Biostratigraphically

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. Relating to the branch of geology that uses fossil organisms to date and correlate rock layers
2. Concerned with the study of stratified rocks through the distribution of fossilized remains within geological formations
3. Connected to the scientific method for understanding the temporal and spatial relationships of sedimentary layers based on their fossil content

Etymology: Biostratigraphically is a technical adverb built in two steps. It comes from "biostratigraphic", an adjective formed from "bio-", meaning life, and "stratigraphic", relating to stratigraphy, the study of rock layers and their order. The "-ally" ending turns that adjective into an adverb meaning "in a biostratigraphic manner". Geologists use it to describe dating or correlating rock layers by the fossil assemblages they contain. The idea behind the word is simple. Sedimentary rocks build up in layers, and each layer preserves the organisms that lived when it formed. Because some species existed for only a short span of geological time, finding one of them in a rock layer tells a geologist roughly when that layer was laid down. Matching fossils across distant outcrops lets scientists correlate rocks that look entirely different on the surface.

Synonyms: paleoecologically, geologically, stratigraphically, chronostratigraphically, sedimentologically