How Are Fossils Formed?

How Are Fossils Made

How are fossils made? Fossils are actually the remains of plants or animals that lived millions of years ago. While that is what they are, fossils still to this day serve a very important purpose. They are able to provide some very important information about what life was like millions of years ago. How are fossils made? It is very gradual process. It all begins when a creature dies, or a plant drops into some sediment. Usually, this sediment is at the bottom of a lake, river or stream. Sediment is made of mud and sand. Over some time, with the pressure of the water and atmosphere, the sediment eventually turns into rock. Those minerals seep their way into the remains of the creature or plant and begin to dissolve. As they dissolve, they crystallize, and begin the transformation from skeleton to fossil. Depending on the types of minerals in the water, the fossil can form in two separate ways. Some minerals completely dissolve, and leave an empty space as a fossil. Some kind of carving creates a shape into a rock by removing portions of the rock.

You may be wondering how are fossils made it is that you find so many fossils on land when the majority of them were formed under the water. Well, as the earth continues to reshape itself, lots of things get pushed around. Plates with in the earth shift, volcanoes explode, and typhoons and tsunamis move massive amounts of water and land. Over time many things that were buried under water, are move by the natural forces of the planet to somewhere else. Like your own backyard for example. So, you have to keep your eyes open, you never know what you may find. From different types of rock, our planet Earth can and does reveal certain information about its past. Showing what was living in other periods of time. To better understand we give you a brief meaning of the three rocks that make up the earths crust. They are the Sedimentary, Igneous and the Metamorphic. The Sedimentary rock is formed of sand mud or grit and gravel, which collect as layers and over time is compressed to form a solid mass.

The igneous rock is formed from molten material form inside the earth that cools and solidifies. Metamorphic rock is formed when Sedimentary or Igneous rock are highly compressed and undergo extreme heating deep beneath the earth that cools very slowly then changes into this type of rock. So from all these types of rock the Sedimentary is the most important to fossil experts, simply because it is the most likely of all to contain fossils. How are fossils made a very important part for expert’s scientists, and geologists, in that they provide vital data in determining the age of, or how long ago certain creatures or plant life existed? This data is collected and gathered together then translated into what is known as a geological chart comprising of divisions called Periods and Eras.

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