based on the relative ages of the rocks in which the oldest rocks are at the bottom
Geologic Column
300
a unit of geologic time that is longer than an epoch but shorter than an era Examples: Devonian, Pennsylvanian, Cretaceous
Period
300
The fossil record shows that reptiles were once the dominant land animals on Earth. Today, which animals dominate Earth’s land surface?
Mammals
400
a type of trace fossil that is preserved animal dung
Coprolite
400
What brought the Paleozoic Era to an end?
A mass extinction
400
the time that it takes for half of the unstable atoms in a sample to decay is that _______________ of that type of unstable atom
Half life
400
the largest division of geologic time
Eon
400
Which era ended with the largest mass extinction in Earth’s history?
Paleozoic, 90% of all marine species were killed
500
a process in which minerals replace an organisms tissues
Petrification
500
The Mesozoic Era is know as the age of what
Reptiles
500
Name the two types of atoms used for absolute dating we discussed as examples that have specific half lives
Carbon-14 and Uranium-238
500
The era was known as the Age of the Mammals and began about 65 million years ago after the mass extinction
Cenozoic Era
500
Name one of the men who wrote about Earth's history and the theory they defended
James Hutton-Uniformitarianism Charles Lyell- Uniformitarianism Stephen J. Gould- argued both Uniformitarianism and some Catastrophic events occur
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