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15 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Radioactivity |
Spontaneous emission of certain unstable atomic nuclei |
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Radiometric dating |
Procedure of calculating the absolute ages of rock & minerals containing radioactive isotopes |
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Half-life |
Time required for 1/2 of the atoms to decay |
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Geologic time scale |
Division of earth history into blocks of time- eons, eras, periods & epochs |
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Precambrian |
All geologic time prior to Paleozoic era |
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Uniformitarianism |
Concept that processes used to shape earth in past are the same operating today |
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Unconformity |
Surface that represents a break in the rock record. Caused by erosion/ nondeposition |
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Principle of superposition |
In any undeformed sequence of rock, each bed is older than the one above |
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Principle of horizontality |
Layers of sediment are deposited into horizontal layers |
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Principle of lateral continuity |
Sedimentary beds originate s continuous layers that extend I. All directions until they thin out into a different type of sediment |
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Correlation |
Establishing the equivalence of similar age in different regions |
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Turbidity current |
Downslope movement of dense sediment-laden water made when sand and mud on shelf and slope are dislodged and thrown into suspension |
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Guyot |
Submerged flat top seamount |
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Beach drift |
Transport of sediment in zig zag pattern by rush of water |
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Isotherm |
Lines connecting points of equal temperature |
