Deck 10: A Biography of Earth

Question 1

During the Hadean Eon, Earth's surface was mostly

A)vapor.
B)cratered.
C)molten.
D)frozen.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The earliest continental crust likely had a __________ composition.

A)felsic
B)intermediate
C)mafic
D)ultramafic

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The Hadean was a time in Earth history when

A)the first abundant shelly organisms appeared in the fossil record.
B)Earth's interior was so hot that a solid outer crust was quickly remelted.
C)stable continental interiors, termed cratons, first formed.
D)the dinosaurs appeared and came to dominate large-scale terrestrial life.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Banded iron formations (BIFs) show evidence of an

A)oxygen-poor atmosphere because all of the oxygen was dissolved into the oceans and then precipitated as iron-oxide minerals.
B)acidic ocean that forced iron to bond with the oxygen in the water to form iron-oxide minerals.
C)oxygen-poor ocean because all the oxygen was trapped in the iron-oxide minerals that make up the formation.
D)oxygen-rich atmosphere that forced the oceans to become oxidizing and precipitate iron-oxide minerals.

Question 5

The first pieces of true continental crust formed in the __________ Eon.

A) Archean
B) Hadean
C)Proterozoic
D)Phanerozoic

Question 6

Which of the following images contains evidence of the earliest life to form on Earth?

A)
B)
C)
D)

Question 7

True continental crust did not form until the __________ Eon, when Earth had finally cooled enough for protocontinents to form.

A)Hadean
B)Archean
C)Mesozoic
D)Proterozoic

Question 8

Which of the following would be considered evidence for an orogeny?

A) folded strata
B) normal faulting
C)disconformities
D)continental rifting

Question 9

Where would you be most likely to see a piece of the earliest continental crust?

A)southern California
B) Iceland
C)the ocean floor
D)central Canada

Question 10

Chalk rock contains many tiny plankton shells. This is evidence of which depositional environment?

A)river
B)forest
C)ocean
D)desert

Question 11

Why did banded iron formations form between 2.4 and 1.8 Ga?

A)The oceans became oversaturated in iron.
B)The oceans began to absorb large amounts of oxygen.
C)Cyanobacteria stopped using them as nutrients.
D)A mass extinction released iron into the oceans.

Question 12

Oxygen in Earth's atmosphere is derived from

A)volcanic outgassing.
B)photosynthesis.
C)animal respiration.
D)evaporation.

Question 13

Which eon saw the first single-celled organism?

A)Proterozoic
B)Archean
C)Hadean
D)Cenozoic

Question 14

The heavy bombardment was a time in which Earth was struck by many

A) meteorites.
B) protoplanets.
C)comets.
D)asteroids.

Question 15

Earth is approximately how old?

A)14 billion years
B)4.54 billion years
C)40 million years
D)6,000 years

Question 16

The Great Oxygenation Event occurred ~2.4 Ga and forced large amounts of __________ to precipitate out of the ocean.

A)oxygenated halite
B)iron minerals
C)carbonate minerals
D)Ediacaran fauna

Question 17

Which of the following is NOT true of Earth's glacial history?

A)The Earth's climate has cooled enough in the past for large ice sheets to cover expanses of the continents.
B)A glacial maximum at the end of the Proterozoic resulted in the great oxygenation event.
C)The term snowball Earth refers to a time in which Earth's surface was almost entirely covered in glacial ice.
D)Periods of increased glaciation in Earth's history are correlative with times of lower sea levels.

Question 18

Stromatolites are layered structures produced by the activity of

A)dinosaurs.
B)methanogens.
C)cyanobacteria
D)green algae.

Question 19

It took so long for true crust to form on Earth because

A)Earth had to complete the differentiation process before rocks could form.
B)temperatures were so high that any crust that did form was quickly remelted.
C)there was no atmosphere on the planet and thus no air to cool the crust.
D)heat from the creation of the magnetic field kept the surface molten.

Question 20

Which of the following provide evidence of past life and thus help geologists understand how life, and the environments they lived in, changed throughout Earth's history?

A)igneous rocks
B)fossils
C)faults
D)strata

Question 21

After Rodinia separated, North America was included on the continent of

A)Gondwana.
B)Pangaea.
C)Pannotia
D)Taconia.

Question 22

According to the graph below, continental crust was mostly done forming by

A)the mid-Archean.
B)roughly 1 Ma.
C)roughly 4.5 Ga.
D)the early Proterozoic.

Question 23

The fossil fish Tiktaalik made headlines in 2005 because it

A)was preserved with a hook in its mouth and is the oldest evidence of human fishing.
B)was the largest shark ever recovered from the fossil record.
C)represents a transitional form between lobe-finned fish and terrestrial vertebrates.
D)was found alive in the modern deep ocean; previously, the fish was thought to be extinct.

Question 24

The first mammals appeared during the __________ Period.

A)Cambrian
B)Devonian
C)Permian
D)Triassic

Question 25

Dinosaurs first appeared during the _________ Period.

A)Cambrian
B)Devonian
C)Permian
D)Triassic

Question 26

The most recent interval of Quaternary glaciation gave way to warmer, interglacial conditions __________ years ago.

A)1 million
B)200,000
C)75,000
D)11,000

Question 27

The late Proterozoic Grenville orogeny is an event related to

A)uplift of the modern Rocky Mountains.
B)uplift of the ancestral Rocky Mountains.
C)assembly of the supercontinent Pangaea.
D)assembly of the supercontinent Rodinia.

Question 28

Why were mammals able to become the dominant species at the beginning of the Cenozoic?

A)The mammals were finally able to grow legs and come out of the ocean to populate the land.
B)The dinosaurs died off and the small rodentlike mammals of the Mesozoic evolved to fill the niche.
C)The amphibians that first walked on land died out because it was too cold for them, after which mammals with fur took over.
D)Mammals evolved from primates after the dinosaurs went extinct and became the top predator.

Question 29

The eon represented by abundant deposits of strata with shelly fossils is the

A) Archean.
B) Hadean.
C)Proterozoic.
D)Phanerozoic

Question 30

The first supercontinent, Rodinia, formed at the end of the

A)Hadean.
B)Precambrian.
C)Paleozoic
D)Archean.

Question 31

The supercontinent Rodinia assembled during the __________ , and the supercontinent Pangaea assembled during the __________ .

A) Hadean Eon; Archean Eon
B) Archean Eon; Proterozoic Eon
C)Proterozoic Eon; Paleozoic Era
D)Paleozoic Era; Mesozoic Era

Question 32

Which of the following is NOT an example of a cyclic change in the Earth system?

A)rock cycle
B)sea-level cycle
C)supercontinent cycle
D)faunal succession cycle

Question 33

The evolution of shells was important for the diversification of life because shells

A)provide a food source for organisms higher on the food chain.
B)protect organisms from predators and environmental conditions.
C)provide protection from the highly acidic ocean water of the time.
D)provide a habitat for organisms and protect them from sunlight.

Question 34

Did the dinosaurs walk on Pangea?

A)Yes, some of them did, because Pangea did not break up until the Jurassic Period.
B)No, Pangea broke apart at the end of the Permian before dinosaurs evolved.
C)Yes, Pangea formed in the Permian and broke apart at the end of the Cretaceous.
D)Yes, the meteorite impact that killed the dinosaurs was responsible for breaking up Pangea.

Question 35

Relatives of the living ferns, club mosses, and scouring rushes were common in environments termed coal swamps during the _________ Period.

A)Ordovician
B)Carboniferous
C)Jurassic
D)Cretaceous

Question 36

Some researchers have suggested the use of the term __________ to denote the most recent part of the geologic record, which has been characterized by rapid changes in the atmosphere, landscape, and biodiversity as a result of human actions.

A)Holocene
B)Homosapian
C)Anthropocene
D)Neogene

Question 37

The __________ occurred possibly because of the creation of many new ecological niches that formed as a result of the breakup of Pannotia.

A)Cambrian explosion
B)Phanerozoic expansion
C)Cambrian diversification
D)Paleozoic diversification

Question 38

Cells that have a nucleus are called __________ life.

A)prokaryotic
B)eukaryotic
C)archaea
D)flagellum

Question 39

Continental crust was only able to form once Earth's temperature had cooled enough for partial melting of the mantle to occur and produce basalt that was buoyant enough to stay afloat. Before this point, small rafts of thin crust formed and remelted in a continuous cycle. What was the composition of these rafts?

A)mafic
B)ultramafic
C)felsic
D)intermediate

Question 40

Which of the following organisms first evolved during the Cambrian Explosion?

A)cyanobacteria
B)dinosaurs
C)trilobites
D)mammals

Question 41

The presence of inland seas results in

A)deposition of strata.
B)erosion of strata.
C)erosion of cratons.
D)the formation of glaciers

Question 42

The Himalayas were produced during the Cenozoic by the collision of southern Asia with

A)India.
B)Australia.
C)Africa.
D)South America.

Question 43

Convergence along the western margin of North America during the Cenozoic gave way to rifting forces that created the characteristic topography of the

A) Coast Ranges.
B) Basin and Range Province.
C)Colorado Plateau.
D)Columbia Plateau.

Question 44

The Basin and Range Province contains an alternating series of fault-block mountains and basins created by __________ of the continent.

A)compression
B)transpression
C)extension
D)collision

Question 45

Describe how fossils can be used to interpret the geologic history of an area.

Question 46

Describe the circumstances that led to the formation of true continental crust during the Archean.

Question 47

The Taconic, Acadian, and Alleghenian orogenic events all led to uplift in the region of the modem

A)Rockies.
B)Appalachians.
C)Alps.
D)Himalayas

Question 48

How do gradual change and catastrophic change impact the Earth system? Provide an example of each.

Question 49

How were mammals able to take over as the dominant class of organisms on Earth?

Question 50

Using the chart of transgressions and regressions below, when was sea level the highest?

A) Ordovician
B) Carboniferous
C)Jurassic
D)Cretaceous

Question 51

What caused the buildup of oxygen in the atmosphere at roughly 2.5 Ga?

Question 52

What major change took place on Earth at the beginning of the Paleozoic? What is the Cambrian explosion?

Question 53

Why have some researchers suggested the use of the term Anthropocene?

Question 54

Why are rocks formed before 3.85 Ga so rare?

Question 55

What is an epicontinental sea? Why might an epicontinental sea form and retreat?

Question 56

Which of the following is NOT a likely reason for global sea level change in the Proterozoic?

A)changes in the volume of water in the Earth system
B)changes in the capacity of ocean basins
C)tectonic events that cause continental land masses to rise or fall
D)the formation of large amounts of glacial ice

Question 57

Fault-block mountains, like those in the Basin and Range Province, are created when blocks rotate and slip __________ along __________ faults.

A)upward; reverse
B)upward; normal
C)downward; reverse
D)downward; normal

Question 58

At times in Earth's history, large regions of continental interiors became flooded with shallow seas, known as __________ seas.

A)epeirogenic
B)epicontinental
C)Tethys
D)Iapetus

Question 59

A __________ change in the Earth system repeats the same steps over and over, though not necessarily with the same results or at the same rate.

A) catastrophic
B) periodic
C)gradual
D)cyclic

Question 60

Fossil succession is the idea that life evolves over time and that once a species goes extinct, it does not reappear. Is this an example of unidirectional change or cyclic change? Why?