Page 26 - Atlas of Creation Volume 1

The Formation of Fossils

Following the death of a living thing, a fossil comes

into being through the preservation of hard body
components an animal leaves behind, such as bones,
teeth, shell or nails. Fossils are generally thought of as

parts of a plant or animal in a petrified state. However,
fossils do not come into being only through petrifaction.
Some have survived down to the present day without
any impairment or decay of their structures, such as
mammoths frozen inside ice or insects and small species

of reptiles and invertebrates preserved in amber. A wasp of 54 to 28 million years
When a living thing dies, the soft tissues comprising old, petrified in amber.
its muscles and organs soon begin to decay under the effects of bacteria and

environmental conditions. (In very rare occasions, such as in sub-zero cold or dry heat of deserts, decay
does not take place.) The more resistant parts of the organism, usually mineral-containing parts such as
the bones or teeth, can survive for longer periods of time, allowing them to undergo various physical and
chemical processes. And these processes allow fossilization to take place. Therefore, most of those parts
that become fossils are vertebrates' bones and teeth, shells of brachiopods and molluscs, the external

skeletons of certain crustacean and trilobites, the general outlines of coral-like organisms and sponges,
and the woody parts of plants.
An organism's surroundings and environmental conditions also play a major role in fossil formation.

One can predict whether or not fossilization will take place on the basis of an organism's surroundings.
For example, in terms of fossil formation, underwater environments are more advantageous than dry
land ones.
The most common, widespread process of fossilization is known as permineralization or
mineralization. During this process the organism is replaced by minerals in the liquid in the soil in which

the body is immersed. During the process of mineralization, the following stages take place:
First, it is essential that by being covered in soil, mud
or sand, the body of the dead organism should

immediately be protected from contact with the air. Over
the following months, new layers of sediments are laid
down over the buried remains. These layers act as a
thickening shield, protecting the animal's body from
external agents and physical wear. Many more layers

form, one atop the previous ones; and within a few
hundred years the animal's remains lie several meters
beneath the surface of the land or sea or lake bottom. As

more time passes, structures such as the animal's bones,
shell, scales or cartilage slowly begin their chemical
breakdown. Underground waters begin to infiltrate these
structures, and the dissolved minerals contained in these
waters—minerals such as calcite, pyrite, silica and iron,

which are far more resistant to erosion and chemical
breakdown—gradually replace the chemicals in the
tissues. Thus over the course of millions of years, these This dragonfly trapped in mud may one day

minerals give rise to an exact stone copy by replacing the become fossilized and will reach the future
generations as evidence that evolution has
tissues in the organism's body. Finally, the fossil comes to
never happened.
possess the exact shape and external form as the original
organism, although now converted into stone.

24 Atlas of Creation