Earth History Vocabulary

....is a chart that divides Earth’s

history into different time

units.

represent species that existed on Earth for a short

length of time, were abundant, and inhabited many

locations.

numerical age, in

years, of a rock or object

age of rocks and geologic features compared

with other nearby rocks and features.

Surface where rock has eroded away, producing

a break, or gap, in the rock record

idea that conditions and organisms on Earth

change in quick, violent events

The mineralized remains of organisms, showing how long-dead organisms lived and how their bodies were structured

piece of an older rock that becomes a part of a

new rock

impression of an organism

in a rock

Principle that in undisturbed rock layers

position the oldest rocks on the bottom, the

newer rocks on the top