Earths History Review

Fossils: Preserved ___________________ or traces of organisms that lived in the past.

- Fossils tell us what organisms occupied an area, provides species identification, and tell
us about the _________________________.
o Preserved fossils: parts/entire organism prevented from decaying by being trapped
in rock, ice, tar, or amber.
o ____________________________: sediments bury an organism and turn to rock.
Organism decays leaving a cavity shaped like it.
o Trace fossils: Mud or sand hardens to stone where _______________________,
tracks, or burrows were left behind.
- Index fossils: useful in finding the relative age of rock layers and other fossils found in
the same place. Index fossil criteria:
o ________________________________________________________________
o Many fossils must be found in rock layers
o ________________________________________________________________
Ice Cores: tube ice samples that contain _________________________________ evidence
accumulated over thousands of years. Ice cores tell us:
- Timeline of earths past
- Atmospheric changes through trapped air. Big one is ____________________________
levels.
- Other gases, bacteria, dust, pollen, ash can also be trapped
- Temperature changes
- _____________________________________
Sedimentary Rock: ______________ of Earths surface that forms when sand, mud, or
sediment collect.
- Different levels of sedimentary rock help to give an understanding of Earths history
o ___________________ through levels of gases and chemical composition of
rocks
o Biological through types of plants and animals preserved
o Geologic through how the rocks have changed through ____________________
___________________
Igneous Rock: Forms from _________________ from volcanos or magma intrusions
- Can disturb sedimentary layers. Moves ________________________ through layers
Metamorphic Rock: Sedimentary or igneous rock transformed by extreme heat and pressure
Fault: Break in Earths crust formed from movement on either side of the fault. Occur when
tectonic plates move.
___________________________: Series of vibrations caused by sudden movements of crust
Geologic Time Scale: record of major and diversity of life forms in Earths history.
- Begins with Earths creation until present
- ____________________________________ at the end of each era
- Created from fossil record in which diversity and complexity of life increases with time.

Relative Age/Dating: Age of one object compared to the age of another; not an exact age.
- Two methods: ______________________________________________________
Law of Superposition: In undisturbed
layers, rocks on bottom are _____________
and rocks near the surface are younger.
- Each rock layer is deposited on top
of other layers
- Rock/fossil is older when
_____________________ in layers
Intrusions: occurs when magma comes up from the
and cuts through layers.
- Intrusions will be _________________ than
the layers around it but older than layers it
does not cut through. Faults are also like this.

bottom

Absolute Age/Dating: radioactive dating used to

find the _________________ age of rock layers or
fossils.
Radioactive dating: when rocks and fossils form, radioactive elements are trapped inside.
- Radioactive elements decay at a predictable rate called __________________________
- Dating done by measuring amount of radioactive elements left and comparing it to stable
elements.
o _____________________: half-life 5730 years. Used to date relatively short time
o Uranium 238: half-life ___________________________. Used to date long time
periods