Alex listed the typical steps of fossil formation. 1. an organism dies 2. the remains fall to the bottom of the ocean. 3. the soft portions decay and the hard portions remain. 4. the sediment becomes rock. which statement describes the missing step?

The statement that describes the missing step is statement 4.

4. the sediment becomes rock.

The correct sequence can be listed as :

1. an organism dies.

2. the remains fall to the bottom of the ocean.

3. the soft portions decay and the hard portions remain.

4. The body remains buried deeper in the sediment  and pressure from rocks and acid dissolve the body and leaves an empty mold.

And then the sediment becomes rock.

The alex listed all the steps of fossil formation but there must be a step added    before the step 4.

The step that should be added before step 4 is that : The organisms get buried inside the ocean and then physical and chemical changes takes place in the organism.

Then sediment formation takes place which gets converted into rock.

the answer to your question is tooth decay.