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Petrified Cast
2 5
Carbonaceous
Mold
3 6
Trace
Amber and/or
Mold
Geologic Time Scale
All events in Earth’s geologic
history are recorded on the
geologic time scale
Divisions of geologic time are
eons, eras, periods, and
epochs
Fossils from each major era
(Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic)
are found in the rocks of
Virginia.
The end of each era is typically
marked by a major extinction
event.
We are currently in the
Cenozoic Era, the
Quaternary Period, and the
Recent Epoch.
By using relative and absolute
dating methods, we have been
able to roughly estimate the
age of the Earth to be about
4.6 billion years.
Virginia Fossils
Paleozoic fossils: Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian,
and Devonian sedimentary rocks crop out in the
Valley and Ridge and Appalachian Plateau provinces
and preserve abundant marine fossils, indicating
the presence of extensive, shallow seas. By the
Carboniferous (i.e., 350 million years ago), the
western part of the state was covered in lush, dense
forests of “scale trees” (lycophytes), horsetails, and
ferns. The accumulation of organic material in these
large coastal swamps eventually produced Virginia’s
coal seams.
Mesozoic fossils: In the Piedmont province, fossils
of dinosaur footprints, freshwater fish, and insects
are found in rift basin deposits of the Triassic. In the
eastern part of the state, where the sea had not yet
retreated, fossil oysters and belemnites have been
recovered from a few Cretaceous outcrops.
Cenozoic fossils: Dramatic changes in sea level
occurred throughout the Cenozoic. The rise and fall
of sea level is recorded in the richly fossiliferous
rocks of Virginia’s Coastal Plain. Amazing numbers
of fossil clams, snails, and sand dollars can be
found in these marine rocks, along with fossilized
whale bones and shark teeth. Mastodon and
mammoth fossils, while not common, can be found
in Quaternary sediments that were deposited along
rivers and lakes.
Relative Dating
event. 3 1/
8 12.5
4 1/
16 6.25
6 1/ 1.563
to determine the ages of rocks
64
7 1/
128 0.781