If a person is "sterile", this means that they cannot reproduce. The word "sterilized" is essentially stating that there is no productive activity in order to be able to reproduce.
In geology, a key bed (syn marker bed) is a relatively thin layer of sedimentary
rock that is readily recognized on the basis of either its distinct
physical characteristics or fossil content and can be mapped over a very
large geographic area.[1]
As a result, a key bed is useful for correlating sequences of
sedimentary rocks over a large area. Typically, key beds were created as
the result of either instantaneous events or (geologically speaking)
very short episodes of the widespread deposition of a specific types of sediment. As the result, key beds often can be used for both mapping and correlating sedimentary rocks and dating them. Volcanic ash beds ( and bentonite beds) and impact spherule beds, and specific megaturbidites
are types of key beds created by instantaneous events. The widespread
accumulation of distinctive sediments over a geologically short period
of time have created key beds in the form of peat beds, coal beds, shell beds, marine bands, black in cyclothems, and oil shales. A well-known example of a key bed is the global layer of iridium-rich impact ejecta that marks the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary (K–T boundary). Please let me know if it works.
