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| The science that deals with the study of past life. |
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| The idea that the same geologic processes that shape the Earth today have been at work during all of Earth's history. |
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The idea that geologic change happens suddenly.
Ex: Volcanic eruption, tsunami, asteroid hitting Earth. |
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| Determining whether an object (like a rock layer) or event is older or younger than other objects. |
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| Rocks that are formed when one type of rock is changed into another type of rock by temperature or pressure |
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| Rocks that are formed when one type of rock is changed into another type of rock by temperature or pressure |
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| Rocks that are formed when one type of rock is changed into another type of rock by temperature or pressure |
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| This type of rock forms when magma cools. |
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| This type of rock forms when fragments from other rocks get cemented together. Usually this rock forms in layers. |
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| The breaking down of rocks into smaller pieces, can be caused by physical or chemical processes. |
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| The process that moves sediment from one place to another. This can be caused by water, wind, ice, or gravity. |
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| This is the process where materials (like sediment) is laid down or dropped. |
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| Composed of rock fragments, material dissolved in water, or biological (plant or animal) debris. |
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| A principle that states that younger rocks lie above older rocks, if the rock layers have not been disturbed. |
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| A surface of rock that represents a missing part of the geologic record. |
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| This process occurs when rock layers bend and buckle from forces inside the Earth. |
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| This process occurs when forces inside the Earth slant rock layers. |
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| This is a break in the Earth's crust along which blocks of rock slide relative to one another. |
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| Molten rock from the Earth's interior that squeezes into existing rock and cools. |
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| The Law of Cross Cutting Relationships |
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| Principle that states "A fault or body of rock, such as an intrusion, is younger than any rock layer that it cuts through". |
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| Finding the age of an object b determining the number of years that is has existed. |
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| The breakdown of a radioactive isotope into a stable isotope of the same element or another element. |
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| Determining the absolute age of a sample based on the ratio of parent material to daughter material. |
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| The time needed for one half of a radioactive sample to decay. |
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| The trace or remains of an organism that lived long ago, usually preserved in sedimentary rock. |
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The filling or replacement of an organism's tissues with minerals that have a different chemical composition than the original tissues did.
(Turning a dead organism into "stone") |
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| Fossilized evidence of animal activity. Ex: footprints, burrows, coprololites. |
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| The impression left in sediment or rock where a plant or animal was burried. |
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| This type of fossil forms when sediment fills a mold and becomes a rock. |
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| The history of life in the geological past as represented by traces or remains of living things (fossils). |
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| Fossils of organisms that lived for a relatively short, well defined, geological time period. These are helpful in dating rock layers. |
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| The theory that explains how Earths' tectonic plates move and change shape. |
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| The thin, cool, "skin" of the Earth. |
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| Thick layer of solid rock that is under the crust of the Earth. It drags on the bottom of tectonic plates as it moves. |
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| Plate boundary that forms when two tectonic plates move towards each other. |
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| This type of plate boundary often forms mountain ranges and volcanoes. |
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| This type of plate boundary forms when two tectonic plates move away from each other. |
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| This type of plate boundary often forms rifts, oceans, or seas. |
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| This type of plate boundary forms when two tectonic plates slide horizontally past one another. |
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| The movement of this type of plate boundary causes earthquakes. |
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| The term used to describe how continents have moved around Earth's surface throughout Earth's history. |
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| One large, supercontinent that existed on Earth 245 million years ago. |
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| The name for the scale that divides Earth's 4.6 billion years of history into distinct intervals of time. |
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| The death of every member of a certain kind of organism. |
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| The time from the formation of Earth, 4.6 billion years ago, until about 542 million years ago. Life on Earth began during this time. |
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| 542 million years ago-251 million years ago. Contained the "Cambrian Explosion" and the "Permian Extinction". |
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| 251 million years ago-65 million years ago. The "Age of Reptiles". Contained the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) extinction. |
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| 65 million years ago-today. "The Age of Mammals". Many climate changes happened during this Era, including Ice Ages. |
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| Largest mass extinction in Earth's history. This happened in the Paleozoic Era. |
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| How could a meteor impact have cause a world-wide mass extinction? |
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| The impact would create enough dust to fill the atmosphere and block out the sun. No sun = No plants. No plants=No plant eaters, etc... |
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| What types of rocks are the best to find fossils? |
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| What type of rock is formed from the recrystalization of other rocks? |
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| During which era did the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction occur? |
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| The end of the MESOZOIC era. |
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During which era did the Permian extinction occur?
Thiswas the Earth's largest mass extinction. |
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