Fossils and Earth Structures Chp. 8

What is a fossil?

• any dead organism

• a perfect copy of a rock

• an unusual type of rock

• the preserved remains or traces of an organism

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The law of superposition states that, in horizontal layers of sedimentary rock, each layer is

• always older than any vertical layers

• older than the layer above it and younger than the layer below it

• neither older nor younger than the other layers

• younger than the layer above it and older than the layer below it

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How do most fossils form?

• Freezing preserves the remains of an organism

• Living things die and their remains are buried by sediments

• The hard parts of an organism dry out in the air

• The soft parts of an organism change to stone

The relative age of a rock is

• its age based on how much carbon-14 the rock contains

• its age compared to the ages of other rocks

• less than the age of the fossils the rock contains

• the number of years since the rock formed

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The fossil record show that life on Earth has changed over time. For example, paleontologists have found that older rocks contain fossils of

• organisms that are simpler than those alive today

• organisms that are more complex than those alive today

• only organisms that are alive today

• both simple and complex organisms

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Which type of fossil can provide clues about the activities of ancient organisms?

• molds and casts

• carbon films

• trace fossils

• petrified fossils

The process by which all the different kinds of living things have changed over long periods of time is called

• sedimentation

• deposition

• replacement

• evolution

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A fossil formed when minerals replace all or part of an organism is called a

• petrified fossil

• trace fossil

• mold

• cast

The fossils of organisms that were widely distributed but only lived during a short period of time are called

• carbon film fossils

• index fossils

• petrified fossils

• trace fossils

Why are index fossils useful to geologists?

• They tell the relative age of the rock in which they occur

• They tell the age of the rock at one location only

• They tell the ages of many different rock layers

• They tell the absolute age of the rock in which they occur

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