History of the Earth Flashcards (Earth Science)

Front

Law that says that older sedimentary rocks are on the bottom

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Law of superposition

Front

Law that says that a fault or igneous intrusion is younger than any layer it cuts through

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Law of cross-cutting relationships

Front

The age of an object, such as a rock layer, relative to the ages of layers around it

Back

Relative age

Front

The numeric age of an object, such as a rock; determined using radiometric dating

Back

Absolute age

Front

The remains, impression, or other evidence of an organism preserved in rock; nearly always preserved in sedimentary rock

Back

Fossil

Front

The fossil of an organism that can be used to date rock layers; these organisms were found all over Earth at one time but then went extinct; an example is trilobites

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Index fossil

Front

A way to determine the absolute age of rocks by comparing the amount of parent isotopes to the amount of daughter isotopes

Back

Radiometric dating

Front

A type of radiometric dating that uses Carbon-14; used to date organic things, such as wooly mammoths and bones

Back

Carbon dating

Front

The amount of time it takes for half of the parent isotope to decay into the daughter isotope

Back

Half life

Front

The process in which minerals in groundwater replace the organic material of an object; example is petrified wood

Back

Petrification