Deck 23: Cenozoic Earth and Life History

Question 1

How were Neanderthals different from modern humans?

Answer 1

Neanderthal skulls were long and low with heavy brow ridges,a projecting mouth,and a receding chin.Their brain was slightly larger but differently shaped.The Neanderthal body was massive and more heavily muscled with rather short lower limbs.

Question 2

In what two major zones or belts has Cenozoic orogenic activity been mainly concentrated?

Answer 2

the Alpine-Himalayan belt,the circum-Pacific Belt

Question 3

What was the name given to the most recent episode of large-scale deformation in the Cordillera,and when did it begin?

Answer 3

the Laramide orogeny,85 to 90 million years ago

Question 4

Briefly state the arguments against the human cause for extinction of large mammals at the end of the Pleistocene.

Question 5

Describe the geologic setting of the western margin of North America.

Question 6

How and when did the land that is the present state of Florida originate?

Question 7

What is the origin of the present topography of the Appalachian Mountains?

Question 8

How did the Cenozoic conditions of eastern and western North America differ?

Question 9

What is the North American Cordillera?

Question 10

What is the prehistoric overkill hypothesis,and what evidence supports overkill as the reason for the Pleistocene extinctions?

Question 11

What are the features of an orogeny?

Question 12

Briefly state the arguments against the climate change hypothesis for the Pleistocene extinction.

Question 13

Briefly describe the "out of Africa" view of human evolution.

Question 14

In what two ways was the Laramide orogeny different from other orogenies?

Question 15

Describe the geologic setting of Cenozoic sedimentation along the Atlantic margin of North America.

Question 16

What are the mountain ranges that have been produced by plate convergence associated with the Alpine orogeny?

Question 17

What are some indications that the Alpine orogenic belt is still active?

Question 18

Name,from oldest to youngest,the three groupings into which the Cenozoic is divided.

Question 19

Briefly describe the multi-regional view of human evolution.

Question 20

What is the distinction between browsers and grazers? Why did this feature evolve?

Question 21

The group of hoofed mammals which are even-toed are the ____________________,while those which have an odd number of toes are the ____________________.

Question 22

At their greatest extent during the Pleistocene,glaciers covered about ____________________ as much of Earth's surface as they do now.

Question 23

Mammals that give birth to live young that need little or no protection after birth are called ____________________.

Question 24

Since the appearance of Cro-Magnon,what has been the major area of human evolution?

Question 25

Mammals that produce an unprotected embryo that undergoes further development in a pouch are called ____________________.

Question 26

Less evaporation and more precipitation during the glacial stages led to the formation of ____________________ lakes.

Question 27

____________________ gold deposits are formed by stream deposits.

Question 28

The plate tectonic activity that gave rise to orogens around much of the circum-Pacific orogenic belt was ____________________.

Question 29

The Cenozoic Atlantic margin of North America is an example of a(n)____________________ tectonic margin.

Question 30

During the last two million years,there have been at least ______ warm-cold cycles.

Question 31

During the Pleistocene of North America,there were at least ____________________ glacial stages.These stages,in order from oldest to youngest,are the ____________________,____________________,____________________,and ____________________.

Question 32

Ungulates that eat grasses are called ____________________.

Question 33

The sea that covered the Gulf Coastal Plain in the Early Tertiary was the ____________________ sea.

Question 34

Mammals that lay eggs are called ____________________ mammals.

Question 35

The sea level (decreased/increased)____________________ (amount)____________________ during the maximum glacial coverage of the Pleistocene.

Question 36

The Cenozoic Era has been _______ years long.This is only _______ percent of all geologic time.

Question 37

The ____________________ orogeny resulted in the formation of the Himalayan Mountains.

Question 38

Diatomaceous earth is a sedimentary rock composed of the ____________________ shells of micro-organisms.

Question 39

Where the pluvial lakes once were,there are now thick sequences of ____________________.

Question 40

Briefly describe the lives of Cro-Magnon.

Question 41

____________________ was a robust creature with a developed social structure.

Question 42

The Mesozoic orogenies of the Cordillera ____.

A) progressively affected areas from west to east
B) progressively affected areas from east to west
C) involved only deformation and no magmatism
D) involved only magmatism and no deformation
E) progressively affected areas from west to east AND involved only deformation and no magmatism

Question 43

Homo sapiens clearly evolved from ____________________.

Question 44

The most recent ancestor of modern humans that evolved about 35,000 years ago is ____________________.

Question 45

The major difference between modern humans and Neanderthals is ____________________.

Question 46

The cause for cessation of Laramide deformation was a(n)____.

A) decrease in the angle of the subducted slab
B) change from subduction to rift tectonics
C) increase in the angle of the subducted slab
D) change from subduction to transform tectonics
E) cessation of subduction

Question 47

The first of the hominids to make major migrations was ____________________.

Question 48

All but which of the following mountain ranges could be considered part of the Alpine chain?

A) Urals
B) Pyrenees
C) Alps
D) Atlas
E) Apennines

Question 49

The Cenozoic Era is divided into the

A) Tertiary and Quaternary periods.
B) Paleogene and Tertiary periods.
C) Tertiary and Neogene periods.
D) Paleogene and Neogene periods.
E) Quaternary and Paleogene periods.

Question 50

During the Early Tertiary,what were the interior lowlands of the continent the site of?

A) local erosion
B) deposition in marine and terrestrial environments
C) minor volcanism
D) local erosion and deposition in marine and terrestrial environments
E) all of these

Question 51

The oldest hominids belong to the genus ____________________.

Question 52

The Himalayas today are ____.

A) volcanically active
B) seismically active
C) a place of mountain building
D) no longer tectonically active
E) seismically active with active mountain building

Question 53

The age of oceanic crust in the Pacific is asymmetric because

A) much of the crust in the eastern Pacific has been subducted.
B) spreading is faster on the east side of the ridge than on the west side.
C) the eastern Pacific collided with the Americas to form mountain ranges.
D) volcanism on the west side of the ridge has made the crust larger.
E) all of these.

Question 54

The angle of the subducted slab during the Laramide orogeny was ____.

A) very steep resulting in volcanism near the trench
B) very shallow resulting in volcanism near the trench
C) very steep causing deformation far inland
D) very shallow causing deformation far inland
E) almost vertical

Question 55

Formation of basin and range mountains is a result of ____.

A) thrust faulting
B) folding and faulting
C) normal faulting
D) volcanism
E) batholithic intrusions

Question 56

The Early Tertiary sedimentary sequence of the Gulf Coastal Plain is ____.

A) a generally transgressive sequence
B) a generally regressive sequence
C) completely nonmarine
D) completely eroded away
E) generally missing

Question 57

The orogenic event of the North American Cordillera that began in the Late Cretaceous and extended into the Cenozoic is the ____ orogeny.

A) Laramide
B) Sevier
C) Nevadan
D) Antler
E) Appalachian

Question 58

The oldest australopithecines were ____________________.

Question 59

What can eastern North America during the Cenozoic be described as?

A) an active orogenic belt
B) an area of uplift and erosion
C) an active volcanic region
D) a flat eroded plain
E) a major marine basin

Question 60

The Cascade Mountain Range includes

A) shield volcanoes.
B) composite volcanoes.
C) plug domes.
D) cinder cones.
E) all of these.

Question 61

What did the extinction at the end of the Pleistocene affect?

A) only marine organisms
B) terrestrial mammals weighing more than 40 Kg
C) terrestrial mammals weighing less than 40 Kg
D) marine mammals weighing more than 40 Kg
E) all mammal groups equally

Question 62

All except which of the following distinguish hominids from other hominoids?

A) bipedal manner of locomotion
B) larger brain with internal segments
C) reduced face and canine teeth
D) are only carnivorous eaters
E) use and construction of sophisticated tools

Question 63

Angiosperms constitute more than 90% of all land plants.

Question 64

During the Cenozoic,brachiopods ____.

A) greatly expanded their numbers and diversity
B) were greatly reduced in number of genera
C) took over habitats previously occupied by mollusks, forcing those creatures to go extinct
D) became the most important marine invertebrate phyla
E) became extinct

Question 65

Why might the abundance of marine diatoms be related to increased volcanism?

A) Volcanic activity resulted in decreased sunlight which affected the growth of all marine phytoplankton except diatoms.
B) Volcanic activity may have resulted in the increase in silica in seawater.
C) Increased volcanic activity warmed sea water, creating a favorable habitat for diatoms.
D) Increased volcanism caused cooling of sea water which created optimal conditions for diatom growth.
E) Increased volcanism created new ecological habitats for diatoms.

Question 66

Ungulates include orders of mammals which are all ____.

A) three-toed
B) hoofed
C) herbivores
D) large
E) hoofed herbivores

Question 67

Prosimians are

A) arboreal
B) omnivorous
C) the oldest primate lineage
D) extinct
E) arboreal, omnivorous, and the oldest primate lineage

Question 68

Geologists know more about Cenozoic Earth and life history than about any other era of geologic time.

Question 69

When did the last ice age begin?

A) 150 years ago
B) 500 years ago
C) 10,000 years ago
D) 1.5 million years ago
E) 2.6 million years ago

Question 70

Because of the large amount of weight in a glacial mass,the crust of Earth may ____.

A) not be affected at all
B) rebound or uplift
C) subside
D) collapse into the mantle
E) melt

Question 71

At the height of the Great Ice Age,the present desert regions of southwestern United States ____.

A) were covered with continental ice sheets
B) were drier than modern day conditions
C) had large lakes form in intermontane basins
D) were tropical rainforest environments
E) were covered with valley glaciers

Question 72

New seafloor is being created in the East African rift.

Question 73

During the Neanderthal era,what was climate characterized by?

A) balmy pleasant weather year-round
B) stifling hot summers and mild winters
C) long, frigid winters and short summers
D) temperatures extremes, frigid winters and hot summers
E) the same types of temperatures in the same places seen today

Question 74

What are streams that cut across ridges called?

A) imposed drainages
B) canyons
C) superposed drainages
D) erosional streams
E) overposed canyons

Question 75

Which of the following cephalopods did not survive the Cretaceous extinction?

A) nautiloids
B) octopus
C) squids
D) ammonites
E) pleisiosaurs

Question 76

The evolutionary trend in mammal size during the Pleistocene could have been in response to ____.

A) global warming when there was more food available
B) cooler temperatures because large animals retain heat more efficiently
C) protection from predation of other organisms
D) increased predatory ability
E) decreased metabolic requirements

Question 77

The geologic province caused by the collision of India with Asia is known as the Alpine-Himalayan Orogenic Belt.

Question 78

All of the following except which are features of primates?

A) increased brain size
B) stereoscopic vision
C) opposable thumb
D) less specialized teeth
E) more specialized teeth

Question 79

After the mass extinction at the end of the Mesozoic Era,marine invertebrates diversified.

Question 80

Which of the following is not a direct or an indirect result of glaciation?

A) uplift
B) change in sea level
C) proglacial lakes
D) plate motion
E) pluvial lakes