Unit 5, Topic 2: Relative Age Vocabulary

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principles of relative dating

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the principles used to determine the relative ages of rocks and geologic events

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relative dating

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the process of determining the relative ages of rocks and geologic events without using absolute dates

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fossil

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remains of a plant or animal preserved in Earth's crust

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rock record

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the history of the Earth's past recorded in the layers of rocks

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relative age

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the order of events in time, without using absolute dates

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epoch

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a subdivision of a period characterized by distinctive fossils and rock formations

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era

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a larger division of geologic time made up of multiple periods

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Geologic Time Scale

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the record of geologic time

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period

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a major division of geologic time characterized by distinctive fossils and rock formations

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fossil record

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the information about Earth's history that can be gathered from fossils