Following is a list of minerals and related color hues: Copper - green/blue Cobalt - green/blue Chromium - green/blue Manganese - pink

Carbon - black Iron Oxides - red, brown, yellow Manganese Oxides - black Silica - white, gray Fossils Fossils are evidence of ancient life forms or ancient habitats which have been preserved by natural processes. They can be the actual remains of a once living thing, such as bones or seeds, or even traces of past events such as dinosaur footprints, or the ripple marks on a prehistoric shore. Geologists can tell the age of a fossil through a variety of radiometric dating techniques. The breakdown of radioactive isotopes of certain elements, such as carbon, uranium and potassium takes place at a known rate, so the age of a rock or mineral containing these isotopes can be calculated. How fossils are formed 1. Fossilisation only happens in the rarest of cases, when a plant or animal dies in the right circumstances. Animal corpses are usually eaten by something, or bacteria rots them away before fossilisation can occur, and even hard parts like bones and shells are eventually destroyed through erosion and corrosion. The trick to becoming a fossil is to die in a location where your body - or bits of it - are protected from scavengers and the elements. This means getting buried in sand, soil or mud and the best place for that is on the seabed or a river bed. Only in very rare cases do the soft parts of animals - the flesh, skin and internal organs - become fossils. Even when buried under mud or soil, decay still takes place, though lack of oxygen does slow it down. If a skeleton is dug up at this stage, it will still be made of bone. Remains like these that haven't truly fossilised yet are sometimes called 'sub-fossils'. As more time passes, sub-fossils become buried deeper and deeper. What was mud or sand becomes compressed on its way to becoming rock. But even safely sealed away underground, time doesn't stand still. Chemicals and minerals percolate through the sediment and the original bone or shell gradually recrystallizes. In extreme cases, the entire thing can dissolve away, leaving a hollow where it once was. If palaeontolgists find a hollow like this, they can pour liquid rubber in to make a fossil cast, or put it in a medical scanner to see what the original looked like. In other cases, minerals from the rocks gradually impregnate the bone, shell or wood, changing its chemical composition and making it capable of surviving for as long as - or sometimes longer than - the rock enclosing it. In cases where the original has dissolved away, the minerals can gradually fill the hollow to create a natural cast of the original. So sometimes a fossil doesn't contain anything of the original creature except its shape. Even that shape can take a battering! If the rocks are distorted and squeezed by geological forces, then the fossils within them will be too. Even rocks have a finite lifespan. Eventually the rock enclosing a fossil is eroded away, and the fossil is revealed on the surface of the ground. With luck, a sharp-eyed fossil collector will spot and excavate it. Otherwise the elements will continue to batter it, until it along with the rocks around it - is reduced once more to sand, silt or mud.

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What makes petrified wood colorful? It is not wood that makes petrified wood colorful, but the chemistry of the petrifying groundwater. Minerals such as manganese, iron, and copper were in the water/mud during the petrification process. These minerals give petrified wood a variety color ranges. Quartz crystals are colorless, but when iron is added to the process the crystals become stained with a yellow or red tint. Fossilization The word fossil is derived from the Latin fossilis, which means "dug up". Initially, the term fossil applied to any strange or interesting material found within rock whether or not it was of organic origin (Prothero, 2004, p. 5). Most modern definitions include the concept that fossils are evidence of ancient organisms, which ha ve become a part of the Earths crust. The word ancient is arbitrary. To some ancient applies only to extinct organisms while to others it implies time limits. Grimaldi and Engel (2005) point out that many would like to restrict the term fossil to species that have become naturally extinct. They argue that having this knowledge is problematic. Grimaldi and Engel suggest the following practical definition, "...a fossil is the remains or workings of any species, living or extinct, that have been naturally preserved for several thousand years or more (p. 62). A more common time limit defines fossils as being prehistoric

thus; fossils preserve remains or activities of ancient organisms older than 10,000 years (Garcia & Miller, 1998, p. 14; Schopf, 1975, p. 27). The majority of fossils are found in sedimentary rocks. Organisms become trapped within sediment layers due to the action of water, wind or gravity. Fossils can sometimes be found in metamorphic rocks formed from fossiliferous sedimentary rocks altered by heat and pressure. Fossils can even be found in igneous rock created from lahars or pyroclastic flows that entomb trees or other organisms. Two major types of fossils are recognized. Body fossils reveal the structure of an organism, while trace fossils reveal the activities of organisms. There are many reasons to study fossils. The fossil record indicates that different life forms have existed at different times revealing the evolution of life on Earth. Fossils and rock types serve as clues to determining ancient environments. Finally, fossils are the most practical way of telling time in geology (Prothero, 2004, p. vii). How do fossils form and how are they classified into different preservation types? Taphonomy or How Fossils Form A Fossil represents evidence of past life that is found in the Earths crust. Taphonomy ("laws of burial") is the term used to describe the process that results in the formation of a fossil. Taphonomy or the transition of an organism or part of an organism from the biosphere to the lithosphere is accomplished in basically two steps. The process of burial or entombment is referred to as biostratinomy. After burial or entombment, diagenesis begins; the conversion of sediments or other deposits to rock. Biostratinomic and diagenetic processes destroy most traces of organisms. The extent of preservation depends upon what happens during biostratinomy and diagensis. The biostratinomy and diagensis associated with a fossil can reveal much about the environment in which the organism lived. In other words, how fossils form can often provide clues to past environments. Lagersttten Fossilization often occurs as a result of rapid burial, usually by water-borne sediment, followed by chemical alteration. Rapid burial and specific chemical environments help to reduce decomposition from bacteria and fungi. Decomposition, erosion, deposition and rock formation are processes that often destroy soft tissue, so it is the hard parts of organisms such as shells, bones and teeth, which are most often preserved. Occasionally conditions exist that allow for preservation of organisms in environments that rarely produce fossils. Exceptional conditions may also help to preserve soft tissue or impression of soft body parts. Fossil deposits with soft-bodied organisms well preserved or with terrestrial animals, such as dinosaurs in the Morrison formation are termed Lagersttten. Lagersttten is a German word used in mining that denotes a particularly rich seam and has been adopted by paleontologist to signify these rare fossil deposits because they give us a window into past environments seldom preserved in the fossil record (Selden & Nudds, 2004, p. 7). Two types of fossil lagersttten are recognized. Deposits that contain vast numbers of fossils represent Concentration Lagersttten. The preservation may not be exceptional, but the great numbers can be very informative. Conservation Lagersttten contain fossils with soft body preservation, impressions of soft tissue or fossils of well-articulated skeletons without soft tissue preservation. Conservation Lagersttten are particularly important because they provide knowledge of soft-bodied organisms, allow paleontologists to reconstruct paleoecosystems, and give insights into the morphology and phylogentic relationships of organisms (Nudds & Selden, 2008, pp. 8-9). Preservation Types The science of taphonomy explores the environmental conditions that promote fossilization. Both body and trace fossils can form under a variety of circumstances representing multiple modes of preservation. Compare several books on fossils off any library or bookstore shelf and you will soon realize there is no standard for categorizing types of fossil preservation. Click on the pictures below to explore modes of preservation that one is likely to find in both scientific papers and popular books. A modified, printable version of our articles on fossilization can be obtained by clicking on Fossils. Trace Fossils (Ichnofossils) Also known as ichnofossils, trace fossils are the fossilized biological activity left behind by historical animals. Some examples are tracks, trails, dwellings, feeding marks, nests and feces. Different species produce similar appearing trace fossils, which are found separate from the source animal. Therefore, scientists commonly categorized this type of fossil is commonly according to the biological act rather than by the producer. Preserving trace fossils involves casts, molds, drying, freezing and the petrification fossilization process. Chemical Fossils Chemical fossils are the preserved organic compounds, which can be traced back to biological origin. The decay of plants and animals includes a series of biochemical processes leaving biochemical traces commonly found in rock. The presence of chemical fossils in geological strata indicates the existence of life at the time a particular rock was formed. The carbonization fossilization process preserves chemical fossils. Molds and Casts An organism lying, moving or decomposing in sediment creates fossilized molds and casts. As the surrounding sediment hardens, a mold forms as the organic remains decay and trace markings remains intact. The external mold is a recreation of the organism's surface, which provides detail of external characteristics and anatomy. When the internal portion of the mold fills with sand or clay, it creates an internal cast of trace fossils, such as tracks or burrows.

Freezing and Drying (Dessication) Freezing fossilization occurs when an animal falls into a pit or land void, of freezing temperature, and remains frozen for a long time. Animal and plant remains, which the freezing process fossilizes, are discovered with fully preserved hard and soft parts. Drying fossilization process occurs to an organism's remains left in arid and dry environments, such as caves or deep pits. This results in mummification, which preserves the hard and soft parts of an organism. Petrification and Polymerization Petrification occurs when water dissolves the remaining skeletal and hard parts, replacing them with by mineral deposits. The result is a detailed recreation of the original remains in stone or similar materials. Petrification fossilization occurs by replacement and permineralization processes. Both processes create fossils by replacing the remains with minerals. However, in permineralization much of the original skeleton remains as part of the fossil. Polymerization occurs when tree sap converts to an amber resin. The fossil resin material preserves small insects, plants and bacteria by trapping and encasing them in a plastic-like amber shell. Freezing Freezing is a type of preservation in which an animal falls into a crevasse or pit and remains frozen. Such ideal remains are rare and almost always never very old. Animals have been restricted to ice age rhinoceros and hairy mammoth. These remains have preserved bone, skin, muscle, hair and even internal organs. Drying or Dessication Remains of animals that have been found thoroughly dried include camel, ground sloth and even marsupial wolf. These remains were found in caves in arid and semi-arid areas of the Southwestern United States, South America, New Zealand and Australia. The dried dung of cave dwelling giant ground sloths have also been found in caves. Petrification Petrification is a geology term denoting the processes by which organic material is converted into stone or a similar substance. It is approximately synonymous with fossilization. Petrified wood is the most well known result of this process. Petrification takes place in two related ways, replacement and permineralization, described below. Replacement Replacement takes place when water dissolves the original hard parts and replaces them with mineral matter. This chemical action may take place slowly, reproducing the microscopic structures of the original organism. Bone, shells and wood are often well preserved in this manner. The most common replacement minerals are calcite, silica, pyrite and hematite. The snails of the Green River Formation in Wyoming are often replaced by silica, a variation of quartz. The ammonites and goniatites of Europe and North Africa are commonly replaced by hematite, which is an iron mineral similar to, but more stable than pyrite. When the original hard parts are replaced quickly they often loose all trace of their original structure, leaving the original shape, but no detail. Agatized woods are often preserved in this manner, (agate is a form of quartz). Perimineralization Permineralization takes place when ground water carrying dissolved minerals infiltrates the microscopic pores and cavities in bone, wood or shell. The minerals being deposited produce stony fossils that still contain a good deal of their original solid material. Bones, teeth and many marine organisms are preserved in this way. The fossil wood from the Petrified Forest of Arizona are a famous example of this type of preservation. The fossil teeth and bones of the Oligocene badlands of South Dakota and Nebraska are also common example of this type of fossilization, as well as the extensive deposits of Jurassic dinosaur bones in Utah and Colorado. Plant Fossils The fossilization of plants markedly differs from that of animals. The leaves are frequently reduced to a carbon film in a process known as carbonization or distillation. The internal anatomy of leaves is often lost, but occasionally cell walls and even cell contents may be preserved by permineralization. Permineralization occurs after burial when empty spaces within the plant containing liquid or gas during life become filled with mineral-rich groundwater and the minerals precipitate from the groundwater filling the spaces. This process can even occur in very small spaces such as within the plant cell wall of a plant cell, thus producing exquisitely detailed fossils. Permineralization burial before decay is advanced. The degree to which the remains are decayed when buried determines the later details of the fossil. Carbonization (Distillation) Carbonization is a process by which the more volatile substances of plants and animals decay, but leave behind the carbon. Crumbly woods of lignite deposits are one example of Carbonization. At its extreme, carbonization reduces plants and animals to shiny black or brown film like the Metasequoia leaves of the Tranquille Shale of British Columbia.