What is the Bulli Coal Seam?

NGSS Phenomena: An image of a rock cliff, with the lowest gray layer labeled Permian, and a thick black layer on top of it labeled Bulli Coal Seam, and above both of those another gray layer labeled Triassic.
In the above photo, we see the Bulli Coal Seam as a black line between rocks dated to the Triassic and Permian periods. Around the world, we see a change in the fossil record at this boundary. In the Triassic period, we can’t find 96% of the Marine fossils from the Triassic period. Nearly 70% of all fossilized animals that were living on land in the Permian period are also absent in rock layers above this line.

1. In the diagram below, label the oldest rocks with the word “OLD” and the youngest rocks with the word “YOUNG.”

Color

Width

2. Using the photo of the Bulli Coal Seam, discuss how this documents the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of many life forms throughout the history of life on Earth. Identify at least one similarity and difference between the other rock layers and the Bulli Coal Seam layer.

3. Describe the type of event that could cause a change like this in the fossil record.

4. What relationship is there between each of these layers and the missing fossils in the beginning of the Triassic period?

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