GEOLOGIC TIME - Introduction to Paleontology

 

Study of earth history based on fossil remains

Fossils: Remains of once-living organisms

Several different processes:

Unaltered hard (or soft) parts - pretty rare

Preservation: Rancho la Brea Tar Pits

Amber - like in Jurassic Park VD#1722

Desiccation - mummies

Frozen - mammoths

Altered hard parts - Your basic fossil

Replacement: usually by calcium or silica

Molds and casts: filled with silt

Trace fossils: tracks, burrows, etc.

Coprolites: fossilized dung

Classification: obviously different creatures so they need different names

Same basic idea as system used in biology

Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species, Individual

Used as the basis for the divisions of the relative time scale

Therefore pretty important to geologists

Unfortunately, very spotty record with lots of holes!!

We're not going to go into great detail

Dinosaurs (w/ Jurassic Park film clip?)

Ammonites (key to videodisc)

Trilobites (w/ samples)

Banded Iron Formation (expand as time allows)

 

Second Day

Into to John Day Fossil Bed film

Made by high school students!

Vocabulary:

Formation

Stratigraphic column