Stratigraphy

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/stratigraphy

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the key subfields?Lithostratigraphy (rock types), Biostratigraphy (fossils), Chronostratigraphy (absolute age)
2. What is the applications?Resource exploration (oil, gas, water), hazard assessment (earthquakes, volcanoes), paleoclimate studies

Stratigraphy: The geological science concerned with the study of rock layers and their interpretation in understanding Earth's history and time.
Strata: Distinct, parallel layers of sedimentary rock, each representing a specific period of deposition or volcanic event.
Law of Superposition: A fundamental principle stating that in an undisturbed sequence of rock layers, the oldest are at the bottom and the youngest are at the top.
Biostratigraphy: A subdiscipline of stratigraphy that uses the fossil content of rocks to determine their relative ages and correlate them across regions.