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)
Into to John Day Fossil Bed film
Made by high school students!
Vocabulary:
Formation
Stratigraphic column