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Fossil Record
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Abiotic | Non-living factors such as erosion, wind and sun exposure |
| Benthic | Living at the bottom of the ocean or on the floor |
| Biological | Living factors such as decomposers, scavengers and predators |
| Body Fossil | Body parts of organisms that become fossil such as bones, teeth,skin,leaves,tree trunks |
| Cast | casts are formed when sediment leaks into a mold and hardens to form a copy of the original structure |
| Compression | Fossils formed when organism is flattened (compressed), leaving a dark stain in the rock |
| Coprolite | Fossilized feces |
| Decomposer | An organism that breaks down the tissue and/or structures of dead organism |
| Erosion | Weathering or wearing away of rock and earth (and any fossils they contain) caused by wind,sun,and/or water |
| Fossil | The natural remains or traces of past life. Something is considered to be a fossil if it is at least 10,000 years old |
| Fossil Record | ALL of the fossils that have existed throughout life's history,whether they have been found or not |
| Groundwater | Water found underground as a result of rainfall, ice and snow melt, submerged rivers, lakes,and springs |
| Ichnology | The study of trace fossils |
| Igneous Rock | Type of rock produces when molten magma (lava) cools and solidifies |
| Ingorganic | Not containing carbon. Not from living things. Ex., mineral |
| Impression | Fossilized prints or marks made by a living thing. leaf prints, skin prints and footprints are good exaples |
| Intertidal | the coastle zone between the low and high tide mark where waves impact the land |
| Metamorphic | Rock produced when any type of rock is changed by heat, pressure, and chemical activity in the earth |
| MIneralization | The process whereby living material is replaced with minerals |
| Mold | The impression of an organisms left behind in the rock |
| Palentology | The study of life in the past |
| Palentologists | Are people who study fossils and other types of evidence to learn about life in the past |
| Rock cycle | The process through which one type of rock is converted into another |
| Scavenger | An organism that feeds on dead and dying organisms |
| Sedimentary | Rock that is formed when layers of small particles are compressed together |
| Trace fossils | Evidence left by organisms sucha as burrows, imprints, coprolites, or footprints |
| Uplift | The process that cures part of the earth's crust torise above surroundingd areas. This can cause layers of rock to become exposed at the surface |