Exam 16: Geologic Time: Concepts and Principles

How are marker beds used to determine the age of strata in a region that has no marker beds but does contain strata with the same fossil assemblage zone?

How is correlation accomplished using rocks and fossils?

A sedimentary rock that shows evidence of contact metamorphism must be ____________________ in age than the igneous rock with which it is in contact, even if it lies above the igneous rock.

Prior to the discovery of radioactivity in the late ____________________ century, geologists were able to develop a(n) ____________________ geologic time scale.

What are the requirements for a useful guide fossil?

What is relative dating, and what can it tell us?

The Colorado Plateau has a record of geologic events occurring over about 2 billion years that was put together:

Why are metamorphic rocks difficult to date accurately?

What is a closed system, and why is it necessary for a rock or mineral being dated to be a closed system? What is the result if it is not a closed system?

The placement of events into a sequential order based upon their position in the rock record is referred to as ____________________ dating.