Deck 22: Mesozoic Earth and Life History

Question 1

What was the effect of the global rise in sea level during the Cretaceous?

Answer 1

Sea level rose causing transgressions onto the continents.

Question 2

What geologic evidence chronicles the separation of North America and Africa?

Answer 2

There are numerous rift basins that formed during the early part of the Mesozoic Era.

Question 3

Describe the geologic deposits that filled the Triassic fault-block basins found in the Appalachian region.

Answer 3

The Triassic fault-block basins were the site of extensive basalt volcanism and intrusion concurrent with red,non-marine detrital sediments.

Question 4

The three time periods of the Mesozoic,from oldest to youngest are ____________________,____________________,and ____________________.

Question 5

How distinct were Mesozoic mammals from their reptile neighbors?

Question 6

Describe global climate on Pangaea during the Late Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic.How did the breakup of the supercontinent affect global climate?

Question 7

How did the breakup of Pangaea influence geologic and biologic events during the Mesozoic?

Question 8

Based on the occurrence of dinosaur fossils in the Morrison Formation,what can you conclude about the depositional environment of the unit?

Question 9

What is the name of the type of gold deposit found at Sutter's Mill,Coloma,California in 1848,and how are they formed? How did prospectors extract the gold from the deposit?

Question 10

Why did fault-block basins develop along the eastern margin of North America during the Triassic?

Question 11

In what ways did the breakup of Pangaea affect geologic and biologic events on Earth?

Question 12

Describe why there are such massive petroleum deposits in the Persian Gulf region.

Question 13

Briefly state whether ectotherms or endotherms require more food and why.

Question 14

What are terranes? How are they recognized? What role did accretion of terranes play in the growth of western North America?

Question 15

Contrast saurischian and ornithischian dinosaurs.Describe the ancestor of both of these dinosaur groups.

Question 16

Where are most of the world's diamond resources found?

Question 17

What features do ammonites have that make them excellent guide fossils for the Mesozoic?

Question 18

The breakup of Pangaea began during the ____________________ Period and continued through the ____________________ Period.

Question 19

What event was first in the breakup of Pangaea?

Question 20

What is the origin of the uranium in the Colorado Plateau?

Question 21

The general term "Cordilleran orogeny" is applied collectively to a series of individual mountain building episodes known as the ____________________,____________________,and ____________________ orogenies.

Question 22

Scientists know that birds began to evolve prior to the Cretaceous due to the fossil ____________________.

Question 23

A carnivorous dinosaur that used its heavily armored tail to kill for food was the ____________________.

Question 24

The Atlantic Ocean began to form in the ____________________ Period.

Question 25

The ____________________ dinosaurs are also known as the bird-hipped dinosaurs.

Question 26

The duck-billed dinosaurs were in the ____________________ dinosaur group.

Question 27

The Early Cretaceous sedimentation in the Gulf Coastal region was related to a (transgressive/regressive)____________________ seaway.

Question 28

The common ancestor of modern marsupials and placental mammals were the ____________________.

Question 29

The Gulf of Mexico began to form in the ____________________ Period.

Question 30

Low-grade copper deposits associated with large subduction related intrusions are called ____________________ deposits.

Question 31

Cretaceous reefs of the Gulf Coastal region make excellent __________ __________

Question 32

The distinctive sedimentary rocks that were deposited in the early-formed Gulf of Mexico were ____________________.

Question 33

The main commodity associated with large batholithic intrusions in the western United States is ____________________.

Question 34

Major mountain-building episodes during the Jurassic in the Cordilleran region resulted in the formation of the ____________________ and ____________________ Mountains.

Question 35

The major reef builder of the Mesozoic was the ____________________.

Question 36

The ____________________ were characterized by a thickened dome-shaped skull.

Question 37

The three phases of the Cordilleran orogeny in order from oldest to youngest were the ____________________,____________________,and ____________________.

Question 38

The Sonoma orogeny occurred at the ____________________-____________________ boundary.

Question 39

Evaporite deposition ended and normal marine sedimentation began in the Gulf region by the ____________________ Period.

Question 40

Many of the large dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus are known as the ____________________ dinosaurs.

Question 41

During the Mesozoic,climatic variation on Earth could be described as ____.

A) extreme in terms of precipitation
B) extreme in terms of temperature
C) lacking great north-south variation
D) having great north-south variation
E) similar to present day

Question 42

What were the two groups of marine reptiles?

A) plesiosaurs and pterosaurs
B) pterosaurs and ichthyosaurs
C) captorhinomorphs and plesiosaurs
D) plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs
E) plesiosaurs and crocodiles

Question 43

All modern reptiles are ____.

A) ectotherms
B) endotherms
C) echinotherms
D) unitherms
E) antitherms

Question 44

Ammonites of the Mesozoic were characterized by a very ____.

A) restricted duration in time
B) complex indenture pattern
C) complex feeding mechanism
D) complex growth suture pattern
E) complex locomotor mechanism

Question 45

The giant batholiths of the Sierra,Idaho,and Coast Range were emplaced during which orogeny?

A) Sevier orogeny
B) Nevadan orogeny
C) Sonoma orogeny
D) Laramide orogeny
E) Allegheny orogeny

Question 46

The interior of the North American continent was flooded during the Middle Jurassic by which Sea?

A) Navajo Sea
B) Moenkopi Sea
C) Morrison Sea
D) Sundance Sea
E) Sevier Sea

Question 47

The Mesozoic Era is known as the age of

A) reptiles
B) dinosaurs
C) Pangaea
D) angiosperms
E) flowering plants

Question 48

Diamonds

A) form at great depth where temperature and pressure are high.
B) are brought to the surface by explosive volcanism.
C) were formed intensely during the Cretaceous Period in South Africa.
D) all of these.

Question 49

Continental growth is

A) faster at passive margins.
B) faster along active margins.
C) mostly by reworked older continental material.
D) mostly by orogenesis.
E) nonexistent

Question 50

In addition to expansion of reptile species during the Mesozoic,other life groups that showed an increase in diversity include which of the following?

A) marine invertebrates
B) plants
C) mammals
D) birds
E) all of these

Question 51

What are the major classes of Mesozoic mollusks?

A) ammonites, brachiopods, and cephalopods
B) gastropods, ammonites, and brachiopods
C) bivalves, cephalopods, and ammonites
D) trilobites, brachiopods, and ammonites
E) gastropods, bivalves, and cephalopods

Question 52

The Permian/Triassic orogenic event that occurred with the collision of an island arc with the western margin of North America is called the ____ orogeny.

A) Antler
B) Cordilleran
C) Sonoma
D) Franciscan
E) Western

Question 53

What is the difference between a reptile's lower jaw and a mammal's lower jaw?

A) Mammals have 16 teeth in the lower jaw.
B) The lower jaw of a reptile is a single bone.
C) The lower jaw of a reptile contains no teeth.
D) The lower jaw of a mammal is a single bone.
E) The lower jaw of a reptile contains 12 teeth.

Question 54

What was the pterosaur adapted to flight with?

A) a membrane-covered hand-like structure with an elongated fourth finger
B) bird-like wings covered with hollow feathers
C) bird-like wings with no covering
D) bat-like wings covered with thick fur
E) bat-like wings with no covering

Question 55

What are greatly accelerated rates of extinction called?

A) disasters
B) punctuated equilibrium
C) mass extinctions
D) gradualisms
E) normal

Question 56

The mountain building event that began in the Jurassic and continued into the Cenozoic is called the ____ orogeny.

A) Sonoma
B) Antler
C) Cordilleran
D) Rocky Mountain
E) Alleghenian

Question 57

The Franciscan Group rocks are a chaotic assemblage because they ____.

A) represent ocean rift zone sediments
B) represent deposition in an active deep ocean trench
C) represent complex intrusion along a fault zone
D) are high grade metamorphic rocks
E) were deposited in a fault zone

Question 58

Because of the nature of the world-wide climatic conditions in the Mesozoic,organisms ____.

A) had few habitats to occupy
B) could occupy extensive geographic regions
C) could only occupy restricted geographic regions
D) were not affected
E) stayed where they were

Question 59

The Gulf of Mexico began to form during the ____ ____ as North America separated from ____.

A) Early Triassic, Africa
B) Late Triassic, Africa
C) Early Triassic, South America
D) Late Triassic, South America
E) Middle Triassic, Africa

Question 60

How did ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs differ?

A) Ichthyosaurs were able to travel onto the land.
B) Ichthyosaur females probably gave birth to live young.
C) Plesiosaur females probably gave birth to live young.
D) Plesiosaurs were adapted only to the aquatic environment.
E) Ichthyosaurs ate fish and plesiosaurs did not.

Question 61

Rudists bivalves were an important component of the Mesozoic reef community.

Question 62

Of the three major classes of mollusks,gastropods were the only significant group in the Mesozoic oceans.

Question 63

Mountain building in western North America did not begin until the Late Cretaceous Period.

Question 64

Major copper deposits are associated with oolitic limonite and hematite in Jurassic rocks of Western Europe.

Question 65

The Palisades sill is a Cretaceous age basalt intrusion associated with compressional mountain building.

Question 66

Ammonites were one of three major groups of Mesozoic marine fauna to go extinct at the end of the Cretaceous.

Question 67

More species went extinct at the end of the Permian than at the end of the Mesozoic.

Question 68

Mesozoic age coal deposits in the United States are the primary source of coal in this country.

Question 69

One of the most productive dinosaur fossil stratigraphic horizons is the Triassic Newark Group.

Question 70

During the Jurassic and Cretaceous,the Appalachian range was eroded into a low-lying erosional surface.

Question 71

The corals that proliferated in the Mesozoic oceans were scleractinians.

Question 72

Most of the burrowing organisms of the Mesozoic marine community were soft-bodied animals.

Question 73

Scleractinians were very different from the corals of the Paleozoic seas.

Question 74

The effect of the meteorite impact at the end of the Cretaceous is thought to have been ____.

A) great input of particulate matter into the atmosphere
B) blocking of the incoming solar radiation
C) cessation of photosynthesis
D) collapse of the food chains
E) all of these

Question 75

During the breakup of Pangaea,the eastern margin of North America went first through a passive margin stage and then through a rift margin stage.

Question 76

As the Gulf of Mexico began to form,the shallow restricted basin was conducive for red bed formation.

Question 77

Unlike the Paleozoic burrowing animals which were soft-bodied,burrowing animals of the Mesozoic were hard-shelled.

Question 78

Evaporite deposition continued in the Gulf of Mexico region throughout the entire Mesozoic.

Question 79

The marine fauna that repopulated the oceans after the Permian extinction was more diverse than the Paleozoic marine fauna.

Question 80

Triassic land-plant communities were significantly different than Permian due to the evolution of angiosperms.