EAPS 11100 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Absolute Dating, Geochronology, Relative Dating

• School: Purdue University
• Department: Earth Atmos Planetary Sci
• Course: EAPS 11100
• Professor: Haq Saad

Document Summary

Relative: understand what happened in which order (superposition, original horizontality, cross-cutting relationships, Gaps in the geologic record that may indicate episodes of crustal deformation, erosion, and sea level variations. Connecting records at one place to simultaneous event at another. Based on the observation that sedimentary rock strata contain fossilized flora and fauna, and that these fossils succeed each other vertically in a specific, reliable order that can be identified over wide horizontal distances. Certain types of fossils existed for a specific period of time in earth history and that the layers of rock bearing these fossils could be correlated, or equated to one another, even over great geographic distances. These two sections of rock contain many of the same fossils. A relatively sudden, global decrease in the diversity of life forms. Mass extinctions have occurred periodically throughout the existence of life on earth.