Relative Age Principles
What does Superposition tell us?
The oldest rocks are on the bottom
How does Mass Extinction help scientists identify a rocks age?
If a species appears or disappears in a rock we can age the rock around when the mass extinction happened.
Put these terms in order from the most amount of time included to the smallest time unit.
Period, Eon, Epoch, Era
Eon, Era, Period, Epoch
What can you assume if you find an extinct fossil in one rock layer, and a fossil of a living animal in a rock layer in a different location?
The rock with the extinct layer is older.
What is this work book titled. (NO LOOKING)
Inspire Science - Earth and Space
What does Lateral Continuity tell us?
Sediments are deposited in large continuous sheets. The order remains the same even if there is a break.
What is the difference between absolute age and relative age?
Absolute age tells you the number of years, relative age compares to other rocks or features.
What is a Key Bed?
A rock layer from a historic event that is easily recognizable and used to mark time for the rocks around it.
What can you assume if you find a complex fossil in a rock layer?
It is a relatively younger layer of rock.
Create a possible test question. Use something we learned from this unit and create a question for it.
Answers will Vari
What principle tells us that most rock layers form in horizontal layers?
Original horizontality
What is the concept of correlation?
Matching rock types or fossils in one region to similar layers or fossils in another region.
What is an example of a geological event helping build a timeline?
The ash from a volcanic explosion creating a layer in the rocks.
Explain how you can use index fossils to tell the age of a rock layer.
If you find an index fossil, you can find when the species was alive. The rock has to have been made during the time that animal roamed the earth.
Who was the geologist that we talked to on Monday? What is one thing she taught us?
Dr. Anderson, answer may vari on what she taught us.
What principle tells us that if a rock contains pieces of another rock, the rock containing the pieces is younger than the peces.
Inclusions
James Hutton was the first scientist to suggest uniformitarianism. What does uniformitarianism tell us?
The geological processes found today are similar to those occurred in the past.
Which is not a Era from the Phanerozoic Eon.
Mesozoic
Paleozoic
Kernozoic
Cenozoic
Kernozoic
Which fossil makes a good index fossil?
A - Alive for 2 billion years. Lives in North America
B - Alive for 3,000 years. Found in Europe, Asia, and both America's.
C - Alive for 2,000 years. Found in Australia.
D - Alive for 9 million years. Found in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Australia.
B - Existed on earth for a short period of time, were abundant, and inhabited many locations.
Based on scientific findings, approximately how old is the earth?
4.6 Billion years
Draw a crosscutting relationship on your whiteboard. Label the oldest and youngest feature.
** the drawing must show the feature cutting across is younger that the feature it cuts.
What is the vocabulary word that describes multiple processes including rock eroding away, producing breaks, or gaps.
Unconformities
Label these sections 1-6 on each side (1 is he oldest) using correlation between rock type and fossil type.
___________ ______________
kkk(fossil1)kk mmm(fossil6)mm
_____________ ______________
mmmmmmmm gggg(fossil 2)ggg
_____________ _______________
fffffff(fossil 8)ff fffffffffffffffffffffffff
____________ ________________
pp(fossil4)pppp JJJJJJJ(fossil 4)JJJJJ
____________ _________________
wwwwwwwwwwwww
___________ ______________
kkk(fossil1)kk [6] [5] mmm(fossil6)mm
_____________ ______________
mmmmmmmm [5] [4] gggg(fossil 2)ggg
_____________ _______________
fffffff(fossil 8)ff [3] [3] fffffffffffffffffffffffff
____________ ________________
pp(fossil 4)ppp [1] [2] JJJJJ(fossil 9)JJJJJ
____________ _________________
[1] www(fossil 4)ww
Put these three layers of rocks from three different locations in relative order oldest to youngest. Explain why you put them in that order.
- Rock with complex still living organism
- Rock with simple still living organism
- Rock with complex extinct organism
- Rock with simple extinct organism
2 options, reasoning must match order.
Rock with simple extinct organism
Rock with simple still living organism
Rock with complex extinct organism
Rock with complex still living organism
OR
Rock with simple extinct organism
Rock with complex extinct organism
Rock with simple still living organism
Rock with complex still living organism
What is 3 things a geologist might do?
Descriptions, maps, and other data of earths history.
Dig up ground and fossils.
Set up historic displays.
Observe civilization.
Research historic data in labs.
Create models.
Present data and inform.