Fossils And Geologic Time

Front 1

Principle of Superposition

Back 1

older stuff on bottom, younger stuff on top

Front 2

Principle of Horizontality

Back 2

layers are put down horizontally and then later moved

Front 3

Principle of Faunal Succession

Back 3

animal whose fossils are found in different layers lived in different time periods.

Front 4

Principle of Cross Cutting relationships

Back 4

layers that are cut by magma are younger than the magma intrusion

Front 5

Igneous

Back 5

rocks that form from cooling magma or lava

Front 6

Sedimentary

Back 6

rocks that form from compacted material

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Metamorphic

Back 7

rocks that are changed from heat or pressure

Front 8

Formation of the Earth

Back 8

• 4.6 Billion Years Ago.
• Collection of dust and gas.
• Force of gravity pulled planet together.
• Asteroids, rocks rained down on planet.
• No atmosphere, liquid or water.
  
• After cooling, liquid water formed shallow oceans.
  
• Oceans were green from high amount of iron.
• No life was possible because atmosphere was only CO2 and H2O.

Front 9

Life on Earth

Back 9

• 3.6 Billion Years Ago
  
• Algae and Bacteria were two most common life forms
• Stromatolites started using process of photosynthesis; turning light and CO2 into O2.
• Ozone was formed so life was protected from harmful rays of the sun.

Front 10

Mass Extinction

Back 10

• 700 Million Years Ago
  
• Earth covered in large sheet of ice 2 miles thick
  

Front 11

Volcanoes

Back 11

• Pumped large amounts of greenhouse gases into the air
  
• "Ice-ball" Earth melted
  
• Life really started getting BIG
  

Front 12

Paleozoic

Back 12

• "Old Time"
  
• First Era
  
• Fish and large insects dominated
  
• Ancestors of present day fish, alligators, insects, ferns
  
• Well-known fossil "Trilobite"
  

Front 13

Index Fossils

Back 13

Types of fossils that can be used to date layers in geologic time.

Front 14

Permian

Back 14

Last period of the Paleozoic when a massive volcanic eruption caused the greatest mass extinction

Front 15

Mezozoic

Back 15

Followed the Permian Mass Extinction

"Middle Age"

The Age of the Dinosaurs

3 periods -- Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous

Front 16

Dinosaur fossils

Back 16

Are always found above the fossils of trilobites in the Paleozoic.

Front 17

Dinosaur Extinction

Back 17

Result of asteroid collision and volcanic eruption

Front 18

Asteroids

Back 18

• can cause major climate change because after a collision they put ash into the air
  
• ash from impact blocks out the sun and collapses food chain
  

Front 19

Mammals

Back 19

• survived Cretaceous mass extinction because they were small.

• dominate form of life during Cenozoic Age
  

Front 20

Cenozoic

Back 20

• "Recent Time"
  
• Age of Mammals
  

Front 21

Quaternary Period

Back 21

The period of the Cenozoic that we currently live in.

Front 22

Ways the Earth's climate has been different

Back 22

• Very hot
  
• No atmosphere
  
• Very cold
  

Front 23

Causes of Mass Extinction

Back 23

• Volcanic Eruptions
  
• Asteroids
  

Front 24

What do fossils tell us about prehistoric life

Back 24

• size
  
• what they ate
  
• where they lived
  

Front 25

What can fossils NOT tell us about prehistoric life

Back 25

• behavior
  
• color
  
• skin texture
  
• parenting
  

Front 26

How are fossils used to determine climate in certain areas

Back 26

• fish found in places with no water
  
• coral found in dry places
  

Front 27

Ways fossils form

Back 27

• covered in amber
  
• turned to rock
  
• frozen
  
• covered in asphalt
  

Front 28

Uniformitarianism

Back 28

the same natural laws and processes that operate in the universe now, have always operated in the universe in the past and apply everywhere in the universe

ie., things work today in the same manner they worked in in the past

Front 29

Lithification

Back 29

the process in which sediments compact under pressure, expel connate fluids, and gradually become solid rock

Front 30

Trace fossils

Back 30

• tracks
  
• burrows
  
• coprolites
  

Front 31

Ordivician

Back 31

Period that lasted almost 45 million years. Began 488.3 million years ago. Ended 443.7 million years ago. The area north of the tropics was almost entirely ocean, and most of the world's land was collected into the southern super-continent Gondwana.

Front 32

Silurian

Back 32

Period that occurred from 443 million to 416 million years ago. It was the third period in the Paleozoic Era. It followed the Ordovician Period and preceded the Devonian Period. During this time, continental landmasses were low and sea levels were rising.

Front 33

Devonian

Back 33

Geologic period and system of the Paleozoic. Spanned 60 million years from the end of the Silurian, 419.2 million years ago, to the beginning of the Carboniferous, 358.9 million years ago. It is named after Devon, England, where rocks from this period were first studied.

Front 34

Planetary Rings

Back 34

The rings around planets like Jupiter and Saturn (yes Jupiter has rings!) are made up of bits of ice and rock. They form when asteroids, comets or other large objects pass too close to the planet and are torn apart by the planet's gravity.

Front 35

Positive Feedback Loop

Back 35

A positive feedback is a process in which an initial change will bring about an additional change in the same direction.

Front 36

Moon Formation

Back 36

The giant-impact hypothesis, sometimes called the Big Splash or the Theia Impact, suggests that the Moon formed out of the debris left over from a collision between Earth and an astronomical body the size of Mars, approximately 4.5 billion years ago

Front 37

Greenhouse Gases

Back 37

GHG is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone.