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Understanding Index Fossils and Their Uses

Index fossils are the preserved remains of once-living organisms found in sedimentary rock layers. They serve as guides to correlate rock layers and determine the geologic period because they were abundant and evolved over short periods of time. Good index fossils are easy to identify and widespread globally. Scientists use index fossils such as ammonites and graptolites to define periods in the geologic timescale and determine the relative ages of rock layers through stratigraphic correlation.

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Gene Paul Tabisaura
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124 views23 pages

Understanding Index Fossils and Their Uses

Index fossils are the preserved remains of once-living organisms found in sedimentary rock layers. They serve as guides to correlate rock layers and determine the geologic period because they were abundant and evolved over short periods of time. Good index fossils are easy to identify and widespread globally. Scientists use index fossils such as ammonites and graptolites to define periods in the geologic timescale and determine the relative ages of rock layers through stratigraphic correlation.

Uploaded by

Gene Paul Tabisaura
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Index Fossils

Objectives
• Define what is index fossils or guide fossils
• Describe how index fossils are formed
• Identify how Index Fossils is used to
correlate Rock Layer
• Identify the importance of index fossil
Fossil: The remains,
imprints or traces of
prehistoric organisms
that once lived on Earth
preserved in the
sedimentary rock units.
What do fossils tell us?
• Fossils give clues about organisms that
lived long ago.
• They also provide evidence about how
Earth’s surface has changed over time.
• Fossils help scientists understand what
past environments may have been like.
Fossils are generally only found in
sedimentary rocks.
FIVE MAIN TYPES OF FOSSILS
1. Permineralized
(Petrified) Remains:
are hard and rock-
like because the
original material has
been replaced by
minerals.
PETRIFIED FOSSILS
• The word “petrified”
means “turning into
stone.”
• Petrified fossils form
when minerals replace
PETRIFIED FOSSIL
The Field Museum in Chicago
displays a fossil of a
all or part of an
Tyrannosaurus rex.
organism.
• A mold forms when hard
parts of an organism are
buried in sediment, such as
sand, silt, or clay.
• The hard parts completely
dissolve over time, leaving
behind a hollow area with
the organism’s shape.
• A cast forms as the result of a
mold.
• Water with dissolved minerals
and sediment fills the mold’s
empty spaces.
• Minerals and sediment that are
left in the mold make a cast.
• A cast is the opposite of its
mold.
CARBON FILMS
• All living things contain an
element called carbon.
• When an organism dies and is
buried in sediment, the
materials that make up the
organism break down.
• The thin layer of carbon left
behind can show an organism’s
delicate parts, like leaves on a
plant.
TRACE FOSSILS

Tracks that have


been preserved
in mud/clay
ORIGINAL OR PRESERVED REMAINS

The actual organism or


part of it has been
preserved in amber, ice
or tar
Index Fossils
• Index fossils are the preserved remains
of plants and animals whose bodies
were buried in sediments
• serve as a key, indicator, or guide in
telling the geologic period
Index Fossils
• Index fossils can be
macrofossils or
microfossils.
• can be plants or
animals, but most are
animals
ammonites tribolites
graptolites
microfossils
What makes a good index fossil?
1. Be abundant
2. Geographically widespread
3. Have a short geologic time – short-
live/evolve fast
4. Easy to recognize or identify
Which organisms make good index
fossils
• Most index fossils are from
organisms that were successful in
being abundant but vulnerable to
extinction or evolved fast.
How do scientists and geologists use
index fossils?
1. To define periods of the geologic
time scale
2. Provide the relative age of rock and
fossil assemblages
3. Stratigraphic correlation

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