page_title: Raindrop impressions
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Raindrop impressions / Description
caption_attribution_description: The impressions of raindrops preserved on a bedding plane, in the Taller Mecanico formation of southern Spain.
context_page_description: Raindrop impressions are a geological feature characterized by small crater-like pits with slightly raised edges that are the result of the impact of raindrop impacts on soft sediment surfaces.
  Sedimentary structures with similar appearance have been found. They can be considered a type of fossil, but their significance and authenticity has been questioned.
context_section_description: Raindrop impressions are only a few millimeters thick and less than 1 centimeter in diameter.  They can be preserved as widely scattered impressions or in close proximity to one another on the sediment surface.
  Raindrop impressions can appear as small craters or as small raised bumps. If the sample has craters, the top of the sample is being viewed because the rain would have fallen onto it making indentations. If the sample has small raised bumps, the bottom of the sample is being viewed. In this case, the raindrop impressions were created in the sediment, which was then followed by more sediment which filled the impressions, creating, what appear to be, raised bumps on the bottom of the upper layer.
  Fossilized raindrop impressions can help scientists determine historical atmospheric pressure.
caption: Fossil raindrops
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