Assignment
1. How has the scientifically accepted age of the Earth been determined?
a. Radiometric dating of meteorites
b. Cross-cutting relationships
c. Genealogy from ancient texts
d. Relative dating
e. Stromatolites outgassing
2. Based on all you've learned from examples in Utah and Arizona, which rock types most commonly contain fossils?
a. Metamorphic
b. Igneous
c. All of these commonly contain fossils
d. Sedimentary
3. It's important to understand how fossils come about. Be sure to read the material in the overview. Then decide, which of the following will not make a fossil?
a. decomposed organic material
b. plant impressions (casts)
c. loose animal bones
d. animal footprints
4. Fossil evidence provides a great record of the development of life forms on earth. Much of this evidence is preserved in National Parks. Check out these amazing algal mats in Glacier NP:. Now, investigate the global record, and answer the following question.
Research shows life existed on Earth as far back as ______ years ago.
a. 41 billion year ago
b. 4.1 million years ago
c. 4.1 billion years ago
d. 410 million years
e. 41 million years ago
5. Consider the geologic timescale:
And this wonderful site for exploring geologic changes over time:
Why do you think there are more subdivisions of the Phanerozoic Eon than of the Precambrian (even though the Precambrian is a much longer time)?
a. The timescale is not linear
b. Paleontologists identify better data for events taking place during the Phanerozoic
c. The fossil record indicates a greater number of evolutionary milestones during the Phanerozoic
6. Fossil evidence indicates that life moved onto land about_______.
A wonderful site for exploring geologic changes over time:
a. 440 million years ago
b. 43 million years ago
c. 4 billion years
d. 4 million years ago
7. Examine the divisions of geologic time during Earth's 4.5 billion years. Which era is referred to as "The Age of Dinosaurs"?
a. Cenozoic
b. Mesozoic
c. All three eras witnessed the existence of dinosaurs
d. Paleozoic
8. Watch all the amazing and quick videos about Dinosaur National Monument. These links lend great perspectives on processes of sedimentation, the regional geologic history, and the preservation of fossils. Why does the Morrison Formation displays such an incredible collection of dinosaur fossils?
a. The Morrison Formation is on a plateau and protected from erosion.
b. The Morrison Formation resembles a river system
c. Layer 9
d. The Morrison Formation accumulated on a stable continental platform, where the rocks are protected from later tectonic deformation.
9. Beds of sedimentary rock containing similar fossil assemblages are found in different locations all over the western U.S. (such as dinosaurs bones found in the Morrison Formation in Utah, Wyoming, and Montana). What is the stratigraphic method (or relationship) that identifies these beds as similar in age?
a. Correlation
b. Stratigraphic formation
c. Cambrian explosion
d. Disconformity
10. According to the fossil record, which species thrived first?
a. Amphibians
b. Land plants
c. Small mammals
d. Fish
11. Geologists have divided the Phanerozoic Eon into three eras. What major events occurred that caused them to place a division between the Paleozoic and the Mesozoic eras?
a. The largest mass extinction. Trilobites go extinct, as do 50% of all animal families, 95% of all marine species, and many trees due to volcanism.
b. All of the above
c. The largest mass extinction. Trilobites go extinct, as do 50% of all animal families, 95% of all marine species, and many trees due to glaciation.
d. A or B
e. Large extinction (the K-T extinction) of dinosaurs, pterosaurs, ammonites, about 50 percent of marine invertebrate species, etc. probably influenced by an enormous tsunami.
12. What events occurred that caused paleontologist to place a division between the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras?
a. Large extinction (the K-T extinction) of dinosaurs, pterosaurs, ammonites, about 50 percent of marine invertebrate species, etc. caused by asteroid impact
b. Large extinction (the K-T extinction) of dinosaurs, pterosaurs, ammonites, about 50 percent of marine invertebrate species, etc. probably influenced by an enormous tsunami
c. All of the above
d. Large extinction (the K-T extinction) of dinosaurs, pterosaurs, ammonites, about 50 percent of marine invertebrate species, etc. possibly caused by volcanism
13. Refer to the video and any associated text about fossil succession and index fossils.
Now, Go to the following website, and use the arrowed buttons on the bottom left to scroll through the animation, from Age A to Age D.
After watching the awesome animation, which fossil would be considered to be the best index fossil and why?
a. turritella
b. brachiopod
c. trilobite
d. ammonite
14. Given all you have learned about supervolcanoes, which volcanic hazard could be responsible for an extinction this dramatic?
a. Pyroclastic flows
b. Lava flows
c. Lahars
d. Ash
15. Refer to the sequence of events shown below, which explains the development of an unconformity (gap in the record of geologic time). Which type of unconformity is a surface of erosion that separates overlying sedimentary rock from underlying tilted layers of sedimentary rock?
Unconformities:
a. disconformity
b. nonconformity
c. angular unconformity
16. The sequence of events shown below explains the development of an unconformity (a gap in the record of geologic time). Which type of unconformity is a surface of erosion that separates overlying sedimentary rock from underlying igneous or metamorphic rock?
Unconformities:
a. angular unconformity
b. nonconformity
c. disconformity
17. Refer to the sequence of events shown below, which explains the development of an unconformity (gap in the record of geologic time). What is the name of an erosion surface that separates two sets of sedimentary layers with parallel bedding planes?
Unconformities:
a. disconformity
b. nonconformity
c. angular unconformity
18. Although stratigraphy (a group of sedimentary layers) may consist of a really thick stack (like the layers preserved in Death Valley and the Grand Canyon!), we cannot accurately measure time in years with stratigraphy for several reasons. It's fun to contemplate why this is thickness does not scale with the duration of time.
In light of your contemplations, which of the following statements is most likely false?
a. the rock record does not tell us how many years have passed between periods of deposition
b. many sedimentary rocks contain fossils that have not been identified, so we can't calculate a rate
c. sediments accumulate at different rates in different sedimentary environments
d. Beds that are widely separated (in terms of location) cannot be definitively correlated using stratigraphy alone.
19. Which of the following best describes an isotope?
a. An atom that has gained or lost electrons and has an electrical charge.
b. An atom that has bonded with another atom to form a molecule.
c. An atom that has more or fewer neutrons than protons.
d. An atom that has changed into another atom through loss or gain of protons.
20. According to the website and the Table below, what would be the most appropriate material for carbon dating?
a. Bone found in a clay bed overlying a 30,000 year old lava flow
b. Well sorted sediment preserved in cross beds from ancient sand dunes
c. Cretaceous granite
d. Gypsum beds preserved in a sand from an evaporated lake
21. What would be the most appropriate material for argon to argon dating?
a. Gypsum beds preserved in a sand from an evaporated lake
b. Well sorted sediment preserved in cross beds from ancient sand dunes
c. Cretaceous granite
d. Bone found in a clay bed overlying a 30,000 year old lava flow
22. Half-life is the time that it takes for half of the parent to decay to the daughter. The graph below shows the relationship between the age of a mineral and a mineral's 40Ar/40K ratio. (Half-life of 40K is 1,250 Ma.) Say you analyze a mineral today and you find that the 40Ar/40K ratio is 1 (meaning the amounts of 40Ar and 40K are equal). Use the graph to determine how many half-lives have occurred.
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4
23. How old is the mineral?
a. 3,250 Ma
b. 2,500 Ma
c. 1,250 Ma
d. 4,500 Ma
24. How many half lives would a sample need to go through in order for the ratio of 40Ar/40K to be three (meaning the amount of 40Ar is three times greater than the amount of 40K)?
a. 1
b. 4
c. 2
d. 3
25. If you sampled a fresh lava flow from Hawaii, what would the 40Ar/40K ratio be?
a. 2
b. 3
c. 0
d. 1
26. Which best describes how the geologic time scale was created?
More on the timescale:
A wonderful site for exploring geologic changes over time:
a. Relative dating provided the sequences of events; Radiometric dating provided the numbers.
b. Time periods were established based on the sequence of different life forms.
c. Radioactive techniques provided numbers were used to establish time periods.
d. At specific places, the principles of relative dating were used to order events.
Attachment:- Geographic_Assignment.rar