| Geology 105 - Paleontology | ||||||
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Terms:
| faunal succession - in undisturbed sedimentary rocks, the fossils always occur in the same order |
| fossil assemblage - collection of fossils found together |
| biostratigraphic zone - the vertical range of rock containing a specific fossil or set of fossils; the basic unit of biostratigraphy |
| stage - a vertical range of rock encompassing a specific set of zones |
| index fossil - organism used to define the boundaries of a zone |
| resolution - degree to which time intervals can be discriminated. The shorter the duration of the zone, the higher the resolution |
1. How are biostratigraphic units defined?
For each kind of zone, define it, and illustrate what the ranges of the index fossils involved look like (see fig. 10.2).
taxon range zone
concurrent range zone
interval zone
lineage zone
assemblage zone
abundance zone
2. What makes a good index fossil?
In class we will indentify the characteristics of a good index fossil. In your reading, note any characteristics you run across:
3. What factors affect the effectiveness of a biostratigraphic zonation?
How do each of these factors affect the utility/accuracy of a biostratigraphic scheme?
Evolution:
Facies dependence:
Emigration:
Preservation:
Erosion/Hiatus:
Extinctions:
Reworking:
1. Biostratigraphic units
You should be able to:
2. Index fossils
You should be able to:
3. Factors affecting zonation
You should be able to: