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What is the least number of years it takes for a fossil to form?
100 years.
Definition of absolute dating?
age of a rock unit in number of years before present (numerical age).
What is a drying fossil?
a fossil that has been underground for million years
How can scientists understand what the relevant age of a fossil is?
There are layers of earth that are deposited over time and based on where a fossil is in the layers a scientist can understand what the age of the fossil is relevant to another fossil in a different layer of earth. The law of superposition says that new sediment is deposited on top of old sediment so, the sediment in the bottom layer is the oldest and the sediment at the top is the youngest. Because of this the fossils in the bottom layer are the oldest and the fossils near the top are the youngest. Say you have 10 layers of rock, and the top layer is number 1 (the youngest) and the bottom layer is number 10 (the oldest). Even if a scientist can't tell exactly how old a fossil is if they know it is in a layer deeper than another fossil they know it is older than that fossil so, a fossil from layer 9 is older than a fossil from layer 5 which is also older than a fossil from layer 3. This is relative age. If we take it a step further... If a scientist knows that the fossil in layer 4 is 65 million years old than we not only know the fossils in layer 5-10 are older than the one in layer 4, but that they are all older than 65 million years old. So, the fossils in layer 1-3 would be less than 65 million years old. Scientists can know how old a specific fossil is sometimes based on whether or not it is an index fossil (a fossil that only occurred during a very small, specific interval of time), or if it is possible to carbon date it or something in the same layer.
How long does it take to form a fossil?
There are many types of fossilization. Some take a surprisingly few number of years, and others occur over periods of millions of years.
Why are fossil fuels 'finite' and 'non-renewable'?
Fossil fuels are a specific type of fuel that is made up of prehistoric animals and plants. This type of fuel is considered finite and non-renewable because they take millions of years to create.
Is radioactive dating important for providing evidence for evolution?
It tells you when the animal that made a fossil was alive. Radio carbon dating proves scientifically the age of a given material. If a fossil is found embedded in material that is x number of years old and a similar fossil is found x number of years older or younger then we can surmise the evolution of that species. There are thousands of examples of theoretical evolution using this method.
How is radioactivity dating important for providing evidence for evolution?
It tells you when the animal that made a fossil was alive. Radio carbon dating proves scientifically the age of a given material. If a fossil is found embedded in material that is x number of years old and a similar fossil is found x number of years older or younger then we can surmise the evolution of that species. There are thousands of examples of theoretical evolution using this method.
How long does a fossil fuel last?
As long as a fossil. Over billions of years.
When is a fossil a fossil?
Excellent question! There's no definitive way of saying "this is a fossil"; so paleontologists usually pick the arbitary age of 10,000 years - so if remains are more than 10,000 years old, they are called a fossil.
Are potatoes fossil fuels?
The potatoes are not the fossil fuels.But they can turn into fossil fuels once buried in soil for million years.
How long does it take for the earth to make fossil fuels in years at a time?
It takes millions of years for fossil fuels to be naturally formed.
