Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Section 5
100
What did marine fossils discovered on a Canadian mountaintop tell scientists? a. Marine species once lived on land. b. The rocks on the mountaintop were once below the ocean’s surface. c. The rocks had probably been preserved in amber. d. The rocks had probably eroded.
The rocks on the mountaintop were once below the ocean’s surface.
100
What process involves the comparison of rock layers with others in a sequence to determine its age?
What is relative dating?
100
Which of the following processes always occurs at a steady rate? a. erosion b. decay of organic matter c. sediment deposition d. radioactive decay
radioactive decay
100
Which of the following is a trace fossil? a. a mark left by a dinosaur’s tail b. a mosquito trapped in amber c. a mummified plant seed d. a frozen woolly mammoth
a mark left by a dinosaur’s tail
100
How many years of the history of Earth do geologists study?
4.6 billion years
200
Which of the following do geologists use to date rock layers? a. trace fossils b. molds c. index fossils d. casts
c. index fossils
200
Erosion is one of the major causes of the missing rock layers, known as
What are unconformities?
200
What does a scientist need to know to figure out the absolute age of a rock? a. the rate of decay for all elements in the rock b. the rate of decay for a radioactive element in the rock c. the rate of superposition for a radioactive element in the rock d. the rate of decays of the rock’s half-life
b. the rate of decay for a radioactive element in the rock
200
the study of past life
paleontology
200
Which of the following is the largest division of geologic time?
What are Eons?
300
What can animal tracks tell about the animal that left them?
how big it was
300
The phrase “younger over older” could be used to remember the principle of
superposition
300
To determine the most accurate and precise age of Earth’s oldest rocks, geologists would use a. relative dating. b. the uranium-lead method. c. the carbon-14 method. d. index fossils.
the uranium-lead method.
300
If a trilobite were buried by ocean sediment, it would leave a cavity, or a(n)
What is a mold?
300
What do scientists think may have caused dinosaurs to become extinct? a. climate change b. competition from mammals c. disappearance of prey d. competition between dinosaurs
climate change
400
the idea that geologic processes occurring now are the same as those in the past
uniformitarianism
400
What is tilting? a. an intrusion b. a form of erosion c. folding of rock layers d. slanting of rock layers
d. slanting of rock layers
400
What happens during radioactive decay? FOSs3 a. Isotopes become radioactive. b. Stable isotopes become unstable isotopes. c. Radioactive isotopes break down into stable isotopes of other elements. d. Radioactive isotopes break down into unstable isotopes.
c. Radioactive isotopes break down into stable isotopes of other elements.
400
What can a scientist learn from studying the relationships between fossils? a. how paleontology has changed b. how life has changed c. how science has changed d. how the geologic column has changed
b. how life has changed
400
How do geologists use the geologic time scale?
to divide Earth’s history into manageable parts
500
the idea that geologic change happens suddenly
catastrophism
500
Which word best describes the geologic column?
ideal
500
a science that combines uniformitarianism and catastrophism
modern geology
500
A fossil used to date surrounding rock layers is called a(n)
index fossil
500
Which era ended with the largest mass extinction in Earth’s history?
Paleozoic
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