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Unit 2 Chapter 3
Fossils and Relative Age
Definition | Term |
---|---|
A scientist who studies fossils. | Paleontologist |
Remains, imprints, or traces of prehistoric organisms. | Fossil |
Fossils in which the spaces inside are filled with minerals from groundwater. | Permineralized Remains |
Thin film of carbon residue preserved as a fossil. | Carbon Film |
A type of body fossil that forms in rock when an organism with hard parts is buried, decays, or disolves, and leaves a cavity in the rock. | Mold |
A type of body fossil that forms when crystals fill a mold or sediments wash into a mold and harden into rock. | Cast |
Remains of species that existed on Earth for a relatively short period of time, were abundant and widespread geographically, and can be used by geologists to assign the ages of rock layers. | Index Fossil |
States that in undisturbed rock layers, the oldest rocks are on the bottom and the rocks become progressively younger toward the top. | Principle of Superposition |
The age of something compared with other things. | Relative Age |
Gap in the rock layer that is due to erosion or periods without any deposition. | Unconformity |
Age, in years, of a rock or other object. | Absolute Age |
The preservation of an organisms soft parts for thousands or millions of years in amber, tar, or ice. | Original Remains |
Fossilized tracks or other evidence of the activity of organisms. | Trace Fossils |