Earth History Question Preview (ID: 18857)


Earth History And Fossils. TEACHERS: click here for quick copy question ID numbers.

Geologists use radioactive dating to find the
a) absolute age of rocks
b) relative age of rocks
c) half life of the rocks
d) none of the above

At this time, all life lived in the oceans.
a) Paleozoic
b) Precambrian
c) Mesozoic
d) Cenozoic

What is Law of Superposition?
a) Is the Law of the land
b) That each layer of rock is older than the layer below it.
c) Has nothing to do with Earth History
d) The geologic principle that states that in horizontal layers of sedimentary rock,each layer is older than the layer above it

How does carbon film form?
a) When minerals replace all or part of an organism.
b) Gases escape from sediment, leaving carbon behind. Eventually only a thin film of carbon remains.
c) When a plant or animal gets preserved in ice, tar, or amber.
d) All of the above

The bottom layer in an undisturbed sedimentary bed is usually
a) The largest
b) The smallest
c) On top
d) The oldest

What is a half-life?
a) The length of time needed for half of the atoms of a sample of a radioactive isotope to decay.
b) Half the number of atoms a fossil has.
c) Half of the number or periods that are in an era
d) None of the above

What is weathering ?
a) the breaking down of rocks, soil and minerals as well as artificial materials through contact with the Earth's atmosphere, bi
b) Is the same as erosion
c) Forms when the weather forms fossils in the sedimentary rock layers.
d) All of the above

What is a trace fossil?
a) forms when entire organisms or parts of organisms are prevented from decaying by being trapped in rock, ice, tar, or amber.
b) forms when a mold is filled with sand or mud that hardens into the shape of the organism
c) forms when the mud or sand hardens to stone where a footprint, trail, or burrow of an organism was left behind.
d) All of the above

What is Pangaea?
a) Earth's crust spread apart creating new climates and mass extinctions.
b) A new species of dinosaurs.
c) A new species of mammals that evolved from the mesozoic era.
d) Earth’s continents moved together to form a great landmass, or supercontinent at the end of the Paleozoic Era.

What is a mold fossil?
a) forms when minerals soak into the buried remains, replacing the remains, and changing them into rock.
b) forms when sediments bury an organism and the sediments change into rock; the organism decays leaving a cavity in the shape o
c) forms when a mold is filled with sand or mud that hardens into the shape of the organism
d) none of the above

Why is the Cenozoic era important?
a) It was the Age of the Dinosaurs
b) It had a mass extinction
c) It was the Age of the Trilobites
d) It was the Age of Mammals

How do scientists use radioactive dating?
a) To age ice and check the atmosphere.
b) To date rocks based on a comparison between the observed abundance of a naturally occurring radioactive isotopes.
c) To discover new species
d) none of the above

A type of rock formed by heat and pressure is
a) igneous
b) sedimentary
c) metamorphic
d) none of the above

A type of rock formed by cooled magma is
a) metamorphic
b) igneous
c) sedimentary
d) bedrock

What is unique about animals that are preserved in ice?
a) They are trace fossilized
b) They are completely intact with organs, muscles, and even skin.
c) They are still alive
d) None of the above

What is the difference between a strike slip fault and a dip fault?
a) Strike Slip moves horizontally. Dip Slip moves vertically.
b) Strike Slip moves vertically. Dip Slip moves horizontally.
c) Strike slip is composed of normal and reverse faults.
d) none of the above

Which era is the oldest?
a) Paleozoic
b) Mesozoic
c) Precambrian
d) Cenozoic

What happened during the Precambrian time?
a) The formation of the Sun and light.
b) The creation of the Earth.
c) The creation of the atmosphere through volcanic out-gassing.
d) All of the above.

Based on fossil records, how old is the Earth?
a) 3 billion years old
b) 5.7 billion years old
c) 4.6 billion years old
d) 20 years old

Why do scientists study rocks and fossils?
a) Scientists study fossils as a way of learning about the ancient past.
b) To learn about the age of the earth.
c) The studying of fossils can also help learn how the Earth evolved over time as well as how things developed over time.
d) All of the above

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