rock strata
Earth's layered beds
Rock strata are layers of sedimentary rock deposited over geological time, each stratum representing a distinct period of accumulation.
Geologists read strata like pages in Earth's history—older layers lie beneath younger ones, and fossils within reveal what lived when.
The singular is stratum: The fossil was found in a stratum dating to the Jurassic period.
- unconformityGap in rock sequence
- supergroupBand of already-famous musicians
- fault linesFractures between rock masses
- sedimentary layersAccumulated geological deposits
- stratigraphyStudy of rock layers
layer cake · geology · facies · correlation · cross-bedding · bedrock · anticline · erosion · outcrop · Grand Canyon · paleontology · geological time · deep time · deposition · fossil record · core samples · sequence · sedimentary
- geologybedrock, fault lines, faults, basalt, metamorphic rocks
- Earth historyice age, geological time, extinction, eons, fossil
- British geologychalk, flint, limestone, shale, sandstone
- cross sectionsbread slice, cake slice, fruit slice, orange slice, tree rings
- desert geologyslot canyon, slot canyons, dunes, ergs, mesa
- Earth's crustgranite, basalt, continental crust, oceanic crust, lithosphere
physical state
rock stratamagma
Molten rock underground
molten rock · lava · molten core · magma chamber · mantle