Deck 13: A Biography of the Earth

Question 1

The Hadean was a time in Earth 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.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

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."

Answer 2

B

Question 3

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

Answer 3

D

Question 4

You find a sedimentary stratigraphic sequence that contains a marine limestone above an alluvial fan conglomerate.This sequence indicates

A) a relative rise in sea level.
B) the presence of an orogeny.
C) ancestral glaciation.
D) a change in climate.

Question 5

Toward the end of the Archean Eon,

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 6

Which of the following provides evidence of past life and thus help 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 7

Banded-iron formations,such as the one in the image below,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 8

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

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

Question 9

Stromatolites are layered structures produced by the activity of

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

Question 10

The Earth is approximately how old?

A) 14 billion years
B) 4.6 billion years
C) 40 million years
D) 6,000 years

Question 11

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 12

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 13

Archean greenstones are formed from

A) basalts produced at hot spots.
B) sand and clay eroded from volcanic areas.
C) the precipitation of silica in the deep sea.
D) metamorphosed relicts of ocean crust.

Question 14

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

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

Question 15

__________ can be used to determine the position of a continent in the past.

A) Evidence of an orogeny
B) Cratonic platforms
C) Isotopic signatures
D) Apparent polar wander paths

Question 16

Once an ancient mountain range is destroyed by erosion,what evidence can geologists look for to learn of its past existence?

A) high,rugged peaks
B) crust containing igneous activity,deformation,and metamorphism
C) fossils of mountain-dwelling plants and animals
D) There is no detectable record of destroyed mountain ranges.

Question 17

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 18

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

Question 19

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 20

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 21

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 22

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

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

Question 23

Animals and plants are both

A) autotrophs.
B) eukaryotes.
C) Archaea.
D) prokaryotes.

Question 24

Dinosaurs first appeared during the ________ Period.

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

Question 25

The small cells of bacteria lack nuclei and are termed

A) prokinetic.
B) prokaryotic.
C) eukaryotic.
D) analgesic.

Question 26

Most DNA in the cells of animals and plants is housed within a nucleus; such cells are termed

A) prokinetic.
B) prokaryotic.
C) eukaryotic.
D) analgesic.

Question 27

Through geologic time,continents have drifted over the surface of the Earth,but each continent has

A) always been about as large as it is today.
B) grown by the addition of Precambrian shields.
C) grown by addition of crustal fragments.
D) grown by crustal stretching.

Question 28

Use the graph of sea level below.When was sea level the highest?

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

Question 29

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 30

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 31

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 32

The Cambrian Period 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 33

The Chicxulub crater is located on which continent?

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

Question 34

The first mammals appeared during the ________ Period.

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

Question 35

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 36

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

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

Question 37

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) 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 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 38

The oldest terrestrial insect fossils are found in rocks from the ________ Period.

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

Question 39

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 40

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 41

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 42

What is an epicontinental sea? Why might an epicontinental sea form and retreat? What does this have to do with transgression and regression?

Question 43

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

Question 44

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

Question 45

Humans belong to a lineage of mammals called the

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

Question 46

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 rodent-like 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 predators.

Question 47

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 48

Why are rocks formed before 3.85 Ga so rare?

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

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 51

Did the dinosaurs walk on Pangaea?

A) Yes,some of them did,because Pangaea did not break up until the Jurassic Period.
B) No,Pangaea broke apart at the end of the Permian before dinosaurs evolved.
C) Yes,Pangaea 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 Pangaea.

Question 52

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

Question 53

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

Question 54

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

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

Question 55

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 56

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 57

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

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

Question 58

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) 12,000

Question 59

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

Question 60

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.