Geologic time relative dating

Despite seeming like a relatively stable place, the Earth's surface has changed dramatically over the past 4. Mountains have been built and eroded, continents and oceans have moved great distances, and the Earth has fluctuated from being extremely cold and almost completely covered with ice to being very warm and ice-free. These changes typically occur so slowly that they are barely detectable over the span of a human life, yet even at this instant, the Earth's surface is moving and changing. As these changes have occurred, organisms have evolved, and remnants of some have been preserved as fossils.

Stephen A. Relative time does not tell how old something is, all we know is the sequence of events. For example: Thus we can say how old something is. The sandstone is million years old.

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Other parts of this chapter enable you to reinforce your familiarity with stratigraphic succession and the law of superposition. Once you've completed all the lessons, you'll have also seen these topics:. You can examine these fun video lessons from a computer, smartphone or other kind of Internet-ready device.