Interpreting the Rock Record Practice

Front

What is the order of rock layers from oldest to youngest?

Back

E, B, C, D, A

Front

True or False: Evidence of erosion is typically shown as a squiggly line in rock layers.

Back

True

Front

What is the difference between absolute age and relative age?

Back

Only absolute dating finds the age in years.

Front

What is the half-life of iodine-131?

Back

8 days

Front

Which law of relative dating states that sediments are deposited in horizontal layers?

Back

Law of Original Horizontality

Front

What does the Law of Superposition state?

Back

In an undeformed sequence of sedimentary rocks, the oldest layers are at the bottom.

Front

What is relative dating?

Back

Determining the age of rocks or fossils in relation to other rocks or fossils.

Front

What is absolute dating?

Back

Determining the actual age of a rock or fossil in years.

Front

What is the significance of half-life in radiometric dating?

Back

It is the time required for half of the radioactive atoms in a sample to decay.

Front

What does the Law of Lateral Continuity state?

Back

Layers of sediment initially extend laterally in all directions.