Unit 2 Vocab Flashcards
Autotroph
an organism that can produce its own food, typically from sunlight
Bioclastic
organically derived sedimentary rock, often with shell pieces
Cambrian Explosion
542 million years ago classified by an dramatic biodiversity of multicellular life in the rock record
Cross Cutting Relationships
law of rock strata that states any change to a layer has to be newer than the layer it changed
Clastic
sedimentary rock cemented together with distinctive grain sizes
Cyanobacteria
first fossilized life on earth from which is credited for introducing oxygen to the oceans and eventually the atmosphere
Erosion
the movement of Earth materials from natural forces such as wind or water
Index Fossil
a fossil that has a wide geographic distribution but lived for a short period of time that works as a good geologic time marker
Eukaryote
organism with a clearly defined nucleus
Evaporite
sedimentary rock formed by evaporating sea water
Fossil
any imprint of ancient life solidified in sedimentary rock
Glaciation
when land is covered by ice sheets
Isotope
a variation of an element with extra nuclei creating a different atomic mass
Orogeny
a mountain building event such as collision of two plates causing uplift to a region
Mass extinction
a geohistorical event where more than 50% of life on Earth is eliminated
Ozone
three oxygen atoms that congregate in the stratosphere
Pangea
supercontinent from 220 million years ago
Sedimentary Rock
formed from pre-existing rocks or pieces of once living organisms
Unconformity
a missing rock layer from uplift, weathering, and erosion
Prokaryote
organism that lacks a nucleus
Strata
rock layer that originates horizontally
Uplift
the rising of land masses from geophysical forces such as colliding plates
Stratosphere
layer of Earth’s atmosphere above the troposphere that contains ozone
Superposition
law of rock strata which stats that the oldest rock layers or strata are on the bottom of new layers if undisturbed
