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13 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
Uniformitarianism
the forces and processes that we observe today have been at work for a very long time
Relative dating
identifying which rocks formed 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so on. tells us the sequence in which events occured, NOT when they occurred.
Law of superposition
in sedimentary rocks, this law says that each bed is older than the one above it and younger than the one below it.
Principle of original horizontality
means that layers of sediment are usually deposited in a horizontal position
Principle of cross-cutting relationships
when a fault cuts through rock layers or when magma goes through rock, we can say that the fault is younger than the rocks affected
Unconformity
break in the rock record when sediment deposits have been interrupted again and again.
Correlation
rocks of same age in different places are matched up to develop a geologic time scale for the whole Earth.
Fossil
remains of prehistoric life.
Index fossil
fossils in many places, limited to a short span of time, and occur in large numbers. they provide an important method of matching rocks of the same age.
Radioactivity
when nuclei are unstable, they break apart or decay
Half-life
amount of time for 1/2 of the nuclei to decay to its stable isotope
Radiometric dating
provides a way to calculate the ages of rocks that contain radioactive isotopes
Radiocarbon dating
used to date recent events (up to 75,000 years ago) by measuring the carbon-14 that decreases in living thing as it decays.