What is the study of live that existed in prehistoric times called?

Paleontology

Most often, what happens to the original remains when an organism dies?

decay or decompose; scavengers also eat most remains

What material, found in Siberia and Alaska, have original remains of wooly mammoths been found?

permafrost

In what material, formed when tree resin hardens, have original remains of insects been found?

amber

What material is a good example of copying the original organism by replacing the decaying organism with minerals?

pertrified wood

What is the term for a hallow depression in rock, formed when the fossil dissolves out of the rock? This shows the origial shape and surface of the organism.

mold

What term refers to the type of fossil formed when minerals fill in the depression, creating a copy of the original fossil?

cast

What term refers to indirect evidence of life, such as footprints, tracks, or burrows?

trace fossil

What term refers to the thin film of carbon that resembles a silhouette of the organism?

carbonacious film

What term refers to the process of placing events in the sequence in which they occurred without identifying the actual dates on which the events occurred?

relative dating

What are the layers of sedimentary rock called?

strata

Which geologic principle states that in an undisturbed sequence of sedimentary strata, the oldest rock layer will be at the bottom and the youngest will be at the top?

superposition

Which principle states that an igneous intrusion (or fault) is always younger than the rock it has intruded or cut across?

cross-cutting relationships

If a rock has embedded fragments, are the embedded fragments older or younger than the rock it is found in?

older