Question 1

What is the age of the Earth?

Accepted Answer

A)  12.6 billion years 
B)  12.6 million years 
C)  4.6 billion years 
D)  4.6 million years 
E)  10,000 years 
A)  12.6 billion years 
B)  12.6 million years 
C)  4.6 billion years 
D)  4.6 million years 
E)  10,000 years

Question 2

Who,by virtue of a mathematical model,concluded that Earth could not be older than 100 million years and no younger than 20 million years?

Accepted Answer

A)  Charles Lyell 
B)  William Smith 
C)  James Hutton 
D)  Lord Kelvin 
E)  John Joly 
A)  Charles Lyell 
B)  William Smith 
C)  James Hutton 
D)  Lord Kelvin 
E)  John Joly

Question 3

To determine the age of sedimentary rocks containing fossils,____________________ zones are established,plotting the overlapping geologic ranges of different species of fossils.

Accepted Answer

The answer of To determine the age of sedimentary rocks...

Question 4

Describe how stalagmites are used to reconstruct past climate.

Accepted Answer

Stalagmites are made of calcium carbonat

Question 5

Why was Lord Kelvin's argument for the age of Earth fundamentally in error?

Accepted Answer

He assumed that Earth cooled f

Question 6

Whose work was the basis for the principle of uniformitarianism and the unavoidable necessity of a great age for Earth?

Accepted Answer

A)  Charles Lyell 
B)  William Smith 
C)  James Hutton 
D)  Lord Kelvin 
E)  John Joly 
A)  Charles Lyell 
B)  William Smith 
C)  James Hutton 
D)  Lord Kelvin 
E)  John Joly

Question 7

The time necessary for half of the atoms of the unstable parent element to decay to the new,more stable daughter element is the isotope's ____________________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The time necessary for half of the...

Question 8

The half-life of a radioactive element is the amount of time it takes for ____________________ of the atoms of the unstable ____________________ element to decay to atoms of a new,more stable ____________________ element.

Accepted Answer

half,paren

Question 9

A clast of granite taken from a conglomerate is determined by radiometric dating to be one hundred million years old.What,if anything,does this tell you about the age of the conglomerate?

Accepted Answer

The sedimentary rock

Question 10

The basic lithostratigraphic unit is the series.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 11

Which of the major rock types were most important originally in developing the geologic time scale,and why?

Accepted Answer

Sedimentary rocks,because they

Question 12

Which principle states that fossil assemblages succeed one another through time in a regular and predictable order?

Accepted Answer

A)  principle of cross-cutting relationships 
B)  principle of inclusions 
C)  principle of fossil succession 
D)  principle of uniformitarianism 
E)  principle of superposition 
A)  principle of cross-cutting relationships 
B)  principle of inclusions 
C)  principle of fossil succession 
D)  principle of uniformitarianism 
E)  principle of superposition

Question 13

Lithostratigraphic units are defined by physical attributes of the rocks.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 14

What are seismic profiles?

Accepted Answer

Seismic profiles are graphic d

Question 15

Long-lived radioactive isotope pairs used in radiometric dating have half-lives of the magnitude of ____________________ or ____________________ of years.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Long-lived radioactive isotope pairs used in radiometric...

Question 16

Sources of uncertainty in radioactive dating do not include ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  loss of daughter isotope 
B)  uncertainty in decay constants 
C)  experimental and sample error 
D)  addition of parent isotope 
E)  questions about metamorphism 
A)  loss of daughter isotope 
B)  uncertainty in decay constants 
C)  experimental and sample error 
D)  addition of parent isotope 
E)  questions about metamorphism

Question 17

Geologists are correlating past geologic events to see if there are correlations with climate changes.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 18

How does the sequence of events differ between an angular unconformity and a disconformity?

Accepted Answer

An angular unconformity involv

Question 19

What is the principle of uniformitarianism? Why does the principle of uniformitarianism lead to the conclusion that Earth's age is great?

Accepted Answer

Present-day processes have operated thro

Question 20

How does relative dating differ from absolute dating?

Accepted Answer

Relative dating involves placi

Exam 17: Geologic Time: Concepts and Principles

What is the age of the Earth?

Who,by virtue of a mathematical model,concluded that Earth could not be older than 100 million years and no younger than 20 million years?

To determine the age of sedimentary rocks containing fossils,____________________ zones are established,plotting the overlapping geologic ranges of different species of fossils.

Describe how stalagmites are used to reconstruct past climate.

Why was Lord Kelvin's argument for the age of Earth fundamentally in error?

Whose work was the basis for the principle of uniformitarianism and the unavoidable necessity of a great age for Earth?

The time necessary for half of the atoms of the unstable parent element to decay to the new,more stable daughter element is the isotope's ____________________.

The half-life of a radioactive element is the amount of time it takes for ____________________ of the atoms of the unstable ____________________ element to decay to atoms of a new,more stable ____________________ element.

A clast of granite taken from a conglomerate is determined by radiometric dating to be one hundred million years old.What,if anything,does this tell you about the age of the conglomerate?

The basic lithostratigraphic unit is the series.

Which of the major rock types were most important originally in developing the geologic time scale,and why?

Which principle states that fossil assemblages succeed one another through time in a regular and predictable order?

Lithostratigraphic units are defined by physical attributes of the rocks.

What are seismic profiles?

Long-lived radioactive isotope pairs used in radiometric dating have half-lives of the magnitude of ____________________ or ____________________ of years.

Sources of uncertainty in radioactive dating do not include ____.

Geologists are correlating past geologic events to see if there are correlations with climate changes.

How does the sequence of events differ between an angular unconformity and a disconformity?

What is the principle of uniformitarianism? Why does the principle of uniformitarianism lead to the conclusion that Earth's age is great?

How does relative dating differ from absolute dating?

Understanding Earth: A Dynamic and Evolving Planet

Plate Tectonics: A Unifying Theory

Minerals The Building Blocks of Rocks

Igneous Rocks and Plutons

Volcanoes and Volcanism

Weathering, Erosion, and Soil

Sediment and Sedimentary Rocks

Metamorphism and Metamorphic Rocks

Earthquakes and Earth's Interior

Deformation,Mountain Building,and Earth's Crust

Mass Wasting

Running Water Streams and Rivers

Groundwater

Glaciers and Glaciation

The Work of Wind and Deserts

Oceans, Shorelines, and Shoreline Processes

Organic Evolution The Theory and Its Supporting Evidence

Precambrian Earth and Life History

Paleozoic Earth History

Paleozoic Life History

Mesozoic Earth and Life History

Cenozoic Earth and Life History

Geology in Perspective

Filters

The half-life of a radioactive element is the amount of time it takes for of the atoms of the unstable element to decay to atoms of a new,more stable element.

Long-lived radioactive isotope pairs used in radiometric dating have half-lives of the magnitude of or of years.