index fossil
index fossil
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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| process where the surface of the earth is worn away by the action of water, glaciers, winds, waves |
| portion of the earth's surface consisting of disintegrated rock and humus |
| index fossil | |
| —n | |
| Also called: zone fossil a fossil species that characterizes and is used to delimit a geological zone | |
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index fossil  (ĭn'děks') Pronunciation Key
The fossil remains of an organism that lived in a particular geologic age, used to identify or date the rock or rock layer in which it is found. The best type of index fossils are usually those of swimming or floating organisms that evolved quickly (and therefore did not cover a long span of geologic history) and were able to spread over large areas. Ammonites and graptolites are good index fossils. |
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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index fossil
any animal or plant preserved in the rock record of the Earth that is characteristic of a particular span of geologic time or environment. A useful index fossil must be distinctive or easily recognizable, abundant, and have a wide geographic distribution and a short range through time. Index fossils are the basis for defining boundaries in the geologic time scale and for the correlation of strata. In marine strata, index fossils that are commonly used include the single-celled Protista with hard body parts and larger forms such as ammonoids. In terrestrial sediments of the Cenozoic Era, which began about 66.4 million years ago, mammals are widely used to date deposits. All of these animal forms have hard body parts, such as shells, bones, and teeth, and evolved rapidly.
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