High on a mountain you find a fossil of a clam. How could the fossil have gotten there?
Question by smile: High on a mountain you find a fossil of a clam. How could the fossil have gotten there?
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5 Responses to High on a mountain you find a fossil of a clam. How could the fossil have gotten there?
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The fossil would have bee in an ancient sea where it fossilized. After millions of years of continental drift, the ancient sea bed was raised into a mountain as two Continental plates collide forming the new mountain chain.
JOSEPH S
August 27, 2013 at 5:45 am
Millions of years ago, that mountain wasn’t there. Instead, there was an ocean. Over time a clam left an imprint on a rock. Then, due to plate tectonics, to continental plates collided with each other, forming a mountain. By then, all the water had gone and in it’s place, a high mountain.
Hi ta Holla 2
August 27, 2013 at 6:04 am
Simple answer is that earths water levels have changed over time. It could be that the sea level was higher in the past and covered the mountain. When the levels dropped the fossil became exposed on top of the mountain. Alternatively the sea bed may have risen due to volcanic activity and got pushed up into a mountain range. You can find marine fossils in Himalayas for instance. Hope this helps.
open_skyz
August 27, 2013 at 6:23 am
The clam would have lived in water millions of years ago then when it had gone fossilized the plates under the earths crust shifted(they shift constantly but over time..)and caused the mountains to form, which is why the clam would be up so high
tprouty11
August 27, 2013 at 7:07 am
It is due to mountain building which has occurred over millions of years. There are two tectonic mechanisms:
1. Orogeny: mountain-building process of folding,
faulting, magmatism, and metamorphism
Continent-continent collision is a key mechanis
2. Epeiirogeny: vertical motions of largely flat-lying rocks
without faulting or significant folding
Orogeny is the main mountatin building process. A good example is the himalayan Orogeny. The India subcontinent collides with Tibet and breaks along the Main Central Thrust fault. A second thrust fault forms, lifting the first thrust fault
Michael P
August 27, 2013 at 7:35 am