absolute dating
is the process of assigning an exact numerical age to an organism, object, or an event
relative dating
is the process of placing objects 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
states that in an undisturbed sequence of sedimentary rock layers, the youngest rocks will be at the top and the oldest rocks will be at the bottom
uncomformity
are gaps in the rock record during which either erosion occured or deposition was absent
fossil
remains or traces of organisms found in the geologic rock record