Vincent Massey Junior High School

Unit 4: Planet Earth

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Topic 1 Minerals

Topic 2 Rocks

Topic 3 Erosion and landforms

Topic 6 Volcanoes

Topic 5 Earthquakes

Topic 7 Mountains

Topic 4 Moving Crust

Topic 8 Fossils Why study fossils?

Topic 9 Geologic Time

Topic 10 Fossil Fuels and Geology of Calgary

Dinosaur extinction project

Dates to Remember

Five Principal Applications of Fossils

Telling time...Biostratigraphy

Paleontologists use fossils for relative dating of rocks throughout the world. Organisms that are abundant, evolve quickly, have a wide distribution and are relatively tolerant of a wide range of environments make the best time indicators.

Understanding ancient environments...Paleoecology

The appearance and disappearance of different fossils through time tells a story of changing environmental conditions. One of the main objectives for study of sedimentary rocks is the reconstruction of the environment in which the sediments that form the rocks were deposited.

Understanding the History of Life on Earth

Without the study of fossils, we would know nothing about the history of life on earth.

Understanding continental movements...Paleobiogeography

Unusual patterns in the distribution of fossils were one of the reasons taht scientists began to suspect that the continents had not always been in the same position.

Understaning the relationship of life to planet Earth...Paleobiogeochemistry

Knowledge of the history of life provides important imformation for the understanding of processes that have taken place and are still taking place on the Earth's surface. The existance of life has affected the chemistry of the oceans and the atmosphere over the past 3 500 million years.

 

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