Earths History Vocabulary

Geologic Time Scale

The standard method
used to divide the Earth's
long natural history into
manageable parts

Law of Superposition
Yo
u

ng

es

Oldest

A principle that states that younger rocks lie

above older rocks if the layers have not been
disturbed

Geologic Column
An arrangement of
rock layers in which
the oldest rocks are on
the bottom

Index Fossil

A fossil that is found in the rock layers of only

one geologic age and that is used to establish
the age of the rock

Absolute Dating
The actual age

Any method of measuring the age of an

event or an object in years

Relative Dating
Comparing

Any method of determining whether an

event or object is older or younger than
other events or objects

Unconformity
A break in the geologic
record created when
rock layers are eroded
or when sediment is
not deposited for a long
period of time

Radioactive Dating

A method of determining the age of an object by

estimating the relative percentages of radioactive
(parent) isotope with a stable (daughter)

Half-life
Carbon 14 has a
half-life of about
5,700 years
(so half of 5,700).

The time needed for half a sample of

radioactive substance to undergo radioactive
decay

Rock cycle

A continuous process by which rocks are

created, changed, destroyed, and reformed

Igneous rock

Rocks that were made by heating them inside

of the Earth (magma and lava); "fire rocks"

Metamorphic rock

Rock created by heat and/or pressure;

"changed rock"

Sedimentary rock

Rock that was originally mud or shells that

form layers that compress over time; "sitting
rock"

Ice Core

A sample of ice removed from an ice sheet

that contains ice from a range of years; this is
used to look at Earth's climate history

Fault

A break in a body of rock along which one

block slides relative to another