Chapter 13

Question 1

The calculated age of an artifact from a specific dating method that is used to determine when the artifact was made

Answer 1

absolute age

Question 2

a type of fossil consisting of an extremely thin coating of carbon on rock

Answer 2

carbon film

Question 3

mineral-rich water or other sediment fills a cavity and forms new rock which produces a copy of the original object

Answer 3

cast

Question 4

the remains, imprints, or traces of a plant or animal that existed in a past geological age

Answer 4

fossil

Question 5

length of time required for half of the radioactive atoms in a sample to decay

Answer 5

half-life

Question 6

a fossil known to have lived in a particular geologic age that can be used to date the rock layer in which it is found

Answer 6

index fossil

Question 7

a cavity into which liquid is poured to create a given shape when it hardens

Answer 7

mold

Question 8

fossils in which the spaces inside are filled with minerals from groundwater

Answer 8

permineralized remains

Question 9

the principle that in a series of stratified sedimentary rocks the lowest stratum is the oldest

Answer 9

principle of superposition

Question 10

the process in which a radioactive isotope tends to break down into a stable isotope of the same element or another element.

Answer 10

radioactive decay

Question 11

A method paleontologists use for determining the ages of rocks and fossils on a scale of absolute time, based on the half-life of radioactive isotopes.

Answer 11

radiometric dating

Question 12

the age of an object in relation to the ages of other objects

Answer 12

relative age

Question 13

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

Answer 13

unconformity

Question 14

principle that Earth’s processes occurring today are similar to those that occurred in the past

Answer 14

uniformitarianism