Science Chapter 6: Fossil Record

Hello everyone and welcome to my science Project

Chapter 6: Fossil Record

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The Fossil Record consist of 11 periods

Chapter summary:

In this chapter there are five sections that cover the basis of paleontology and the studies of fossils.

Section 1: Earth’s Story and Those  Who First Listened

Vocabulary :

Uniformitarianism: A principle that states that geologic processes that occurred in the past can be explained by current geologic processes

Catastrophism: A principle that states that geologic changes occurs suddenly

Paleontology:  The scientific  study of fossils

Section 2: Relative Dating: Which Came First?

Vocabulary:

Relative Dating: Any method of determining whether an event or object is older or  younger than other events or objects

Superposition: A principle that states that younger rocks lie above older rocks if the layers have not been disturbed

Geologic column:  An arrangement of rock layers in which the oldest rocks are at the bottom

Unconformity: A break in the geologic record created when rock layers are eroded or when sediment is not deposited for a long period of time

Spotlight:

Types of Unconformities:

There is three types of unconformities in geology. These include disconformities,nonconformities,and angular unconformities. Disconformities are the most common  and are found when a parallel layer of soil is missing. Also disconformities represent thousands to millions of years of missing time. Nonconformities represent millions ofyears of  missing time and are found when a horizontal soil layer is gone.  Angular unconformities  represent millions of years of missing time and are found when layers that had been tilted or folded.

Section 3: Absolute Dating: A measure of Time

Protium, Deuterium, and Tritium have the same number of Protons(P) but a different number of Neutrons(N)

Absolute dating: Any method of measuring the age of any event or object in years

isotope: An atom that has the same number of protons (or the same atomic number) as other atoms of the same element do but that has a different number of neutrons (and thus a different atomic mass)

Radioactive decay: The process in wich a radioactive isotope tends to break down into a stable isotope  of the same element or another element

Radiometric dating: A method of determining the age of an object by estimating the relative percentages  of a radioactive (parent) isotope and a stable (daughter) isotope

Half-life: The time needed for half of a sample of a radioactive substance to undergo radioactive decay

Spotlight:

Types of Radiometric dating

There are four types of radiometric dating,these include:

Potassium-Argon  Method

Uranium-Lead Method

Rubidium-Strontium Method

Carbon-14 Method

Section 4: Looking at Fossils

Vocabulary:

Fossil: The trace or remains

Quote about the fossil record: “The phrase ‘the fossil record’ sounds impressive and authoritative. As used by some persons it becomes, as intended, intimidating, taking on the aura of esoteric truth as expounded by an elite class of specialists. But what is it, really, this fossil record? Only data in search of interpretation. All claims to the contrary that I know, and I know of several, are so much superstition.”
― Gareth J. Nelson

 Chapter 5: Time Marches On

Vocabulary:

Geologic time scale: The  standard method used to divide the Earth’s long natural history into manageable parts

Eon:  The largest division of geologic time

Era: A unit of geologic time that includes two or more periods

Period: A unit of geologic time into which eras are divided

Epoch: A subdivision of a geologic period

Extinction: The death of every member of a species

Spotlight:

The Geologic Time Scale (Eon)

Hadean Eon

Archean Eon

Proterozoic Eon

Phanerozoic  Eon

One More Quote to finish this of (Quote of today):

“But just in proportion as this process of extermination has acted on an enormous scale, so must the number of intermediate varieties, which have formerly existed, be truly enormous. Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and serious objection which can be urged against the theory. The explanation lies, as I believe, in the extreme imperfection of the geological record.”
― Charles DarwinThe Origin of Species

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