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What else can I help you with?
A type of trilobite is used as an index fossil. These fossils were made about 540 million years ago. A scientist finds a trilobite fossil in layer 5 in the diagram below?
Whats the answer everyone?
What can the scientist conclude about these birds?
Fossils in layer 5 are less than 540 million years old.
What is true about fossils in the same rock layer or strata?
Fossils found in the same rock layer or strata are assumed to be of similar age and were likely deposited during the same time period. This allows scientists to infer the relative ages of the fossils based on the layer they were found in. Fossils within the same layer can provide valuable information about the environment and species that existed during that specific time period.
What do scientists use to mark boundaries in the geologic time scale?
I'm thinking it's index fossils because index fossils tell when or how old the layer it was found in. If that's what your asking.
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.
What layer is an old fossil found?
Fossils are typically found in sedimentary rock layers, which are formed from the accumulation of sediments over time. Fossils are most commonly found in the mid to lower layers of sedimentary rock formations. The specific layer in which a fossil is found depends on the age of the fossil and the geological history of the area.
How is the law of superposition is used to date fossils?
Superposition is the methodology of younger sediments being deposited over older rocks. Paleontologists can determine the evolution or extinction of a species by looking at what fossils are either present or absent in a particular sedimentary layer.
Why are index Fossil helpful for performing relative dating?
Because they give us the best estimate of how old all the other fossils are in that sedimentary layer.
If the remains of a plant between a rock layer contains 400 million year old phacops fossils and a rock layer contains 230 million year tropites how old is the plant?
You may have to add. Although you need to put a specific label. Do the work :D
Where are the oldest fossil located?
The worlds oldest fossils were found in an ancient beach in Austrila, they are 3.4 billion years old and are fossils of cells. They have no bones and are mineralized spheres.
Why are the fossils at the bottom older than the ones at the top of the soil?
I don't now you
How old can fossils get?
as old as you want.
