Exam 1: An Introduction to Geology and Plate Tectonics

The Precambrian (Hadean, Archean and Proterozoic Eons)accounts for ________.

________ is often paraphrased as "the present is the key to the past."

The ________ is the solid, rocky shell between the crust and outer core.

How old is our planet thought to be from a scientific viewpoint?

Seafloor spreading is the dominant process at convergent plate margins.

The law of superposition applies primarily to sedimentary rocks and lava flows.

The ________ division of the geologic time scale is an era of the Phanerozoic Eon.

The ________ states that fossil organisms succeed one another in a definite and determinable order.

What is the average density of oceanic crust?

Paleontologic evidence for the existence of Pangaea comes from ________, a cold-loving, sub-polar, fossil fern with large seeds that was widely distributed throughout the Late Paleozoic of: Africa, Australia, India and South America

________ was an aquatic, carnivorous reptile that was found both in eastern South America and southern Africa; lending support to the idea of a former land connection.

In the rock cycle, the transported natural chemical and mechanical residues of weathering are termed ________.

When was our planet created, according to James Ussher?

Rocks that have been recrystallized under stress, or changing conditions of heat and pressure are termed ________.

On the seafloor profile below, fill in the blanks with the correct name of the feature that is labelled.

Of the hydrosphere, 97% is contained in ________.

The doctrine of uniformitarianism implies that the current forces and processes shaping the Earth have been operating for a very long time.

________ was never proposed as evidence supporting the existence of the Pangaea supercontinent.