GEOL 11042 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Paleozoic, Trilobite, Cambrian
8 Nov 2020
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Document Summary
Fossils are among the most important clues for interpreting earth history. All organisms are well adapted to the environments in which they live, so that we can use fossils to interpret ancient environments. For example, in the modern world corals (phylum cnidaria) only live in seawater, the marine environment. For this reason, and others, we can use corals to define ancient marine environments. Furthermore, abundant coral growth that produces reefs is confined to the warm, tropical and subtropical, parts of the oceans. We can be reasonably confident that when we find coral reefs in ancient rocks, this is an indication of warm water conditions typical of areas on and around the equator. Learning about the life habits of living and fossil organisms makes it possible to interpret paleoenvironments. Fossils are also extremely useful in determining geologic time, the age of the rocks that enclose the fossils.
