Biostratigraphy Flashcards

1
Q

What is a zone?

A

A fundamental division recognised by biostratigraphers, using fossils to date and correlate. On regional scales

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2
Q

What is a biozone?

A

Rocks that are characterised by one or more specified types of index fossils. On global scales.

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3
Q

What hierarchy do zones fit into?

A

Zones<Stages<Series

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4
Q

Give five characteristics of good zonal fossils

A

Short time range with rapid evolution.
Distinct morphology.
Wide distribution.
Facies independent.
Highly abundant.

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5
Q

What four assumptions must be true for biostratigraphy to be viable?

A

Each species has its own unique geological range and one species lives for a finite time, has not evolved twice, and its extinction in permanent. Rocks that contain a species were deposited at the time that the species existed. The principle of faunal succession is correct.

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6
Q

What is a Lazarus taxon?

A

A taxon that disappears from the fossil record close to an extinction horizon but then reappears laters. Such as the coelacanth fish

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7
Q

What would have to be disproved in order to disprove the principle of faunal succession?

A

Evolution

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8
Q

What can affect the requirement for rocks to be deposited at the same time as the species fossilised inside them lived?

A

Sediment reworking

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9
Q
A
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