HOW INDEX FOSSILS ARE

USED TO DEFINE AND

IDENTIFY SUBDIVISIONS OF
THE GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE
Group 6 - 2nd Part
 PRESENTERS

Precious Sanchez Hanna Reponte Dani Yap

PRE - TEST
1. INDEX FOSSILS ARE
DEFINED AS
A. Remnants of the living things.
B. Remnants of the non-living things.
C. Remnants of the planets and stars.
D. Remnants of the universe.

2. IT IS THE PROCESS BY WHICH ORGANIC MATTER

EXPOSED TO MINERALS OVER A LONG PERIOD IS
TURNED INTO A STONY SUBSTANCE.
A. Molds
B. Petrified
C. Trace
D. Cast
3. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING SUBDIVISION OF
GEOLOGIC TIME PORTRAYS THE DIFFERENCES IN LIFE
FORMS

A. Period
B. Epoch
C. Eons
D. Eras.

4. EONS ARE DIVIDED INTO SMALLER TIME INTERVALS

KNOWN AS ERAS. WHICH IS THE YOUNGEST ERA WHICH
MEANS "NEW LIFE"?
A. Mesozoic
B. Paleozoic
. Cenozoic
. Proterozoic
5. PRECAMBRIAN TAKES UP THE HISTORY OF
THE EARTH BY HOW MANY PERCENT?
A. 60%
B. 70%
C. 80%
D. 90%

6. GREEK AMMONITES IS NAMED AFTER THE RAM

GOD WHO IS
A. Rah
B. Kareb
C. Ahmed
D. Ammon
7. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING CREATURES WHEN FOSSILIZED
THE BONES BECOME 12 METERS (39 FEET) A WINGSPAN?
A. Dinosaur Argentinosaurus
B. Pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus
C. Protoceratops
D. Griffin

8. THESE INDEX FOSSILS ARE FORMED BY SPECIES ARE FOUND IN

THE STRATA OF PRESERVATION AND THE REMAINS OF SPECIFIC
A. Sedimentary rock
B. Igneous rock
C. Metamorphic rock
D. Magma
9. CHARLES WALCOTT DISCOVERED A FOSSIL WITH A SOFT BODY LIKE A
WORM, FIVE EYES, AND A LONG NOSE LIKE A VACUUM CLEANER HOSE. IN
WHICH PALEOZOIC ERA DOES HE DISCOVER THE SAID FOSSIL?

A. Cambrian
B. Silurian
C. Ordovician
D. Devonian

10. THESE LIVING FOSSILS ARE ORGANISMS THAT HAVE EXISTED FOR A
TREMENDOUSLY LONG PERIOD FROM THE CAMBRIAN PERIOD UP TO THE PRESENT
WITHOUT CHANGING VERY MUCH.
A. Lingulata brachiopods.
B. Archaeopteryx
C. Anomalocaris
D. Ammonite
 WHAT ARE
INDEX FOSSILS?
lesson 1
 INDEX FOSSILS
Fossils are the preserved remains, or traces of remains of ancient
organisms. Fossils are not the remains of the organism itself! They
are rocks. A fossil can preserve an entire organism or just part of one.
Bones, shells, feathers, and leaves can all become fossils.
 INDEX FOSSILS
Index fossils are fossils that are widespread but only existed for a
short period. Index fossils help scientists to find the relative age of a
rock layer and match it up with other rock layers. Living fossils are
organisms that haven’t changed much in millions of years and are still
alive today.
 CLUES FROM
FOSSILS
Clues from Fossils Fossils are our best form of evidence
about the history of life on Earth. In addition, fossils can
give us clues about past climates, the motions of plates,
and other major geological events.

The first clue that fossils can give is whether an

environment was marine (underwater) or terrestrial (on
land). Along with the rock characteristics, fossils can
indicate whether the water is shallow or deep and
whether the rate of sedimentation is slow or rapid.
 HOW ARE INDEX
FOSSILS FORMED?

Index fossils are the preserved remains of specific species found in the strata of
sedimentary rock. They are easily recognized by shape and lived for either a short
period, geologically speaking, or completely vanished from the Earth in a known
extinction event. Index fossils are usually sea creatures due to preservation
conditions and how widespread ocean-dwelling creatures can proliferate on the
planet.
FIVE TYPES OF
FOSSILS
Preserved Remains

Permineralization

Molds and Casts

Replacement

Compression
PRESERVED REMAINS
The rarest form of fossilization is the
preservation of original skeletal material
and even soft tissue.

For example, insects have been preserved

perfectly in amber, which is ancient tree sap.
Several mammoths and even a Neanderthal
hunter have been discovered frozen in
A Bug in Amber
glaciers.
PERMINERALIZATION
The most common method of fossilization is
permineralization. After a bone, wood fragment, or
shell is buried in sediment, it may be exposed to
mineral-rich water that moves through the sediment.

This water will deposit minerals into empty spaces,

producing a fossil. Fossil dinosaur bones, petrified
wood, and many marine fossils were formed by
permineralization. Petrified Wood
MOLDS AND CASTS
In some cases, the original bone or shell
dissolves away, leaving behind a space in the
shape of the shell or bone. This depression is
called mold.

Later the space may be filled with other sediments to

form a matching cast in the shape of the original
organism. Many mollusks (clams, snails, octopi, and
squid) are commonly found as molds and casts
Cast and Mold of a Clamshell
because their shells dissolve easily.
 REPLACEMENT
In some cases, the original shell or bone dissolves
away and is replaced by a different mineral. For
example, shells that were originally calcite may be
replaced by dolomite, quartz, or pyrite.

If quartz fossils are surrounded by a calcite matrix,

the calcite can be dissolved away by acid, leaving
behind an exquisitely preserved quartz fossil.
Pyritized Ammonite
 COMPRESSION
Some fossils form when their remains are
compressed by high pressure. This can leave
behind a dark imprint on the fossil.

Compression is most common for fossils of

leaves and ferns but can occur with other
organisms, as well.
Compression Fossil of a Fern
 EXCEPTIONAL
PRESERVATION
Some rock beds have produced exceptional
fossils. Fossils from these beds may show
evidence of soft body parts that are not
normally preserved. Two of the most
famous examples of soft organism
preservation are the Burgess Shale in
Canada and the Solnhofen Limestone in
Germany.
 INDEX FOSSILS AND
LIVING FOSSILS
Index fossils are widespread but only existed for a relatively brief period. When a
particular index fossil is found, the relative age of the bed is immediately known.
Ammonites, trilobites, and graptolites are often used as index fossils, as are various
microfossils, or fossils of microscopic organisms.

fossils are organisms that have existed for a tremendously long period without
changing very much at all. For example, the Lingulata brachiopods have existed from
the Cambrian period to the present, a period of over 500 million years!
CORRELATION BY
INDEX FOSSILS
To be considered an index fossil, it must meet 3 criteria:

The fossilized organism must be easily recognizable. It must be easy to ID

and look unique.

The fossils must be geographically widespread or found over large areas

so that we can use them to match layers separated by huge distances.

The fossil must have lived for only a short time so that it appears in only a
horizontal layer of sedimentary rocks.
 HISTORY OF
EARTH’S LIFE
FORMS
 CHARLES DOOLITTLE
WALCOTT
Charles Doolittle Walcott, a paleontologist,
discovered a fossil while riding down a mountain.
It was from a strange Cambrian animal with a
soft body, five eyes, and a long nose. The
Cambrian period, starting about 540 million years
ago, marked the beginning of the Phanerozoic
Eon—a time of many new, complex life forms.
Today, we’re still in the Phanerozoic Eon, though
life is now very different from back then.
 EARTH’ DIVERSITY
There are over 1 million species of plants and animals known to be currently
alive on Earth. Look around you and notice that the organisms on this planet
have incredible variation. One of the most remarkable features of Earth’s
organisms is their ability to survive in their specific environments.

For example, polar bears have thick fur coats that help them stay warm in
the icy waters that they hunt in.
ADAPTATIONS AND
EVOLUTION
Adaptations are traits that help an organism
survive in its environment. They develop when
some variations, often from gene mutations, help
certain members survive better. These traits are
then passed to offspring. For example, horse
fossils show that 60 million years ago, horses
were much smaller, and their teeth and hooves
changed over time as they adapted to their
environment.
 STUDYING THE
FOSSIL RECORD
Many organisms that once lived on Earth are now extinct. Over time, Earth's environment
has changed repeatedly, and only organisms with the right traits survived and passed
those traits to their offspring, leading to today’s species. Fossils help us study how
species adapted over Earth's history. For Earth's first 3 billion years, simple organisms
dominated. Between 1 and 2 billion years ago, the first multi-cellular organisms
appeared, and life gradually became more complex. During the Cambrian period, animal
diversity increased significantly.
PHANEROZOIC EON
The Phanerozoic Eon is divided into three eras:
the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic,
spanning from about 540 million years ago to
today. We currently live in the Cenozoic Era.

Over this time, life became more diverse, with

different organisms emerging at different
periods, all evolving from a common ancestor.
Most modern species evolved from now-extinct
ancestors.
PHANEROZOIC EON
At the start of the Phanerozoic, Earth’s
climate warmed, and glaciers gave
way to tropical seas, leading to the
Cambrian Explosion of new life forms.
Throughout the Phanerozoic, Earth’s
climate has cycled at least four times
between cold glacial periods and
warm tropical seas.
DEVELOPMENT OF LIFE DURING THE
PHANEROZOIC EON
 HOW INDEX FOSSILS
HELP DEFINE GEOLOGIC
TIME
GE0LOGIC TIME
The first rule of geologic time is that natural laws never change—they work the
same now as they did billions of years ago. This lets us use present-day
processes to understand the past. For example, if we find sea animal fossils in
a rock, we know the rock formed near the sea, even if it's now in a dry area.
This shows that Earth’s surface has changed over time. Every fossil gives us
clues about a rock’s age, and index fossils are especially helpful because they
define specific periods in geologic time.
CHARACTERISTICS OF AN
INDEX FOSSIL
A good index fossil is one with four
characteristics: it is distinctive,
widespread, abundant, and limited in
geologic time. Because most fossil-
bearing rocks formed in the ocean, the
major index fossils are marine
organisms.
BOOM-AND-BUST ORGANISMS
Any organism can be unique, but few are widespread. Many
key index fossils come from organisms that began life as
floating eggs or larvae, allowing them to spread worldwide
via ocean currents. These organisms became abundant but
also highly vulnerable to environmental changes and
extinction.
TRILOBITES, HARD-SHELLED
INVERTEBRATES
Trilobites are excellent index fossils for Paleozoic rocks,
living in oceans worldwide for 270 million years, from the
Middle Cambrian to the end of the Permian. Constantly
evolving, they inhabited large areas, even globally. With
hard shells, trilobites fossilized easily, and their fossils
are large enough to study without a microscope.
 SMALL OR MICROSCOPIC
FOSSILS
Many important index fossils are tiny plankton from the
world’s oceans. Their small size makes them easy to find in
small rock samples, like wellbore cuttings. Since their
remains settled across the ocean, they appear in many
types of rock.
 TERRESTRIAL ROCKS
For terrestrial rocks, which form on land, regional or
continental index fossils may include small rodents that
evolve quickly, as well as larger animals that have wide
geographic ranges. These form the basis of provincial time
divisions.
DEFINING AGES, EPOCHS,
PERIODS, AND ERAS
Index fossils help define the ages, epochs,
periods, and eras of the geologic time
scale. Some boundaries, like the Permian-
Triassic extinction, are marked by mass
extinction events, shown in the fossil record
by the rapid loss of major species groups.
 GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE
The geologic time scale is divided into eons, eras, and
periods. We currently live in the Phanerozoic eon,
Cenozoic era, and Quaternary period. Periods can be
split into epochs, often called "early" or "late," like
"late Jurassic." These time chunks aren’t equal but are
based on when similar organisms appeared. James
Hutton, known as the "Father of Geology," was one of
the first to understand geologic time. In the late 1700s,
he studied rocks and fossils in Great Britain, believing
that Earth’s processes formed rocks over millions of
years.
GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE
THANK
YOU!