Geology assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Geology assignment - Essay Example This principle states that different fossil species always appear and disappear in the same order, and that once a fossil species goes extinct, it disappears and cannot reappear in younger rocks (Prothero & Buell, 2007). In this principle, if an unidentified fossil is found in the same rock layer as an index fossil, the two species must have existed during the same period of time. If the same index fossil is found in different areas, the strata in each area were likely deposited at the same time. Thus, the principle of faunal succession makes it possible to determine the relative age of unknown fossils and correlate fossil sites across large discontinuous areas. Critical evaluation of this geological concept reveals a lot of assumptions and misconceptions which rule out the possibility of existence of this feature. Though faunal succession has been supported to be a reality, close examination indicates that even with the ten systems superposed, the column has never been observed (Prothero & Buell, 2007). Research establishes that index fossils rarely overlie each other especially in the same locality. In that respect, even in places where Phanerozoic systems have been employed, this column’s existence is still considered hypothetical. Correlation is the concept of piercing together separated outcrops informational content. In this technique, information obtained from two outcrops is integrated and the resultant time interval is greater than for each of them. The sequence of fossils through the rock layers is a powerful tool since the fossils representing each age is always consistent, whereas the rock layers changes across distance (Prothero & Buell, 2007). This makes it easy to use them in mapping distinctive formations of the fossils hence making fossils such powerful tools in correlating strata over great distances. Of the