History Of Life:Fossil Formations Flashcards
(17 cards)
What is sedimentation?
Sedimentation refers to the process of death and burial of organisms, leading to fossil formation.
What are the two methods used to determine the age of fossil rocks?
The two methods are Relative dating and Radiometric dating.
What is Relative dating?
Relative dating determines the age of a fossil by its relation to another fossil or geological event.
What does Relative dating tell us?
It tells us whether a fossil was formed before or after another fossil or geological event.
What is Radiometric dating?
Radiometric dating attempts to determine how many years ago a fossil was formed.
What does Radiometric dating provide as an answer?
It provides the age of the fossil in ‘years’ rather than ‘before’ or ‘after’.
What is a fossil?
Fossils are the remains of once living things that are usually preserved in rock.
What does a paleontologist do?
A paleontologist is a scientist who is interested in uncovering the history of the Earth by studying fossils.
What is a paleoanthropologist?
A paleoanthropologist is a paleontologist who specializes in studying human fossils.
What is sedimentary rock?
A rock formed from the layers of mud, sand, salt, pebbles, or carbonate in a river, lake, sea, or desert.
What does transitional mean in the context of fossils?
Transitional refers to a stage between one form and another.
What are the steps in how fossils form?
- Sediment 2. Layers 3. Movement 4. Erosion
How are fossils protected from rotting?
An animal is buried by sediment such as volcanic ash or silt, shortly after it dies.
What is petrification?
The process by which the remains of organisms are replaced by silica or calcium and turned into stone.
What happens to fossils during erosion?
Erosion from rain, rivers, and wind wears away the remaining rock layers, eventually exposing the preserved remains.
What are some examples of fossils?
Tracks (footprints), hardened faeces of animals, petrified tree trunks, imprints of leaves and small animals.
What are examples of fossils that occur in tar and ice?
Fossils of woolly mammoth (ice), pits of tar containing bones of sabre-toothed cats, and some insects.
