in upper ‘earlier’ strata

English translation: in the upper strata of the very old rocks

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English term or phrase:	in upper ‘earlier’ strata
Selected answer:	in the upper strata of the very old rocks
Entered by:	Rachel Fell

16:07 Mar 19, 2009

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Science - Geology / A religious book about the Creation/evolution debate

English term or phrase: in upper ‘earlier’ strata

Notable examples of ‘living fossils’ in the wild are the Tuatara which are found in Cretaceous and ‘older’ rocks (on the classic geological time scale) but none in ‘recent’ strata higher up the geological column. Yet they are still living today and show no change despite the supposedly 135 million year gap. This is testimony against any evolutionary change. The Coelacanth (mentioned in Appendix C) was supposed to be a transition creature for fish to amphibians since fossils of these creatures are found in what is supposedly very old rock (but not ***in upper ‘earlier’ strata***). Yet the finding of an exact modern counterpart in 1938 is another embarrassing example of a ‘living fossil’. The record in the rocks is not one of transition, but of death and at times, extinction—such as the woolly mammoth and the pterodactyls, for which there are no modern counterparts.

Should they not be older strata if they are up?

Ana Juliá KudoZ activity Questions: 3922 (none open) (22 closed without grading) Answers: 1027 Spain
Local time: 11:25

in the upper strata of the very old rocks

Explanation:
i.e. the fossils are found in the VERY old/early rock strata but not in the top layers of these - i.e. from a very long time ago but not from a just a long time ago - that's how it seems to me.

Selected response from:

Rachel Fell
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:25

Grading comment

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3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

3 +3

in the upper strata of the very old rocks

Rachel Fell

3 +2

It is confusing.

jccantrell

4 +1

in upper ‘earlier’ strata --> probably correct

Kay Barbara

Answers

29 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

It is confusing.

Explanation:
The older strata should be down below the newer strata.

Maybe the author meant to say "newer" instead of 'earlier'

Just my take.

jccantrell
United States
Local time: 02:25
Native speaker of:

English

34 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

in upper ‘earlier’ strata --> probably correct

Explanation:
Hi Ana,

without knowing more about the stratigraphy in question, it would be a good choice to stick with the source text. The default assumption is that younger or more recent layers are on top of older ones. E.g. on the seafloor, marine sediments settle on top of existing (older) layers and are compacted to form a new stratum (which is younger).

There are, of course, several tectonic processes which result in older strata being moved above younger ones, but you would require more context to judge this.

So my advice is to trust the source if you consider it trustworthy.

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Note added at 38 mins (2009-03-19 16:45:40 GMT)
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Oops, I seemed to have "automatically corrected" the phrase in question. So I agree with JC, it should probably be "younger/newer"...
except if there is some more complex stratigraphy involved.

Kay Barbara
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:25
Native speaker of:

German

55 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

in the upper strata of the very old rocks

Rachel Fell
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:25
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 3

Grading comment

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English translation: in the upper strata of the very old rocks

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