Name: ________________________________________________________ Period: ______ Page:
__
Review for Earth & Space Science Test 4
The Geologic Time Scale, The Precambrian Eon, The Phanerozoic Eon, Life’s Evolution Through Geologic Time,
Continental Drift, Plate Tectonics, Plate Boundaries,
Use the Geologic Time Scale for reference during this exam.
1) What are the current time units: eon, era, period, epoch?
2) What are the names of the eons if we consider there to have been only two in Earth’s history?
3) List two important factors that caused the Precambrian Eon to change to the Phanerozoic
Eon.
4) If the Earth is 4 500 millions years old, how many years did each of the two eons occupy?
5) Name an important factor that caused the Paleozoic Era to change to the Mesozoic Era.
6) Name an important factor that caused the Mesozoic Era to change to the Cenozoic Era.
7) The Precambrian Eon is divided into what two major units?
8) What major event had occured by the end of the Precambrian Eon?
9) Which supercontinent existed during the Phanerozoic Eon?
10) What is the primary reason for the poor fossil record of the Precambrian Eon?
11) Identify:
12) The following events lead from simple chemotrophic bacteria to more advanced life forms. Put
them in the order in which they occured: multicellular organisms, photosynthetic organisms,
eukaryotic cells, sexual reproduction
13) Volcanic island arcs and oceanic plateaus rose up in the ancient seas due to the upwelling of
magma from the upper mantle. The action of plate tectonics caused the arcs to accrete into
crustal provinces. The crustal provinces then accreted into cratons. This chain of events lead
directly to:
14) The beginning of the Cambrian period marks an important event in animal evolution, the
appearance of organisms with:
15) The pictures shows:
16) This organism’s “Age” was probably during:
17) When did the first fishes appear?
18) This creature probably evolved directly into modern:
19) Organic matter began its transformation into fossil fuels in a
swamp like this during the ____________________ period.
20) A mass extinction at the close of the ____________________ caused the trilobites to become
extinct, destroyed 70% of all vertebrate species on land, and caused 90% of all marine organisms
to also become extinct.
21) List three major events that could cause a mass extinction.
22) The Mesozoic era is best known for:
23) What were dinosaurs and trilobites?
24) When did the first flowering plants evolve?
25) Did dinosaurs and early human beings live at the same time?
26) What is the classification of this creature?
27) Archaeopteryx was the link between:
28) What deos this map illustrate?
29) In the Cenozoic, ____________ replaced the ______________ as the dominant vertebrate
life-forms on land.
30) Human beings are considered to be (marsupial, plancetal) mammals, (invertebrates, vertebrates),
decended directly from the ___________________________.
31) According to the chart, mammals branched off
from reptiles:
32) According to the drawing, the only rock layer where
dinosaur fossils would not be found would be:
33) New crust is most likely being created where?
34) The Andes Mountains of Chile were
formed as a result of:
35) German scientist Alfred Wegener would be most closely connected with:
36) Which of the following illustrations does not directly apply to evidence
cited to support thr hypothesis of plate tectonics?
37) Earth’s _________________ consists of several “plates”, which are moving very slowly across
the mobile _________________ below.
38) The location of Earth’s “Ring of Fire” is best described as:
39) Which of the following types of plate boundaries would be least likely to produce volcanic
activity and earthquakes?
40) What does this drawing provide an example of?
41) The scenario shown in this picture will eventually lead to:
42) The series of drawings in this illustration depicts:
43) This picture shows
44) These mountains were formed by:
45) This volcanic island arc was formed by:
46) The San Andreas fault that runs under San Francisco is classified as:
47) Identify the creature below.