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Sekas Chapter 5
Chapter 5 Vocabulary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| relative age | the age of rocks and geologic features compared with other rocks and features nearby |
| superposition | the principle that in undisturbed rock layers, the oldest rocks are on the bottom |
| principle of original horizontality | the principle that rock-forming materials are deposited in horizontal layers |
| principle of lateral continuity | the principle that sediments are deposited in large, continuous sheets in all directions until they thin out or meet a barrier |
| inclusion | a piece of an older rock that becomes part of a new rock |
| principle of cross-cutting relationships | the principle that if one geologic feature cuts across another feature, the feature that it cuts across is older |
| unconformity | a surface where rock has eroded away, producing a break, or gap, in the rock record |
| correlation | matching rocks and fossils from separate locations |
| fossils | the preserved remains or evidence of ancient living things |
| index fossils | representatives of species that existed on Earth for a short length of time, were abundant, and inhabited many locations |
| absolute age | the numerical age, in years, of a rock or an object |
| atom | the smallest part of an element that has all the properties of the element |
| isotopes | atoms of the same element that have different numbers of neutrons |
| radioactive decay | the process by which an unstable element naturally changes into another element that is stable |
| half-life | the time required for half of the parent isotopes to decay into daughter isotopes |
| radiometric dating | the process by which scientists measure the amount of parent isotope and daughter isotope in a sample of material to determine its age |