Deck 11: A Biography of the Earth

Question 1

The cratonic platform of North America 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) a low-lying region of oceanic crust surrounded by Proterozoic crustal blocks.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Stromatolites are layered structures produced by the activity of

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

Answer 2

C

Question 3

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

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

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The Canadian Shield is

A) a low-lying region in Canada and the northeast United States where Archean and Proterozoic rocks of the North American craton are exposed.
B) the region in North America where Archean and Proterozoic rocks are covered by Phanerozoic sedimentary strata.
C) the belts of deformed continental crust of Phanerozoic age along the western margin of North America.
D) synonymous with "craton."

Question 5

Oxygen in the 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 6

There is a record of marine sediment deposition extending back to 3.8 Ga.This means that ______ has/have also existed since that time.

A) oceans
B) volcanism
C) partial melting
D) photosynthetic algae

Question 7

Collisions of continental crust blocks and fragments during the Proterozoic led to the formation of a single supercontinent called

A) Gondwana.
B) Laurentia.
C) Baltica.
D) Rodinia.

Question 8

Chalk rock containing fossils of algae and tropical sea creatures is found in southern England and other locations in Europe.What does this tell us about the past environment of that region of the world?

A) that rivers once cut through a landscape that is now a shallow ocean
B) that fossils in Europe poorly represent the environmental conditions where they are deposited
C) that what is now dry land was once covered by a warm,shallow sea
D) that much of Western Europe was once a vast desert

Question 9

Which of the following best describes the Hadean Eon of Earth's history?

A) It was when the first abundant shelly organisms appeared in the fossil record.
B) It was a time between the formation of the Earth and the oldest rocks preserved in the rock record.
C) It was a time when stable continental interiors,termed cratons,first formed.
D) It was when the dinosaurs appeared and came to dominate large-scale terrestrial life.

Question 10

The 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 11

Which of the following provides evidence of past life and thus helps geologists understand how living things,and the environments in which they lived,changed throughout the Earth's history?

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

Question 12

Archean plate tectonics resulted in collisions and suturing of volcanic arcs,oceanic basalt plateaus,and rifts into buoyant crustal blocks called

A) mantle plumes.
B) subduction zones.
C) greenstone belts.
D) protocontinents.

Question 13

The earliest known rocks that are silica-rich (felsic and intermediate)date to the

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

Question 14

Toward the end of the Archean Eon,

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

Question 15

Where would you be most likely to find an example of the earliest continental crust?

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

Question 16

Which of the following is true of the Earth's glacial history?

A) The Earth's climate has remained relatively consistent throughout geologic time.
B) An episode of widespread glaciation at the end of the Proterozoic resulted in the Great Oxygenation Event.
C) There was a time called Snowball Earth when the Earth's surface was almost entirely covered in glacial ice.
D) Increased glaciation at the end of the Cretaceous was partly responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Question 17

Which of the following is the correct abbreviation for "millions of years ago"?

A) ka
B) Ma
C) Ga
D) Myr

Question 18

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

A) impact between the Earth and a protoplanet during the Hadean.
B) simultaneous formation of the Earth and the Moon in neighboring parts of the Solar System 4.6 billion years ago.
C) gravitational capture of the Moon by the Earth during the Hadean.
D) gravitational capture of the Earth by the Moon during the Archean.

Question 19

The Late Heavy Bombardment at the end of the Hadean Eon was a time of

A) formation of the earliest continental crust.
B) extensive basaltic volcanism.
C) intense meteorite impacts.
D) frequent high-magnitude earthquakes.

Question 20

From what did the Earth's atmosphere during the Hadean originate?

A) outgassing of volatiles compounds originally incorporated in mantle minerals
B) meteorites that collided with the Earth
C) evaporation of the Earth's early oceans
D) waste products of the Earth's first life forms

Question 21

Dinosaurs first appeared during the ________ Period.

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

Question 22

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 23

The earliest known complex,multicellular life forms originated toward the end of the

A) Archean Eon.
B) Proterozoic Eon.
C) Paleozoic Era.
D) Cenozoic Era.

Question 24

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

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

Question 25

The Great Oxygenation Event was a time in the middle Proterozoic when

A) organisms that produce oxygen first originated.
B) oxygen began to accumulate as a gas in the atmosphere.
C) the oxygen concentration in the atmosphere reached its present concentration of
21 percent.
D) excessively high concentrations of oxygen in the atmosphere caused a mass extinction.

Question 26

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

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

Question 27

The first mammals appeared during the ________ Period.

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

Question 28

During the Carboniferous Period,much of Laurentia (the ancestral North American continent)lay near the equator and experienced very high rainfall,leading to widespread swamps with dense vegetation.As a result,rocks from the Carboniferous Period in eastern North America commonly contain

A) coal.
B) petroleum.
C) iron ore.
D) glacial striations.

Question 29

The earliest forests containing woody trees appeared during the

A) Late Proterozoic.
B) Early Paleozoic (Ordovician).
C) Middle Paleozoic (Devonian).
D) Late Paleozoic (Permian).

Question 30

The late Proterozoic Grenville orogeny in eastern North America 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 31

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 32

The deposition of banded iron formations during the Proterozoic Eon tells us that large amounts of iron settled out of the ________ as the result of rising atmospheric oxygen concentrations.

A) atmosphere
B) oceans
C) lithosphere
D) cryosphere

Question 33

A warm climate and high sea level throughout much of the ________ resulted in a shallow seaway in western North America extending from the Arctic south to what is now the Gulf of Mexico.

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

Question 34

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 lobe-finned fish and terrestrial vertebrates.
D) was found alive in the modern deep ocean; previously,the fish was thought to be extinct.

Question 35

The Mesozoic Era is a time in the Earth's history when

A) the first abundant shelly organisms appeared in the fossil record.
B) the 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 36

At the end of the Paleozoic,nearly all continental land masses were joined together into a supercontinent called

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

Question 37

The Phanerozoic Eon,with its widespread shelly fossils similar to groups of marine organisms living today,began in

A) 1.8 Ga.
B) 541 Ma.
C) 750 Ma.
D) 65 Ma.

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

The enigmatic fossils of multicellular organisms that arose during the end of the Proterozoic Eon are known as the _______ fauna.

A) Eukaryotic
B) Cyanobacterial
C) Ediacaran
D) Pangaean

Question 40

The Chicxulub crater is located on which continent?

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

Question 41

During what time period did dinosaurs roam the Earth? What is the accepted theory for why they went extinct?

Question 42

Why are rocks formed before 3.85 Ga so rare?

Question 43

The Alps,the Himalayas,the Cordillera,and the Andes are mountain belts that resulted from orogenic events during the

A) Triassic Period.
B) Cenozoic Era.
C) Devonian Period.
D) Mesozoic Era.

Question 44

During the Cretaceous Period there was globally very high sea level at a time of overall warm climates.What is the mechanism for creating this high sea level?

A) very high rates of seafloor spreading at mid-ocean ridges
B) the polar ice caps melted in the warm climate
C) high rates of comet impacts which melted and added water to the oceans
D) the water was displaced by the bodies of huge marine reptiles

Question 45

Present day orogens are identified by finding regions of high,rugged peaks.How can geologists identify orogens that have been eroded away? How might the age of these orogens be determined?

Question 46

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

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

Question 47

By the end of the Hadean,the Earth had a primitive atmosphere and early oceans.Contrast these with the oceans and atmosphere of today.

Question 48

During the Cenozoic Era,__________ rapidly diversified to fill the ecological niches left by the K-Pg mass extinction.

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

Question 49

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

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

Question 50

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 51

What is meant by the term "Snowball Earth?" What period of time in the Earth's history does this refer to,and what were conditions like at this time? Support your answer with evidence.

Question 52

What is an epicontinental sea? Why might an epicontinental sea form and then disappear? Are there any examples of such seas today?

Question 53

The Cambrian explosion not only produced an abundance of new animal species but also gave rise to the first shells,spines,and active swimmers.This suggests the important influence of ________ in driving animal evolution.

A) photosynthetic organisms
B) climate
C) carnivorous predators
D) filter-feeding organisms

Question 54

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

Question 55

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

Question 56

Humans belong to a lineage of mammals called the

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

Question 57

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

Question 58

How does the cause of end-Permian mass extinction compare with the K-Pg extinction event? In which did more species go extinct?

Question 59

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

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