What occurs when a large number of species occur during a relatively short period of time?
mass extinction
The largest division of the geologic time scale is the era is an __.
Eon
What do we call the time when Earth was all one land mass?
Pangaea
In what geologic period are all things living today?
Quaternary period
Determining whether a fossil formed before or after another fossil is:
relative dating
During which period did the dinosaurs become extinct? [double click if you can tell how long ago they became extinct]
Cretaceous and Tertiary (tricky right!)
65 million years ago (more or less)
Period - Quaternary Epoch - Holocene
Pangaea occurred between 280 MYA and 230 MYA. What organisms dominated at that time?
reptiles OKA dinosaurs!
Most fossils are preserved in __ rock.
sedimentary rock
What do we call a scientist who studies the history of life on Earth through the fossil record?
a Paleontologist
Which mass extinction killed the highest percentage of species?
Permian extinction (95%)
What does relative dating tell you about fossil 'C'.
It's older than fossil A and B, and younger than fossil D.
The Earth has changed from Pangaea to the present configuration because of what process? [hint: mantle ___]
convection
What organisms dominated during the Mesozoic Era?
[double click if you can name it's three periods]
dinosaurs!
Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous
What process determines the age of a fossil in years?
[double click if you can tell what kind of material is used to find the ages]
absolute dating
radioactive materials
Which mass extinction led to the death of Crinolds?
became:
How old is Earth according to the scale?
4.5 billion years old
[4,540 thousand million years old]
These occur most often at boundaries between tectonic plates, mostly along a belt, called the “Ring of Fire” that encircles the Pacific Ocean.
What are they called?
volcanoes
What two divisions of the Geologic Time Scale are determined by the life that dominated then?
Eras and Periods
What is an example of an event that could cause a mass extinction?
an asteroid collision meteor showers solar super flare
Name three organisms that became extinct during the Ordovician extinction.
too many to type
When did the Paleozoic Era begin and end?
450 MYA - 250 MYA
What mountain range began when the Indian Plate collided with the Eurasian plate?
[double click if you can tell what type of mountains]
Himalayan
folded mountains
Name this index fossil.
[double click if you can tell what an index fossil is]
Trilobite
Index Fossil - any fossil that is characteristic of a particular geologic time period
Why is it difficult to tell which fossils are older?
The layers of strata are broken, uplifted and subsided.