Geological Time
Rocks and Fossils
Earth Layers/Tectonics
Radiometric Dating
Earthquakes
100
Order the following from longest to shortest:
period, epoch, era, eon
eon, era, period, epoch
100
What are the 3 rock types?
Igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary
100
What is an outcrop?
A part of a rock formation that appears above the surface of the surrounding land
100
What is a half-life?
The amount of time that it takes one half of the parent radioactive atoms to decay into daughter isotopes. Every radioactive isotope has a specific half-life.
100
What machine records earthquake waves?
Seismograph
200
The era that spans the greatest geological time in Earth's History is...
Precambrian era
200
What are 4 types of fossils?
mould, cast, trace, body/fossil remains
200
What is the semiplastic layer of earth that tectonic plates move across called?
Asthenosphere
200
What is an isotope?
Two or more forms of the same element that contain equal numbers of protons but different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei.
200
which type of wave travels the slowest?
Surface wave
300
The geological eras in order from oldest to most recent are....
Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic
300
Which type of igneous rock will have larger crystals--intrusive or extrusive?
Intrusive
300
Which plate boundary results in the destruction of crust?
convergent (subducting)
300
What is the half-life for the following unknown element?
8 days
300
If a seismograph determines that the time between p and s-waves is 55 seconds, how far away is the station from the epicentre?
540 km
400
What microorganism left behind fossilized structures called stromatolites?
cyanobacteria
400
What are the three things that make a good trace fossil?
Distinctive (easily recognizable)
Abundant (many fossils can be found)
Wide geographic distribution over short time
400
How we know that the Earth's magnetic poles have reversed multiple times throughout geological history?
Paleomagnetism
400
Radio carbon dating is done by estimating in a specimen:
a.) The amount of ordinary carbon still present.
b.) The amount of radiocarbon still present.
c.) The ratio of the amount of C-14 to C-12 still present.
d.) The ratio of the amount of C-12 to C-14 still present.
c.) The ratio of the amount of C-14 to C-12 still present.
400
What type of earthquake wave is a transverse wave?
S-waves
500
What geological formation is proof of primordial earth's oxygen rich atmosphere?
Banded-iron formations
500
A rock is formed through immense heat and pressure. The rock is part of an oceanic tectonic plate that subducts under a continental plate, resulting in the rock melting. The magma it is a part of pushes up through cracks in the crust above it until it is part of the upper lithosphere. Water and wind erode the rock, and it's fragments are carried away where they settle at the bottom of a river. As more sediments pile on top of it, the weight compacts the fragments, cementing them into a solid rock again. What is the capital of Alberta spelt backwards?
NOTNOMDE
500
What are the 4 layers of earth listed from thickest to thinnest?
Mantle, outer core, inner core, crust
500
A geologist determines the percentage of uranium-238 and lead-206 found in a titanite. She finds that 88% of the sample is lead-206. Determine the age of the titanite.
Approximately 13 billion years old.
1.3 x 10^10 a
500
Explain how seismic waves are used to locate oil.
Answers will vary, must include reference to geophones (vibrator truck, detector truck, geophones spread out collecting refracted and reflected waves)