Geol 120 Exam 1 Vocabulary

Ole Miss

Absolute time/dating

the absolute age of of geological events

body fossil

the actual remains of an animal

carbonization

central asiatic expeditions

expeditions led in Asia by Roy Chapman Andrews that found discoveries of important dinosaurs and established the Gobi desert as a place for paleontological study

Charles Sternberg

organized a fossil expedition for Edward Cope and discovered the skin impressions of the dinosaur Lambeosuarus lambei

convergent plate boundary

plates move toward one another forming mountains

cretaceous

the final period of the mesozoic era when dinosaurs could be found

daughter isotope

the isotope that results from the decay of a parent

diapsid

a dinosaur with two temporal openings in the skull

dinosaur

terrible lizard

divergent plate boundary

plates move away from one another

Edward Cope

a paleontologist that was in the DInosaur Wars and discovered many extinct species of vertebrates in the United States

fossil

the remains or indications of former living things preserved in rocks or sediment

Gideon Mantell

was the first paleontologist to name the Iganodon

half-life

the rate at which the parent isotopes decay

hypothesis

a tentative explanation that can be tested that is based on observations and data

igneous rock

rocks formed by the cooling and solidification of molten lava

iguanodon

a dinosaur discovered by Gideon Mantell

isotope

a radioactive atom

Joseph Leidy

described the first dinosaur found in North America that was mounted in a museum

Mary Anning

discovered the first plesiosaur

megalosaurus

a dinosaur that was discovered by William Buckland

mesozoic

an era in time in which dinosaurs can be found

metamorphic rock

rocks formed by “changing” preexisting rocks with heat and pressure

molds

void where the organism’s shell was originally (external imprint)

casts

infilling of void that shows the shell’s original form

O.C. Marsh

was in the Dinosaur Wars and helped establish the idea that birds evolved from dinosaurs

parent isotope

the unstable radioactive isotope

parsimony

the idea of choosing the simplest idea or theory that accounts for all the ideas or observations

permineralization

a type of fossil preservation where the empty spaces inside the cells are filled with a new mineral; also called petrification

principle of cross-cutting relationships

a principle of stratigraphy in which the geological feature which cuts another is the younger of the two features

principle of inclusion

a principle of stratigraphy in which the rock fragment is contained in a different rock layer. if they are found in a rock, then they must be older than the rock

principle of superposition

a principle of stratigraphy in which the oldest layer sits at the bottom and the younger layers are at the top

principle of lateral continuity

a principle of stratigraphy in which a rock layer extends continuously in all directions until it thins out or encounters a barrier

principle of original horizontality

a principle of stratigraphy in which sediments deposit in layers that are originally horizontal. deformation or tilting of layers occurred after the sediment deposition

radioactivity

the spontaneous decay in the structure of an atom’s nucleus

relative time/dating

a relative sequence of geological events in chronological order

replacement

a type of fossil preservation in which the original mineral composition is replaced by another mineral atom by atom

Richard Owen

coined the term Dinosauria

scientific method

a mthod that scientists use to answer scientific questions or observations

sedimentary rock

rocks that are formed by the weathery and cementation of sediment

Tendaguru expeditions

expeditions led in East Africa by Werner Janensch and found 250 tons of dinosaur bones from the late jurassic periods

theory

an well-liked explanation that is built on a large body of evidence; tend to unify many hypothesis

trace fossil

a type of fossil that might explain the behavior or activity of an animal

transform plate boundary

a type of plate boundary in which plates slide past one another without crust being created or destroyed; can form mid-oceanic ridges

triassic

a period in the mesozoic era when dinosaurs could be found

unaltered preservation

no changes to the original hard parts of the fossil

William Buckland

described the megalosaurus

What are the different types of trace fossils?

corprolites, gastroliths, tracks, burrows, borings, and resting traces