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Science Olympiad Fossils Division B 2015 2- How Fossils are Made

Discover the intriguing process of fossilization, from burial to mineral replacement, capturing ancient life forms in rocks. Learn about the naming conventions and types of fossils. Unravel the secrets of paleontology.

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Science Olympiad Fossils Division B 2015 2- How Fossils are Made

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  1. Science OlympiadFossilsDivision B20152- How Fossils are Made

  2. What is a Fossil? WHAT IS A FOSSIL? Fossils are the remains, or traces, of once living things which are buried in rocks of the Earth's crust. These remains can be teeth, bone, shell, impressions, casts, molds, tracks, burrows, castings, coprolites or footprints. To be fossilized the living thing usually has hard parts,  however, sometimes soft parts are preserved as well. From the Website: http://imnh.isu.edu/Exhibits/Online/FossilRecord/cont2temp.html

  3. What is a Fossil? WHAT IS A FOSSIL?The word fossil comes from the Latin word fossilis, which means "dug up." Most fossils are excavated from sedimentary rock layers . The fossil of a bone doesn't have any bone in it! A fossilized object has the same shape as the original object, but is chemically more like a rock. Paleontologyis the branch of biology that studies the forms of life that existed in former geologic periods, chiefly by studying fossils. Fossils have the same shape that the original item had, but their color, density, and texture vary widely. A fossil's color depends on what minerals formed it. Fossils are usually heavier than the original item since they are formed entirely of minerals (they're essentially stone that has replaced the original structure). Most fossils are made of ordinary rock material, but some are more exotic, including one fossilized dinosaur bone, a Kakuru tibia, which is an opal! From the Website: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/dinofossils/index.html

  4. How are Fossils Named? •   Scientists give fossils names in order to identify and classify them for scientific investigation • Two ancient languages, Latin and Greek, have been chosen as the languages of science because they are no longer spoken by a living people.  Naturally, the Latin & Greek names of the fossils mean something in our English. • So, the Greek name of the giant ground sloth Megalonyx jeffersonii, means: Great (Mega) Claw (lonyx) Jefferson's, or Jefferson's "great claw", because it was named for Thomas Jefferson who had a claw in his natural history collection.    The scientific name given to a fossil does not have to say something about the fossil, that is the decision of the scientist who first names the fossil.     The sabertooth cat, Smilodon floridanus, means in Greek: Carving (Smilo) Tooth (Odon)  Florida, or Carving Tooth found in Florida. From the Website: http://imnh.isu.edu/Exhibits/Online/FossilRecord/cont2temp.html

  5. How is a Fossil Made? Fossils of hard mineral parts (like bones and teeth) were formed as follows: Some animals were quickly buried after their death (by sinking in mud, being buried in a sand storm, volcanic ash etc.). Over time, more and more sediment covered the remains. The parts of the animals that didn't rot (usually the harder parts likes bones and teeth) were encased in the newly-formed sediment. In the right circumstances (no scavengers, quick burial, not much weathering), parts of the animal turned into fossils over time. From the Website: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/dinofossils/index.html

  6. How is a Fossil Made? After a long time, the chemicals in the buried animals' bodies underwent a series of changes. As the bone slowly decayed, water infused with minerals seeped into the bone and replaced the chemicals in the bone with rock-like minerals. The process of fossilization involves the dissolving and replacement of the original minerals in the object with other minerals (and/or permineralization, the filling up of spaces in fossils with minerals, and/or recrystallization in which a mineral crystal changes its form). From the Website: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/dinofossils/index.html

  7. How is a Fossil Made? This process results in a heavy, rock-like copy of the original object - a fossil. The fossil has the same shape as the original object, but is chemically more like a rock! Some of the original hydroxy-apatite (a major bone constitiuent) remains, although it is saturated with silica (rock). Most animals did not fossilize; they simply decayed and were lost from the fossil record. Paleontologists estimate that only a small percentage of the dinosaur genera that ever lived have been or will be found as fossils From the Website: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/dinofossils/index.html

  8. How is a Fossil Made? What is permineralization ? One of the common types of fossils is permineralization. This occurs when the pores of the plant materials, bones, and shells are impregnated by mineral matter from the ground, lakes, or ocean. In some cases, the wood fibers and cellulose dissolve and some minerals replace them. The common minerals that form this kind of fossils are calcite, iron, and silica. Petrifiction/Petrifacation(petros means stone) occurs when the organic matter is completely replaced by minerals and the fossil is turned to stone. This method reproduces the original tissue in every detail. This kind of fossilization occurs in both hard and soft tissues. An example of this kind of fossilization is petrified wood. From http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/paleo/fossilsarchive/permin.html

  9. How is a Fossil Made? Fossils can be in the form of Casts or Molds

  10. How is a Fossil Made? Why are Fossils Rock-Colored? Because they ARE rocks! A fossilized object is just a rocky model of an ancient object. A fossil is composed of different materials than the original object From the Website: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/dinofossils/index.html Living things which die in or near oceans, lakes, or rivers have a better chance of fossilization than those which die on dry land, because they will be quickly buried.  Over thousands and millions of years the sediments form heavy layers which slowly turn into sedimentary rock. From the Website: http://imnh.isu.edu/Exhibits/Online/FossilRecord/cont2temp.html

  11. Other Fossil Types? Usually, all of a living thing's soft parts decay, leaving only the hard parts to be buried, except when a living thing is: frozen mummified trapped in Tar tree sap that turns into amber.

  12. Questions ?

  13. Next Week’s Topics? • Geological Time Scale • Relative and Absolute dating • Index Fossils

  14. Topics for Next Week? • Geological Time Scale • Relative and Absolute dating • Index Fossils

  15. Test Station 1 Large Shell 1. Is this Shell a Cast or Mold? 2. How was it preserved?

  16. Test Station 2 Trilobite 1. Are the 2 trilobite fossils in the center of this rock Cast or Molds?

  17. Test Station 3 Plant Fossil 1. Is this plant fossil a Cast or Mold?

  18. Test Station 4 Single Trilobite Fossil 1. Is this fossil a Cast or Mold? 2. Using your book identify the Trilobite.

  19. Test Station 5 Looking at the picture and considering the look, color and the surrounding materiel how was each fossil preserved? A. B. C.

  20. Test Station 6 Fossil 1. Looking in your book between pages 24 – 28 what class do you thing this fossil belongs?

  21. Test Answer Sheet

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