Evolution

Evolution is a gradual process in which something changes into a different and

usually more complex or better form
The evidence for evolution has primarily come from four sources:
1. the fossil record of change in earlier species
2. the chemical and anatomical similarities of related life forms
3. the geographic distribution of related species
4. the recorded genetic changes in living organisms over many generations

Darwin came to understand that any population consists of individuals that are all
slightly different from one another. Those individuals having a variation that gives
them an advantage in staying alive long enough to successfully reproduce are the
ones that pass on their traits more frequently to the next generation. Subsequently,
their traits become more common and the population evolves. Darwin called this
"descent with modification."
The Law of Superposition is described by how layers are usually laid down
according to their age: the oldest layer is found on the bottom, and the most recent
layer is on top. So, if a layer is on top of another layer, it is probably more recent.
For a fossil to form the animal or plant must die near water and sedimentation must
then occur.
Plate Tectonics: The theory that the earth's surface is divided into a few large, thick
plates that are continually moving.
Plate: a rigid layer of the Earth's crust that is believed to drift slowly
Plate boundaries: The place where two or more plates in the Earth's crust meet.
Trench: trenches are tremendously deep features on the ocean floor
Mid-ocean ridge: mountain range that runs along the ocean bottom formed at the
boundaries of oceanic plates.
Subduction zones: A place on the surface of the Earth where two plates move
toward each other, and the oceanic plate plunges beneath the other tectonic plate.
Sea Floor Spreading: Process by which new ocean floor is formed by lava erupting
from a rift valley, pushing the existent floor outward from the rift.
Mountain building: In geology, orogeny is the process of mountain building. The
process of orogeny can take tens of millions of years and build mountains from plains
or even the ocean floor.
Folding: The process of bending rock layers in Earth's crust.
Faulting: The process of movement along a break or crack in Earth's crust.