Name____________________________ Block ________
1.
What is the ABSOLUTE AGE of Fossil A?
2.
What is the ABSOLUTE AGE of Fossil B?
5.
What types of unconformity are seen in the image?
6. Identify the possible cause for each type of unconformity:
3.
What is the RELATIVE AGE of Fossil A?
4.
What is the RELATIVE AGE of Fossil B?
2.
3.
4.
5.
– Using the multiple images of fossils; determine which type of fossil each image represents. Remember, the 4 types of fossils are: Body, Trace, Mold & Cast, but you can abbreviate by using B, T, M, C. Write a brief
description of what the example was after the dash so you will have examples later.
1. ________ -
2. ________ -
3. ________ -
4. ________ -
5. ________ -
6. ________ -
7. ________ -
8. ________ -
9. ________ -
10. ________ -
STATION 3 HAS A FRONT & BACK
1. 6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
1.
Explain the reason behind Earth’s inner structure being separated into layers?
2.
Identify the type of plate boundary in the picture, what action is occurring at the plate boundary, and list the possible landforms.

3.
Explain what would happen if theoretically the convection currents, seen in the mantle, suddenly stopped.
4.
Explain what would happen if the convection currents theoretically suddenly went much faster.
Figure 1
Youngest __________
__________
__________
__________
__________
Oldest __________
Figure 2
Youngest __________
__________
__________
__________
Oldest __________
Figure 3
Youngest __________
__________
__________
__________
Oldest __________
Figure 4
Youngest __________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
Oldest __________
Figure 5
Youngest __________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
Oldest __________
1.
How many bones had Sereno and his team collected by the end of their expedition?
2.
Where did these fossils that they find come from? (By, “where” I mean the location on Earth)
3.
Since there isn’t a living SuperCroc to measure today and they only found part of its skeleton, how did they figure out how big SuperCroc was?
4.
How large would an adult SuperCroc be?
5.
When did SuperCroc live?
6.
What was the purpose of SuperCroc’s “swollen” nose?
7.
What happened to SuperCroc?
Problem #1 Problem #2 Problem #3 Problem #4 Problem #5

2.

3.
4.

5.
Fossilized poop
6.

7.
8.
Not original remains

9.
10.

1.
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge exists between the African and South American geologic plates. Which process most often occurs at the Mid-
Atlantic Ridge? a.
Destruction of underwater mountains b.
Creation of new continents c.
Subduction of geologic plates d.
Spreading of sea floor
2.
Based on the Law of Superposition, what can be concluded about fossils? a.
Fossils give clues about past climate patterns. b.
Fossils form from the hard parts of organisms. c.
The oldest fossils are found in the lowest rock layers. d.
The most recent fossils were advanced organisms.
3.
Fossils of warm-weather plants were found on an island in the Arctic Ocean. What can best be concluded from this discovery? a.
Spores of plants drifted by air currents to the island. b.
Ocean currents carried the plants to the island. c.
The island drifted from a tropical region to its present location. d.
Seeds of plants have been carried to the island by migratory birds.
4.
What is the difference between relative dating and absolute dating? a.
Relative dating can estimate a rock’s age only in relation to other objects or events, while absolute dating can provide an actual age. b.
Relative dating uses several types of radioactive decay to determine an object’s relative age, while absolute dating only uses the half-life or uranium 235. c.
Relative dating provides the exact age of a rock, while absolute dating provides a rough estimate of the rock’s age. d.
Relative dating and absolute dating can only determine the rock’s age in relation to other objects or events.
5.
How does an unconformity change a scientist’s understanding of the history of Earth? a.
It reduces that understanding because rock layers representing thousands or millions of years are missing. b.
It increases that understanding because the changes in the positions of rock layers show how forces acted on Earth. c.
It reduces that understanding because fossils have been removed from an unconformity. d.
It increases that understanding because an unconformity contains rock layers that are absent in other areas.
6. A layer of volcanic ash may serve as a time marker because the ash is
a. generally deposited only on land
b. composed of index fossils
c. deposited rapidly over a large area
d. often a distinct color
7. Which evidence supports the theory of seafloor spreading? a.
The rocks of the ocean floor and the continents have similar origins. b.
In the ocean floor, rocks near the mid-ocean ridge are cooler than rocks near the continents. c.
The pattern of magnetic orientation of rocks is similar on both sides of the mid-ocean ridge. d.
The density of oceanic crust is greater than the density of continental crust.
8. The diagram shows a cross section of the Earth’s crust. Line XY is a fault
Which sequence of events, from oldest to youngest, has occurred in this outcrop?
1.
sedimentary layers → igneous intrusion → folding → faulting
2.
igneous intrusion → sedimentary layers → folding → faulting
3.
igneous intrusion → faulting → sedimentary layers → folding
4.
sedimentary layers → folding → igneous intrusion → faulting

9. The diagram on the right shows one side of an oceanic ridge and a portion of the ocean floor. Which graph below best illustrates the age of the basalt as the distance from an oceanic ridge increases?
A. B.
C.
D.
10. The map shows the location of major islands and coral reefs in the Hawaiian Island chain. Their ages are given in millions of years. The islands of the Hawaiian chain formed from the same source of molten rock, called a hot spot. The movement of the Pacific Plate over the
Hawaiian hot spot created a trail of extinct volcanoes that make up the Hawaiian Islands. The island of Hawaii (lower right) is the most recent island formed. Kilauea is an active volcano located over the hot spot on the island of Hawaii.
Approximately how far has the Pacific Plate moved since Necker Island was located over the hot plume at X? a.
300 km b.
1,100 km c.
1,900 km d.
2,600 km
1.

From the sands of Africa comes a giant reptile that lived with dinosaurs— and ate them.
"We're stuck again!" Scientist Paul Sereno and his team said those words many times as they drove into a rugged part of Africa. Desert sand kept stopping their Land Rovers. It took 10 hours to go just 87 miles.
That long crawl ended at Gadoufaoua (gadoo FAH wah), a dry region in the country of Niger (KNEE zhair). To most eyes, the place looked empty. There was sand. There was wind. There was nothing else. Or so it seemed.
But Sereno saw much more. He saw a chance to find dinosaurs. Being a dino expert, Sereno knew that the region contains countless fossils , or remains, from ancient dinosaurs. Gadoufaoua is one of Africa's richest sources of dino fossils.
Sereno found some fossils there in 1997. He came back in 2000 to seek more. The team spent four months in the desert. Crew members woke at 6:00 each morning, then explored the sand dunes for about 12 hours. They worked even when the temperature hit 125F.
And they found fossils. By the end of the expedition , or trip, Sereno and his team had collected 20 tons of bones. Most of those fossils came from dinosaurs, including dino types never seen before.
Others came from turtles, fish, and crocodiles.
One crocodile-like animal was awesome. Scientists call it Sarcosuchus imperator (SAR koh sue kis im PER uh tor), a name that means "flesh crocodile emperor." Sereno's team nicknamed it "SuperCroc."
WHAT MAKES THIS CROC SO SUPER?
In a word, size. The skull alone was six feet long! Sereno says it's "about the biggest I've ever seen."
Naturally, Sereno wondered how big SuperCroc was overall. There isn't a live SuperCroc around to measure, and the team found only part of its skeleton. So Sereno had to make an estimate, or smart guess. To do that, he looked at crocodiles that live today. He and other experts compared the animals' skull and body sizes.
Based on his research, Sereno concluded that an adult SuperCroc could grow to be 40 feet long! That's roughly the length of a school bus. And the giant beast probably weighed as much as 10 tons. That's heavier than an African elephant.
Those measurements make SuperCroc one of the largest crocodiles ever to walk the Earth. Today's biggest crocs grow to about 20 feet.

WHEN DID SUPERCROC LIVE?
Estimating a fossil's age is a challenge. Sereno and his team looked carefully at the group of fossils they had found.
They compared the fossils to others—whose ages scientists know. Based on those comparisons, Sereno believes
SuperCroc lived about 110 million years ago.
Gadoufaoua looked a bit different in those days. What is now a desert was a land of winding rivers. Plenty of trees grew along the banks. Huge fish swam the rivers, while various dinosaurs lived in the forests. Five or more crocodile species , or types, lurked in the rivers.
SuperCroc, Sereno says, was "the monster of them all."
WHAT DID SUPERCROC EAT?
"Anything it wanted," Sereno says. SuperCroc's narrow jaws held about 130 teeth. The teeth were short but incredibly strong. SuperCroc's mouth was "designed for grabbing prey —fish, turtles, and dinosaurs that strayed too close."
SuperCroc likely spent most of its life in the river.
Water hid the creature's huge body. Only its eyes and nostrils poked above the surface.
After spotting a meal, the giant hunter moved quietly toward the animal. Then— wham!
That huge mouth locked onto its prey. SuperCroc dragged the stunned creature into the water. There the animal drowned. Then it became food.
IS SUPERCROC'S NOSE SWOLLEN?
No, it's not. SuperCroc's long head is wider in front than in the middle. That shape is unique, or one of a kind. No other croc—living or extinct—has a snout quite like it.
At the front of SuperCroc's head is a big hole. That's where the nose would be. That empty space may have given the ancient predator a keen sense of smell. Or perhaps it helped SuperCroc make noise to communicate with other members of its species.
DID ANYTHING ATTACK SUPERCROC?
Dinosaurs surely fought back when SuperCroc grabbed them. But we don't know of any creatures that went after this huge reptile.
Just in case, though, SuperCroc wore serious armor. Huge plates of bone, called scutes (skoots), covered the animal's back. Hundreds of them lay just below the skin. A single scute from the back could be a foot long!
WHAT HAPPENED TO SUPERCROC?
The giant beast probably lived only a few million years. That raises a huge question: Why didn't SuperCroc survive? Sereno suspects that SuperCrocs were fairly rare. After all, a monster that big needs plenty of room to make a living. Disease or disaster could have wiped out the species pretty quickly. But no one knows for sure what killed SuperCroc. That's a mystery for future scientists—maybe even you.

1. The graph shows the relationship between mass and time for a radioactive element during radioactive decay.
What is the half-life (time it takes for half of the element) to break down? a.
20 billion years b.
60 billion years c.
125 billion years d.
180 billion years
2. The diagram represents the radioactive decay of uranium-238 (U the stable element lead-206 (Pb 206 ) after three half-lives.
238 ) and shows the percentages of uranium-238 and
After three half-lives, how much of the original sample of uranium-238 remains? a.
12.5% b.
25.0% c.
50.0% d.
87.5%
3. The graph shows the decay rates of four radioactive substances, A, B, C, and D.
Which radioactive substance shown on the graph below has the longest half-life? a.
A b.
B c.
C d.
D

4. The graph shows the relationship between mass and time for a radioactive element during radioactive decay.
When 35% of the original radioactive material is left, the sample will be approximately how many years old? a.
5 billion years b.
60 billion years c.
100 billion years d.
120 billion years
5. If the half life for the element Radium-226 is 1,600 years fill in the rest of the chart:
Table of Remaining Radium-226
Number of
Years After
Formation
Percent of
Radium-226
Remaining
0
100%
1600
50%