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RMS 6 Geologic Time
RMS 6th Grade Science
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| atmosphere | the gaseous portion of the planet |
| radiometric dating | a complex procedure for calculation the absolute ages of rocks |
| eon | the largest time unit on the geologic time scale |
| era | a major division on the geologic time scale that is a subdivision of an eon |
| igneous rock | a rock formed by the solidification of molten magma (melting and cooling) |
| glaciation | covered with or affected by a glacier |
| Precambrian | all geologic time prior to the Phanerozoic Eon |
| Pangaea | proposed supercontinent which began to break apart 200 million years ago and formed the present land masses |
| period | a basic unit of the geologic time scale that is a subdivision of an era |
| Phanerozoic | the part of geologic time represented by rocks containing abundant fossil evidence |
| fossils | the remains or traces of organisms preserved from the geologic past |
| plate tectonics | the theory which proposes that Earth's outer shell consists of large, individiual pieces that interact in various ways |
| paleontologist | a scientist who studies fossils and the history of life on Earth |
| relative dating | a form of dating by placing rocks in their proper sequence |
| geologic time scale | the division of Earth's history into blocks of time |