Deck 11: A Biography of Earth

Question 1

The oldest radiometrically dated mineral grains are ____________ the oldest preserved rocks on Earth.

A) older than
B) younger than
C) precisely the same age as

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The first terrestrial vertebrates (with an amphibian life cycle)are represented by fossils that are late ____________ in age.

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

Answer 2

B

Question 3

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

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

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Greenhouse climate on Earth was associated with relatively high atmospheric levels of which gas?

A) nitrogen
B) water vapor
C) oxygen
D) carbon dioxide

Question 5

The Cambrian Period is a time in Earth history when ____________.

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

Question 6

The Mesozoic Era is a time in Earth history when ____________.

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

Question 7

The Hadean is a time in Earth history when ____________.

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

Question 8

Which gas found in today's atmosphere was virtually absent in the Hadean's and Archean's?

A) nitrogen
B) water vapor
C) oxygen
D) carbon dioxide

Question 9

A crustal rock dated to 1.9 Ga is how old?

A) 1,900 years
B) 1,900,000 years
C) 1,900,000,000 years
D) This is a trick question: no rocks are this old.

Question 10

Greenstones are metamorphosed sedimentary rocks; as sediments,they were deposited in the oceans during the ____________.

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

Question 11

Dinosaurs first appeared during the ____________ period.

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

Question 12

Toward the end of the Archean Eon,____________.

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

Question 13

Earth is approximately how old?

A) 15 billion years
B) 4.57 billion years
C) 40 million years
D) 6000 years

Question 14

Rodinia and Pangaea are supercontinents that assembled during the ____________,respectively.

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

Question 15

The oldest terrestrial insect fossils are found in rocks from the ____________ period.

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

Question 16

The first mammals appeared during the ____________ period.

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

Question 17

A crustal rock dated to 150 Ma is how old?

A) 150 thousand years
B) 150 million years
C) 150 billion years
D) 150 zillion years

Question 18

A shield is ____________.

A) a low-lying region where Precambrian rocks crop out
B) a low-lying region where Precambrian rocks are covered by Phanerozoic sedimentary strata
C) a region of compressed rock located behind a volcanic arc at a convergent continental margin
D) synonymous with "craton"

Question 19

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

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

Question 20

A crustal rock dated to 150 Ka is how old?

A) 150 thousand years
B) 150 million years
C) 150 billion years
D) 150 zillion years

Question 21

The late Paleozoic Hercynian orogen is an event related to the____________.

A) uplift of the modern Rocky Mountains
B) uplift of the Ancestral Rockies
C) assembly of the supercontinent Pangaea
D) assembly of the supercontinent Rodinia

Question 22

The fossil fish Tiktaalik made headlines in 2005 because it ____________.

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

Question 23

Permian,Triassic,and Jurassic forests were dominated by large ____________.

A) angiosperms (flowering plants)
B) mosses
C) conifers and cycads
D) club mosses and scouring rushes

Question 24

The earliest forests containing woody trees appeared during the ____________.A.late Proterozoic

A) early Paleozoic (in the Ordovician Period)
B) middle Paleozoic (in the Devonian Period)
C) late Paleozoic (in the Permian Period)

Question 25

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

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

Question 26

The Miocene epoch saw the spread of which new vegetative zone?

A) grasslands
B) angiosperm forests
C) gymnosperm forests
D) tree fern forests

Question 27

An iridium-rich layer of clay,glass spherules,and shocked quartz grains strongly suggests that the K-T boundary extinctions were at least in part caused by ____________.

A) a long trend of global warming
B) a long trend of global cooling
C) worldwide explosive volcanism
D) the impact of a bolide (meteoroid or comet)

Question 28

The Western Interior Seaway reached its greatest level of continental inundation during the ____________ Period.

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

Question 29

The Chicxulub crater is located on which continent?

A) North America
B) South America
C) Asia
D) Africa

Question 30

Geographically,a shield and surrounding platform together are ____________.

A) a low-lying region where Precambrian rocks crop out
B) a low-lying region where Precambrian rocks are covered by Phanerozoic sedimentary strata
C) a region of compressed rock located behind a volcanic arc at a convergent continental margin
D) synonymous with "craton"

Question 31

Humans belong to a lineage of mammals called the ____________.

A) carnivores
B) primates
C) odd-toed ungulates
D) edentates

Question 32

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

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

Question 33

When did the human genus,Homo first appear on Earth?

A) 200 million years ago
B) 2.4 million years ago
C) 100,000 years ago
D) 10,000 years ago

Question 34

During the Cenozoic Era,most large-bodied terrestrial animals inhabiting regions of temperate climate have been ____________.

A) birds
B) dinosaurs
C) mammals
D) crocodiles

Question 35

A cratonic platform is ____________.

A) a low-lying region where Precambrian rocks crop out
B) a low-lying region where Precambrian rocks are covered by Phanerozoic sedimentary strata
C) a region of compressed rock located behind a volcanic arc at a convergent continental margin
D) synonymous with "craton"

Question 36

The Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T)boundary event took place how many millions of years ago?

A) 540
B) 245
C) 65
D) 25

Question 37

The late Proterozoic Grenville orogen is an event related to the ____________.

A) uplift of the modern Rocky Mountains
B) uplift of the Ancestral Rockies
C) assembly of the supercontinent Pangaea
D) assembly of the supercontinent Rodinia

Question 38

Tyrannosaurus rex,one of the largest carnivorous dinosaur species,lived during the ____________ Period.

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

Question 39

A fold-thrust belt is ____________.

A) a low-lying region where Precambrian rocks crop out
B) a low-lying region where Precambrian rocks are covered by Phanerozoic sedimentary strata
C) a region of compressed rock located behind a volcanic arc at a convergent continental margin
D) synonymous with "craton"

Question 40

Tree-sized 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 41

Once an ancient mountain range is destroyed by erosion,it leaves no detectable record,and therefore geologists can never learn of its past existence.

Question 42

Through geologic time,continents have drifted over the surface of Earth,but each continent has always been about as large as it is today.

Question 43

Banded-iron formations were abundantly produced during the ____________.

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

Question 44

Stromatolites are layered structures produced by the activity of ____________.

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

Question 45

Earth was hotter than today during the Hadean for all of the following reasons EXCEPT ____________.

A) impacts with other objects added heat to Earth
B) differentiation of the core from the mantle added heat to Earth's interior
C) the Sun was much more luminous than it is today
D) carbon dioxide was more abundant in the atmosphere than it is today

Question 46

Oxygen in Earth's atmosphere is derived from ____________.

A) volcanic outgassing
B) photosynthesis
C) animal respiration
D) water from the oceans breaking down into hydrogen and oxygen during evaporation

Question 47

Earth became internally differentiated,with a metallic core distinct from the rocky mantle,during the ____________.

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

Question 48

The generally accepted scientific theory for the origin of our Moon involves ____________.

A) impact between Earth and a Mars-sized body during the Hadean
B) simultaneous formation of Earth and the Moon in neighboring parts of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago
C) gravitational capture of the Moon by Earth during the Hadean
D) gravitational capture of Earth by the Moon during the Archean

Question 49

The end of the Cretaceous Period (extinction of dinosaurs and many other groups)represents the only evidence we have in the fossil record of a catastrophic mass extinction.

Question 50

Regions on the continents that are experiencing warm climates today have generally experienced colder climates in the past,and vice versa.