PRACTICE EOG QUESTIONS
EARTH’S HISTORY SET 1
1. Which best explains how geologic time scales can help scientists study the evolution of life on Earth?
A. They describe the existence of rocks before there was life on Earth
B. They show that geological features have evolved at the same rate as organisms
C. They compare the life histories of species that have used rocks as habitats
D. They correlate the existence of life on Earth with geological events
2. Which can most likely be concluded about the top layer of rock seen in an undisturbed cliff wall?
A. The top layer is older than layers located farther down the cliff
B. The top layer is younger than layers located farther down the cliff
C. The top layer contains more fossils than layers located farther down the cliff
D. The top layer contains fewer fossils than layers located farther down the cliff
3. A scientist has a hypothesis that a large volcanic eruption caused a change in global temperature. Which information gained from
ice cores is most useful in supporting this hypothesis?
A. Levels of dissolved oxygen
B. Identities of trace metals
C. Estimates of natural radioactivity
D. Amounts of atmospheric dust
4. If an index fossil is found in two rock beds that are separated by an ocean, what do you know about the relationship between the
two rock beds?
A. The rock beds used to be in the same areas
B. The rock beds are about the same age
C. The rock beds are made from the same type of rock
D. The rock beds are unrelated
5. What best explains why scientists have found fossils of the same species of land-dwelling animal in both Africa and South
America?
A. The animals swam from one continent to the other
B. The two continents were once connected by a land bridge
C. The animals evolved identically on the two continents at the same time
D. The two continents were once joined as part of a larger continent
6. Fossils of warm-weather plants were found on an island in the Arctic Ocean. What can be concluded from this discovery?
A. Spores of the plant 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 in the Arctic
D. Seeds of plants have been carried to the island by migratory birds
7. The theory of global warming is based on an increase of what atmospheric gas?
A. Carbon dioxide
B. Helium
C. Hydrogen
D. Oxygen
8. Which theory best describes how an asteroid striking Earth may have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs?
A. Heat from the asteroid caused massive fires that reduced the food supply
B. Dense clouds formed following the collision causing a global drop in temperature
C. Land masses were altered by the collision reducing the carrying capacity of the land
D. Glaciers melted rapidly from the heat produced by the asteroid flooding the dinosaur’s habitats
9. 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 crust
B. Scraping of two geologic plates at a fault line
C. Subduction of geologic plates
D. Spreading of the sea floor
10. What is the main reason Earth’s layers formed as they did?
A. density
B. radioactivity
C. heat
D. light
11. Why are there so few fossils from the Precambrian time?
A. The Precambrian climate was not conducive to fossil formation
B. No life forms were present during that time
C. Life forms were too hard to leave any evidence
D. Fossils of that time were destroyed by metamorphism and erosion
13. How is the Geologic Time Scale broken down?
A. Earth’s 4.6 billion year history is broken into even increments of time
B. It is broken into varying lengths of time due to the random occurrence of catastrophic events
C. It is broken into 2 major eras; before life appeared and after life appeared
D. It is broken into segments of time marked only by mass extinctions
14. What geological feature is often formed by the convergence of an oceanic plate and a continental plate where the oceanic plate
subducts beneath the continental plate?
A. coastal mountains
B. high continental mountains
C. chains of volcanic mountains
D. Flat plains
15. How does an unconformity change a scientist’s understanding of the history of Earth?
A. It reduces the understanding because rock layers representing thousands or millions of years are missing.
B. It increases the understanding because the changes in the positions of rock layers show how forces have changed Earth.
C. It reduces the understanding because fossils have already been removed from an unconformity.
D. It increases the understanding because an unconformity contains rock layers that are absent in other areas.
16. According to the Law of Superposition, which fossil is the oldest in the picture to the right?
Explain.
17. Which type of dating technique would you use to find out the absolute age of a fossil that
is at least 2 million years old.
A. carbon dating
B. interactive dating
C. radioactive dating
D. biological dating
18. By which process does igneous rock form?
A. from heat and pressure
B. from sediments being compacted together
C. from molten rock melting
D. from molten rock cooling
19. By which process does sedimentary rock turn into metamorphic rock?
A. through heat and pressure
B. from sediments being compacted together
C. from molten rock melting
D. from molten rock cooling
20. Which layer of Earth is broken into the tectonic plates?
A. the crust
B. the mantle
C. the lithosphere
D. the asthenosphere