Question 1

The fossils of plants and animals indicate something about the environment and climate at the time the organisms were living.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 2

What are the requirements for a useful guide fossil?

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Question 3

A surface of erosion on metamorphic or igneous rocks,below sedimentary rocks is a(n)____.

Accepted Answer

A)  nonconformity 
B)  disconformity 
C)  angular unconformity 
D)  anticonformity 
E)  none of these

Question 4

How are marker beds used to determine the age of strata in a region that has no marker beds but does contain strata with the same fossil assemblage zone?

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Question 5

Stratigraphy is the study of the composition,origin,aereal distribution and age relationships of layered rocks.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 6

What are the six fundamental geologic principles which are used in relative dating?

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Question 7

If the dating technique is used correctly,how reliable are the radiometric dates derived from individual layers of stalagmites using ratios of uranium 234 to thorium 230?

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Question 8

A surface of discontinuity representing a break in the depositional record or a discontinuity representing erosion or nondeposition is a(n)____________________.

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Question 9

What principle states that fragments of one rock contained within another rock are older than the containing rock?

Accepted Answer

A)  principle of cross-cutting relationships 
B)  principle of inclusions 
C)  principle of fossil succession 
D)  principle of uniformitarianism 
E)  principle of superposition

Question 10

Explain why correlation by fossils is necessary to demonstrate time equivalence of strata.

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Question 11

A sedimentary rock that shows evidence of contact metamorphism must be ____________________ in age than the igneous rock with which it is in contact,even if it lies above the igneous rock.

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Question 12

An interval of geologic time not represented by strata in a particular area is a(n)____________________.

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Question 13

Climate changes in a region because

Accepted Answer

A)  continents are carried to different latitudes. 
B)  continental movement affects ocean circulation patterns. 
C)  continental movement affects atmospheric circulation patterns. 
D)  all of these.

Question 14

What is the maximum age limit for radiocarbon dating of fossils?

Accepted Answer

A)  70,000 years 
B)  700,000 years 
C)  7 million years 
D)  70 million years 
E)  700 million years

Question 15

What is the loss of two protons and two neutrons from the nucleus called?

Accepted Answer

A)  alpha decay 
B)  beta decay 
C)  electron decay 
D)  electron capture 
E)  half-life decay

Question 16

Stalagmites can be radiometrically dated because

Accepted Answer

A)  like tree rings, the calcium carbonate layers vary in thickness by year. 
B)  carbon-14 decays to nitrogen 14 in the carbonate. 
C)  uranium-234 substitutes for calcium and decays to thorium-230. 
D)  fission tracks in apatite in the structures can be dated.

Question 17

In order to correlate age-equivalent rock units of dissimilar composition or to correlate rock units over a large area,____________________ and the principle of ____________________ must be used.

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Question 18

Earlier Precambrian rocks could not be correlated over great distances from one area to another (e.g.,from Canada to Europe)but younger rocks were correlated in the same areas with a high degree of confidence.Why was this?

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Question 19

What is the principle of fossil succession,and what is its importance? Who is credited its discovery?

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Question 20

The placement of events into a sequential order based upon their position in the rock record is referred to as ____________________ dating.

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Exam 17: Geologic Time: Concepts and Principles