IND E X F OS S IL S A ND T H E

GEO L OG I C T IM E S C A L E

April O. Castillo
Earth Science
 QUICK RECALL!
•Define what is index fossils or guide fossils.
•Define subdivision of geologic time scale.
•List down different subdivision of geologic time scales.
•Identify how index fossils are used to described subdivisions of
geologic time scale.
FOSSILS
•Any trace of living creatures such as a recognizable
structure or impression of a structure of an organism
like skeleton, trails or fecal remains that are
embedded in very old rocks which are at least 5000
years old.
FAMOUS FOSSILS DISCOVERED
PROTOCERATOPS
- where discovered
by nomads in Central
Asia where the
mythical creature
“Griffin” was
probably based on.
FAMOUS FOSSILS DISCOVERED
AMMONITE PTEROSAUR QUETZALCOATLUS
FAMOUS FOSSILS DISCOVERED
ARGENTINOSAURUS
CLUES FROM FOSSILS
•These are the best form of evidence about the history of life on
earth.
•These can give past climates, the motion of plates and major
geological events.
•Can describe the past environment whether marine
(underwater) or land (terrestrial).
INDEX FOSSILS
• Also known as “guide fossils” or “marker fossils”
• These are certain fossils of animals and plants that are preserved in the rock record
(specifically sedimentary rocks) of the earth that identify a particular span of geologic
time or environment.
• For it to be useful, must be distinctive, easily recognizable, abundant and widely
distributed geographically and must lived for a short duration of time.

• This is the basis for defining boundaries in the geologic time scale and also for
correlation of strata.

• Usually sea creatures due to preservation conditions and how widespread ocean-
dwelling creatures can proliferate on the planet.
 TYPES OF FOSSILS
Fossils comes in different types due to fossilization, defined
simply as what preservation process occurred.
PROCESSES IN FOSSILIZATION
• PRESERVED REMAINS
• PERMINERALIZATION
• MOLDS AND CASTS
• REPLACEMENT
• COMPRESSION
 PRESERVED REMAINS
• The rarest form of fossilization is the
preservation of original skeletal
material and even soft tissue. For
example , insects have been
preserved perfectly in amber, which
is an ancient tree sap. Several
mammoths and even neanderthal
hunter have been discovered from
frozen glaciers.
 PERMINERALIZATION
• This is the most common method,.
After a bone, wood fragment or shell is
buried in sediment, it may be exposed
to mineral-rich water that moves
through the sediment. This water will
deposit minerals into empty spaces,
producing a fossil. Fossil dinosaur
bones, petrified wood and many
marine fossils were form through this.
 MOLDS AND CASTS
• The original bone or shell dissolves
away, leaving behind an empty space
in shape of the shell or bone. This
depression is called a mold. Later the
space may be filled with other
sediments to form a matching cast in
shape of the original organism. Many
mollusks,snail,octupi and squid) are
commonly found as molds and casts
because their shells dissolve easily.
 REPLACEMENT
•In some cases,the
original shell or bone
dissolves away and is
replaced by a different
mineral.
 COMPRESSION
•Some fossils form when their
remains are compressed by
high pressure. This can leave
behind a dark imprint of the
fossil. Compression is most
common for fossils of leaves
and ferns, but can occur with
other organisms, as well.
 EXCEPTIONAL PRESERVATION
SOME ROCK BEDS HAVE
PRODUCED EXCEPTIONAL FOSSILS.
FOSSILS FROM THESE BEDS MAY
Fossil sample from Burgess Shale bedrock
SHOW EVIDENCE OF SOFT BODY in Canadian Rockies British Columbia Canada
PARTS THAT ARE NORMALLY
PRESERVED.

Fossil sample from Solnhofen Limestone

in Germany
 MICROFOSSILS AND LIVING FOSSILS
MICROFOSSILS LIVING FOSSILS
• Fossils of microscopic organisms. • Organisms that have existed for a
Examples are ammonites, trilobites tremendously long period of time
and graptolites. without changing very much at all.
 CORRELATION BY INDEX FOSSILS
• To be considered an index fossil, it must meet three (3) criteria:
1. The fossilized organism must be easily recognizable. IT must be easy to id and
look unique.
2. The fossil have to be geographically widespread, or found over large areas so
that we can use them to match layers separated by huge distances.
3. The fossil must have lived for only short time , so that it appears in only
horizontal layer of sedimentary rocks.
HISTORY OF EARTH’S LIFE
FORM
 CHARLES DOOLITTLE WALCOTT
• Was an American paleontologist,
administrator of the Smithsonian
Institution from 1907 to 1927, and
geologist. He is famous for his
discovery in 1909 of well-preserved
fossils, including some of the oldest
soft-part imprints, in the Burgess
Shale of British Columbia, Canada.
 EARTH’S DIVESITY

•VARIATION
This is the difference between the individuals in a species. This helps a species to
survive, causing individuals of a species to be genetically and physically
different.

•ADAPTATION
The characteristics of an organism that help it survive in a given environment.
 EARTH’S DIVESITY

•MUTATION
Also known as random change in organism’s genes. The ones that survive pass
favorable traits on to their offspring.

•EVOLUTION
Changes in a species over time.
HOW INDEX FOSSILS USED TO
DETERMINE GEOLOGIC TIME?
CHARACTERISTICS OF AN INDEX FOSSIL
•DISTINCTIVE
•WIDESPREAD
•ABUNDANT
•LIMITED IN GEOLOGIC TIME
THE HISTOR Y OF THE
EARTH
GEOLOGIC TIME
• IS THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE EARTH’S FORMATION, CHANGES, DEVELOPMENT AND
EXISTENCE. THESE EVENTS ARE MEASURED ON A GEOLOGICAL TIME SCALE.

• DO NOT MEASURE GEOLOGIC TIME ON A CLOCK OR CALENDAR. THEY USE A LINEAR

TIMELINE BASED ON AGE OF ROCKS AND THEIR CORRESPONDING FOSSILS AS WELL AS
THE CHANGE IN LIFE THAT OCCURRED OVER MILLIONS OF YEARS.

• USED BY GEOLOGISTS AND PALEONTOLOGISTS TO DESCRIBE THE TIMING AND

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN EVENTS THAT HAVE OCCURRED THROUGHOUT EARTH’S
HISTORY.

• THE GEOLOGICAL TIME SCALE IS A SYSTEM OF CHRONOLOGICAL MEASUREMENT THAT

RELATES STRATIGRAPHY TO TIME.
 THE EARTH’S STORY
Phanerozoic Eon

Pre- Paleozoic Era Mesozoic Era Cenozoic Era

Cambrian • Cambrian Period • Tertiary Period
• Ordovician Period
Era • Silurian Period • Triassic Period
• Paleocene Epoch
• Eocene Epoch
• Devonian Period • Jurassic Period • Oligocene Epoch
• Carboniferous • Cretaceous Period • Miocene Epoch
Period • Pliocene Epoch
• Permian Period

• Quaternary Period
• Pleistocene Epoch
• Recent Epoch
 GEOLOGIC TIME IS DIVIDED INTO A FOUR-LEVEL
HIERARCHY OF TIME INTERVALS

•EON- A very large division of geologic time equal to a

billion years, or a very long period of time. The history
of the earth has been divided into three eons:
Archean, Proterozoicon and the Phanerozoic eon; the
most recent eon and began more than 500 milliion
years ago.
 EONS
ARCHEAN PROTEROZOIC PHANEROZOIC
• The period where life • The period just before the • This is the period of visible
first formed on earth, proliferation of complex life life where rapid expansion
archea and bacteria. on earth. There were and evolution of life forms
extensive shallow occur and fill the various
Earth cooled down
epicontinental seas and
and was able to ecological niches
rocks are less
support continents available on earth
metamorphosed than
and ocean. archean age.
•ERA – Smaller time interval that divides an eon. The geologic
time scale divided it into three eras– Paleozoic (time of
ancient life), the Mesozoic (time of middle life) and the
Cenozoic (time of recent life).
•Precambrian time – also known as the “time of hidden life”.
This is the time between Earth’s formation and the beginning
of Paleozoic era. This era ranges 4.6 billion years ago when
Earth formed to about 544 million years ago when abundant
microscopic life appeared.
 Name of Era Transistion events Ma

Paleozoic era First appearance of organisms 544

with hard parts- specific event:
The Cambrian explosion

Mesozoic era Extinction of over 90% of living 250

organism including trilobites

Cenozoic era Extinction of dinosaurs and many 65

other organisms
• PERIOD –ERAS ARE SUBDIVIDED INTO PERIODS. THE EVENTS THAT BOUND
THE PERIODS ARE WIDESREAD IN THEIR EXTENT BUT ARE NOT AS
SIGNIFICANT AS THOSE WHICH BOUND THE ERAS. EACH ERA HAS AT LEAST
TWO PERIODS.
• EPOCH - FINER SUBDIVISION OF TIME ARE POSSIBLE AND THE PERIODS
ARE FREQUENTLY SUBDIVIDED INTO EPOCH. SUBDIVISION OF PERIODS
INTO EPOCHS CAN BE DONE FOR THE MOST RECENT PORTION OF THE
GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE. THIS IS BECAUSE OLDER ROCKS HAVE BEEN BURIED
DEEPLY, INTENSELY DEFORMED AND SEVERELY MODIFIED BY LONG TERM
EARTH PROCESSES.
THE SIX MAJOR PERIODS OF PALEOZOIC ERA

CAMBRIAN ORDOVICIAN SILURIAN

DEVONIAN CARBONIFEROUS PERMIAN

 CAMBRIAN PERIOD
• Evolution of different marine species
• Organisms have the ability of secrete
calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate
leading to the formation of shells
• Evolution of chordates, resembled clams and
arthropods (ancestors of spiders,insects and
crusteceans
• There were two supercontinents during this
period, Gondwananand Laurentia
ORDOVICIAN PERIOD
• Marks the earliest appearance of
vertebrates and the jawless fish.
• Ordovician rocks have distinction of
occurrence in high elevation like in Mount
Everest.
• Level of carbon dioxide in this period is
higher than today.
• There were four major continents and three
major oceans in this period.
 SILURIAN PERIOD
• Emergence of terrestrial life, the earliest well
developed circulatory system (vascular
plants) known as Cooksonia.

• Appearance of air breathing scorpions and

millipedes.

• Appearance of primitive armoured fish with

cartilage skeleton which is the earliest fish
known to have jaws named Romundina.

• Three northern continents collided forming

the new supercontinent Euramerica.
 DEVONIAN PERIOD
• Known as “Age of Fishes”
• Flourishment of forest seed ferns, scale trees and
true ferns.
• Appearance of the first amphibians
• Kellwaser event (largest mass extinction during
the late devonian period) was largely
responsible for the demise of great coral reefs,
jawless fishes and trilobites.
 CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD
• Birth of lash vegetation and dense swampy
forest.
• Rapid evolution of insects like cockroaches
and dragonflies
• Evolution of the first replptiles
• Considered as the “coal age”, the formation
of organic deposits of coal in plant debris
formed the world’s first extensive coal
deposits.
 PERMIAN PERIOD
• EXPERIENCE MOST DRAMATIC CLIMATIC SHIFT THAT
WAS BELIEVED PARTIALLY TRIGGERED THE
ASSEMBLY OF SMALLER CONTINENTS INTO A
SUPERCONTINENT CALLED PANGEA WHICH WAS
SURROUNDED B AN IMMENSE OCEAN CALLED
PANTHALASSA.
• DOMINATED BY TWO MAJOR GROUPS OF REPTILES ;
THE DIAPSIDS WHICH GAVE RISE TO DINOSAURS
AND SYNAPSIDS WHICH GAVE RISE TO MAMMALS.
MESOZOIC ERA
•KNOWN AS THE AGE OF REPTILES.
•MADE UP OF THREE PERIODS NAMELY; TRIASSIC,
JURASSIC AND CREATACEOUS
THE THREE MAJOR PERIODS OF MESOZOIC ERA

TRIASSIC JURASSIC CRETACEOUS

TRIASSIC PERIOD
•The triassic is a geologic period and system which
spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian
period 251.902 million years ago, to the beginning of
the Jurassic period 201.36 mya. The Triassic is the
first and shortest period of the Mesozoic era.
 JURASSIC PERIOD
• Jurassic period, second of three periods of the mesozoic era. Extending from 201.3 million to 145 million
years ago, it immediately followed the triassic period (251.9 million to 201.3 million years ago) and was
succeeded by the cretaceous period (145 million to 66 million years ago). 

• The Jurassic was a time of significant global change in continental configurations, oceanographic
patterns, and biological systems. During this period the supercontinent pangea split apart, allowing for
the eventual development of what are now the central atlantic ocean and the gulf of mexico.
Heightened plate tectonic movement led to significant volcanic activity, mountain-building events, and
attachment of islands onto continents. Shallow seaways covered many continents, and marine and
marginal marine sediments were deposited, preserving a diverse set of fossils. Rock strata laid down
during the jurassic period have yielded gold, coal, petroleum, and other natural resources.
 CRETACEOUS PERIOD
• Jurassic period, second of three periods of the mesozoic era. Extending from 201.3 million to 145 million
years ago, it immediately followed the triassic period (251.9 million to 201.3 million years ago) and was
succeeded by the cretaceous period (145 million to 66 million years ago). 

• The Jurassic was a time of significant global change in continental configurations, oceanographic
patterns, and biological systems. During this period the supercontinent pangea split apart, allowing for
the eventual development of what are now the central atlantic ocean and the gulf of mexico.
Heightened plate tectonic movement led to significant volcanic activity, mountain-building events, and
attachment of islands onto continents. Shallow seaways covered many continents, and marine and
marginal marine sediments were deposited, preserving a diverse set of fossils. Rock strata laid down
during the jurassic period have yielded gold, coal, petroleum, and other natural resources.
 CENOZOIC ERA
• Known as the age of “mammals”
• Mammals replaced the reptiles as the dominant land animal.
• Also known as the age of “flowering plants” because angiosperms
replaced gymnosperms as dominant land plants.
• This era also brought the advent of humans.
• The lowered sea level resulted in the land bridges provided the route for
human migration from asia to north america, also throughout the world.
• This is the recent era.
THE THREE MAJOR PERIODS OF MESOZOIC ERA

TRIASSIC JURASSIC CRETACEOUS

TODAY WE LIVE IN…….
Recent Epoch

Quaternary
Period
Cenozoic
Era
Phanerozoic
Eon