Fossil chapter Flashcards
requirements for fossil preservation
hard parts, rapid burial
rapid burial
dies, decays, buried, sediment; starts to compact
fossil
remains of trace of past life; preserved components of sedimentary
types of preservation
unaltered skeleton, petrification/ permineralization,
petrification/ permineralization,
wood and bone, pores filed with quartz, light materials becomes much heavier
fossil bone is?
heavy
why is fossil bone heavy?
because it is filled
replacement
pyrite and quartz, atom of atom replacement, molds and casts
is replacement common?
yes
mold
shell dissolved away
cast
space filled with sediment
is exceptional preservation common?
no
exceptional preservation
most of organism preserved- including soft parts
types of exceptional preservation
mummification, freezing, amber
fossil types
body fossil, chemical fossil, trace fossil