What is the difference between numerical and relative dating?
Describe three types of fossilization.
What environment has the best chance of generating fossils? (terrestrial or marine) Why?
What are the dates (millions of years before present) of the major eras of geologic time?
Geologic information is rarely continuous. It is gathered from scattered outcrops and/or wells. Correlation is used to “link” this information together. Describe this process. [Google “geologic correlation’]
Why is radiometric dating a reliable method of dating the geologic past?
Radioactive isotopes have very different half lives. When should a long half life versus a short half life isotope be used for dating?
What terrestrial animals dominated during the Mesozoic?
What could have caused the K-T extinctions?
Why is the earth’s molten metallic core important to humans living today?
Vocabulary
Geologic Time / History Vocabulary
[Tools for relative geologic time]
Unconformity –
angular unconformity –
disconformity –
nonconformity –
index fossil –
principle of original horizontality –
principle of superposition –
principle of original lateral continuity –
principle of cross-cutting relations –
principle of inclusions –
principle of fossil succession –
principle of fossil assemblages –
[Additional terms]
half life
eons
eras
periods
epochs
formation
contact
outcrop
cross section
Topic 2
Rock Cycle
The rock cycle is a “conceptual” map that “almost” summarizes this course. Please review https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_cycle
1. Please review the diagram – summarize what it “says”.
2. Please look at the topics for each week of the course – what is “missing” from the rock cycle diagram?