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| Geological photographs from around the world | ||||||||
Preservation of Fossils
When an organism dies, many hazards lie ahead before it is preserved as a fossil.
First, the soft, non-mineral parts are rapidly destroyed:
- eaten by scavengers
- decomposed by bacteria etc
- decayed (oxidised) to carbon dioxide etc
unless prevented by
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Hard skeletal parts may leave actual or altered remains unless broken up by wave action or other destructive processes.
Fossils may later be destroyed by
- percolating groundwater
- re-crystallisation during metamorphism
- development of slaty cleavage
Others are lost by erosion, or through careless collecting by students!
It is perhaps surprising that there are any fossils at all!
- describes the various ways in which fossils are preserved;
- illustrates these modes of preservation;
- shows some of the rarer methods of preservation;
- illustrates stromatolites, living fossils which evolved over 3000 million years ago.
The Study Guide contains the following pages:
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To order this CD go to the Geopix Online Store