People
Layers of Rocks
Types of Rocks
Fossils
Vocabulary
100

Who was the person who lived on a farm in Scotland who discovered the rock layers?

James Hutton

100

Where is the oldest layer of rock located?

At the bottom.

100

Rocks that have solidified from lava or magma.

Igneous

100

Ancient marine arthropods that existed from the Cambrian to the end of the Permian period, roughly 524 to 252 million years ago.

Trilobite

100

The remains or traces of ancient living things.

Fossils

200

Who was William Smith?

Primary contribution to geological time was the principle of faunal succession (or fossil succession), which states that fossils can be used to correlate rock layers across different locations.

200

What is the difference between relative and absolute dating?

Relative dating determines the age of an object in comparison to other objects. 

Absolute dating is its true age.

200

Rocks that have formed from sediment deposited by water or air.

sedimentary

200

Ancient marine arthropods, often called "living fossils," that are not true crabs or crustaceans but are more closely related to spiders and scorpions.

Horseshoe crab

200

Times when many species on Earth died or became extinct in a short period of time.

Mass extinctions

300

Who came up with  the theory revolves around the concept of uniformitarianism, which posits that the Earth's features have been shaped by ongoing physical processes.

Charles Lyell

300

What is the relationship between the Earth's layers and rock layers?

Rock layers, specifically sedimentary rock layers, are part of the Earth's crust and can be used to understand the geological history of the Earth.

300

Rock that has undergone transformation by heat.

Metamorphic

300

Marine animals belonging to the phylum Echinodermata and the class Crinoidea.

Crinoid

300

A break or gap in the rock record.

Unconformities

400

Who is known as the "Father of Geochronology" for his groundbreaking work in developing the first quantitative geological timescale

Arthur Holmes

400

How do rock layers form?

When small pieces of rocks and minerals, called sediments, are carried and deposited in layers over long periods of time

400

A fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash.

Slate

400

A unique order of lobe-finned fish, known for their ancient lineage and distinctive features.

Coelacanths

400

A distinctive and widespread layer of rock or sediment that serves as a marker horizon.

key bed

500

Who established that sedimentary rocks are deposited in layers, with the oldest layers at the bottom and younger layers on top?

Nicolaus Steno

500

What are some geological events that can affect rock layers?

Plate tectonics, which can cause folding, faulting, and uplift; weathering and erosion, which break down rocks.

500

A volcanic rock that consists of extremely vesicular, rough-textured volcanic glass, which may or may not contain crystals.

Pumice

500

A deciduous tree so ancient that it is commonly known as a “living fossil”; it is the last remaining species of a primitive family of plants.

Ginkgo

500

They developed a model of Earth's history from its 4.6 billion years ago to the present is called.

Geologic time scale