Welcome to Random Word Vacation
Final Day in the Series
Random Word: Fossil
We’ve all seen a fossil or, perhaps, held one in our hands. They are the remains or impressions of a prehistoric organism. And. They are preserved in some miraculous petrified form, cast in some rock, deep in the Earth, or found in some creek bed.
Most of the organisms that died out long ago never became fossils. To become a fossil, the conditions need to be just right. So many of our fossils form on the sea floor. Some poor animal died and sank to the bottom of the ocean. Then, down there in the deep dark, its body rotted away. But then the Hocus Pocus happened. Over time, the sediment around the bone hardened. And believe it or not, the bone dissolved. This formed a mold. Then, all that good ocean water slowly put its minerals in the mold. And. Presto Change-o. A fossil was made.
They form surprisingly fast, in a matter of weeks, sometimes. Other times much longer. But. They can be ancient. The oldest known fossils have been found in western Australia and are dated to 3.5 billion years old. Welcome to the Planet Earth.
And that is what I know, and don’t know, about the word fossil.
A note about The Random Word Vacation
Yes, a brief break from the daily grind of this blog.
Possibly for the next few days or more, depending on my mental vacation need.
Instead, I am given a random word at https://randomwordgenerator.com/
And I will write something about it. The rule is, that I have to use the first word I get from the generator. No excuses. No substitutes.
