Fossils & Geological Time

Used to describe the timing and relationships between events that have occurred throughout Earth's history

• absolute age

• Law of Superposition

• classification

• geologic time scale

A geological time that is a subdivision of an eon. It is divided into periods. Examples are Cenozoic, Mesozoic, and Paleonzoic

• eon

• era

• period

• epoch

A time scale- 2 or more of these form an era (it is shorter than an era). It cross-references rocks and geological events.

• stratigraphy

• eon

• era

• period

The most recent era of geologic time, from 65 million years ago to the present.

• Paleozoic

• Triassic

• Cambrian

• Cenozoic

A preserved remain of an organism that gives us a history of the Earth.

• geologist

• stratigraphy

• fossil

• epoch

States that in any undisturbed sequence of rocks deposited in layers, the youngest layer is on top and the oldest on bottom.

• stratigraphy

• classification

• Law of Superposition

• paleontology

A person who studies fossils.

• paleontologist

• dinosaurologist

• neurologist

• oceanologist

Noting or pertaining to the earliest era of earth history, ending 570 million years ago, during which the earth's crust formed and life first appeared in the seas.

• cenozoic time

• mesozoic time

• paleozoic time

• precambrian time

How old do Paleontologists believe the Earth is?

• 2015 years old
• 3.6 billion years old
• 4.6 billion years old
• 4.6 million years old

What type of rock do fossils form in?

• Igneous
• Sedimentary
• Metamorphic
• Classic