Absolute Dating
the process of assigning an exact numerical age to an organism, an object, or event
Relative dating
the process of placing object or events in their proper order in time
uniformitarianism
states that the laws of nature operate today as they have in the past
Principle of superposition
state that in an undisturbed sequence of sedimentary rock layers, the youngest rocks will be at the top and the oldest rock will be the bottom
unconformily
gaps in the rock record during which either erosion occurred or deposition was absent
fossil
the remains or traces of organisms found the geologic rock record