SES 4UI - Review - Earth’s Geological History
A.
True/False Questions. Circle T for true and F for false. Correct any false
statements by correcting the word written in italics.
1.
2.
4.
5.
6.
T
T
T
T
T
T
F
F
F
F
F
F
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
F
F
F
F
F
F
F
F
F
B.
Multiple Choice. Circle the best answer.
1.
a)
Which period is not part of the Mesozoic age?
Jurrasic
b)
Cretaceous
c)
Permian
2.
a)
Dinosaurs went extinct at the end of the:
Permian
b)
Precambrian
c)
Cretaceous
3.
a)
b)
If a igneous rock intrusion cuts through a layer of rock but not a fault then the intrusion is :
older than the rock layer but younger than the fault
c)
older than the fault and the rock layer
younger than the rock layer but older than the fault
d)
younger than the fault and the rock layer
4.
a)
The youngest time period is:
Proterozoic
b)
5.
a)
A zircon is found in a layer of rocks. That rock layer would best be dated using:
238
dendochronolgy
b)
K/Ar
c)
U/208Pb
d)
Carbon-14
6.
a)
When igneous rock is found in contact with sedimentary rock, it is called a(n):
Angular disconformity
b)
disconformity
c)
non-conformity
d)
superposition
7.
a)
Most major groups of animals first appear in the:
Silurian
b)
Cambrian
c)
Ordivician
d)
Carboniferous
8.
a)
The rocks underneath Cambridge are:
Silurian
b)
Devonian
c)
d)
Cambrian
9.
b)
The half life of 14C is 5730 years. If the sample contains only 1/8 of its original 14C then it is about:
716 years old
b)
45840 years old
c)
17190 years old
d)
22920 years old
3.
Trilobites went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period.
Periods are longer than Eras.
A fault that cuts through a rock layer must be older than that rock layer.
The introduction of Oxygen to the atmosphere led to one of the Snowball Earth events.
Relative age dating is used to determine the exact age of a rock.
Most of central North America was covered by a shallow ocean in the Paleozoic because it is now
covered with layers of limestone.
The principle of superposition states that the landscape developed slowly over a long period of time.
An angular unconformity occurs when a rock layer is deposited over an eroded rock layer.
The supercontinent of Pangaea broke into Laurasia and Rodinia.
Single-celled micro-organisms existed in the Archean.
Carbon-14 can be used to date rock layers containing dinosaurs.
The Himalayas were created when India collided with Asia
Pangaea broke apart during the Paleozoic.
The K-T extinction was in large part caused by a meteorite impact.
According to the picture at right, the basalt layer is younger than the fault.
Mesozoic
c)
Cenozoic
Ordivician
d)
Triassic
d)
d)
Jurassic
Paleozoic
10.
a)
Oxygen could not be found in the Earth’s atmosphere until:
Archaean
b)
Proterozoic
c)
Cambrian
d)
Hadean
11.
a)
The Earth had a methane atmosphere (with a red sky) during the:
Archaean
b)
Proterozoic
c)
Cambrian
d)
Hadean
12.
b)
Most major groups of animals first appear in the:
Silurian
b)
Cambrian
c)
Ordivician
d)
Carboniferous
13.
a)
The first animal walked on the Earth during the:
Silurian
b)
Devonian
c)
Ordivician
d)
Cambrian
14.
a)
b)
Which of the following continents was not formed from Gondwana
Australia
c)
North America
Africa
d)
South America
15.
a)
c)
The youngest event in the picture at right is:
layer A
b)
the igneous intrusion
the fault
d)
layer C
C.
Time Periods. Fill in the blanks – state which time period (eon, era, period or
epoch) in which each of the follow events occurs.
event
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
D.
a)
time period
the K-T extinction
the snowball earth events
the first dinosaurs
the break up of Pangaea
death of trilobites
the end of the last ice age
the evolution of jawed fish
the iron catastrophe
the formation of the Himilayas
the first hominids
dense forests form coal beds, over 30% O2 conc.
the appearance of angiosperms
the appearance of free oxygen in the atmosphere
the break up of Rodinia
the first vascular land plants
the first amphibians
formation of the Isthmus of Panama
diversification of mammals
break-up of Pangaea
period of heavy bombardment by meteorites
What is that? Identify the picture or diagram.
b)
c)
d)
E.
Major extinctions.
Causes
What organism went extinct?
end of Cretaceous
end of Permian
end of Ordivician
F.
Short Answer Questions.
1)
2)
5)
What is the difference between relative and absolute age dating? Discuss two methods of each kind of data.
Choose a radiometric dating technique (carbon-14 or 238U/208Pb) and explain how they are used for dating the
Earth’s age?
What are the 6 principles of Stratigraphy?
Multi-cellular life began to flourish for the first time in the Ediacaran period, what changes in the planet allowed
multicellular life to occur.
What evidence do we have for the Snowball Earth events? What caused the Snowball events to begin an end?
G.
Chart Question:
3)
4)
Era or Period
Archean
Cambrian
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Major Geological Events
(i.e. position of continents,
mountain building)
Major Biological Changes
(i.e. common or new
organisms, extinctions)
Atmospheric Conditions
(level of O2 or CO2, temperature
trends)
H.
Long Answer Questions.
1.
2.
Explain why the Permian extinction occurred.
Explain the reason for the trend in global occurring that has taken place for most of the Cenozoic (more
specifically since the PETM 55.8 mya).
What evidence can be used to determine the evolution of Homo Sapiens.
A sample of the frozen flesh of a Woolly Mammoth found in the Siberian permafrost contains 6.20 mg
of C-14. An equal mass of the flesh of a modern animal contains 49.6 mg of C-14. The half-life of C-14
is 5730 years. What is the age of the frozen Mammoth?
A zircon is taken from a basalt lava flow in a Pre-Cambrian igneous rock formation.
The sample taken from the zircon contains 8.42 mg of Pb-208. A similar sized zircon
sample that was taken from a recent lava flow had 9.77 mg of Pb-208. The half life
of the 238U/206Pb process is 4.50 billion years. use the following formula:
3.
4.
5.
I.
Human Evolution. Matching Question.
A.
1.
____
Homo Habilus
B.
2.
____
Ardipithicus
C.
3.
____
Homo Erectus
D.
4.
____
Chimpanzee
5.
____
Homo Sapiens
E.
6.
____
Australopithecus
F.
7.
____
Neanderthals
G.
Mainly dwells in trees, eats a mostly herbivorous
diet rich in fruits, very long arms, male-dominated
social system, 400 cm3 brain capacity.
tall, upright, slender skeleton, omnivorous, large
brains (1400 cm3), advanced tool-making and
communication skills, efficient hunter.
Very robust bodies, ice-age hunters, 1435 cm3
brain capacity. Coexisted with Homo sapiens until
they went extinct 28,000 years ago.
Totally bipedal, adapted to grassland
environments, evolved 1.9 mya and died out just
50,000 years ago. Stone Age tool makers with
brains 850 – 1250 cm3. Spread from Africa to Asia.
About 3½ to 5 feet tall, bipedal, shorter arms,
small brains, evolving to eat more fibrous food,
lived from 4.0 to 2.0 mya, no evidence of tool use.
Drying climate forced this species to divide its time
between trees and the ground. Some adaptations
to walking upright but still had opposable big toes.
Small (males less than 5 feet tall), upright walking
posture, meat eater, tool making, first sign of
increasing brain capacity (600 – 800 cm3).
J.
Stratigraphy Questions.
1.
Draw the following sequence on a sheet of paper.
b) Layers of limestone, then shale and then sandstone are deposited.
c) An igneous intrusion starts at the bottom right hand corner and comes to the surface in the middle
of the page.
d) The whole sequence of rocks is tilted about 30° upward on the left
e) The sequence is eroded flat until the limestone is exposed on the left side of the diagram.
f) A layer of siltstone then a layer of sandstone are deposited.
g) A fault cuts the entire sequence starting at the bottom middle of the diagram and extending to the
top right hand corner. The right hand side of the fault moves upward. You show a displacement of
about 2 cm.
h) The surface is eroded flat and finally a layer of limestone is deposited on the entire sequence.
2.
LABEL each layer with a letter. Label each distinctive layer with a letter, then order all events
(deposition of layers, intrusions, faulting, tilting, unconformities) in the space provided.
YOUNGEST
1) _______________
2) _______________
3) _______________
4) _______________
5) _______________
6) _______________
7) _______________
8) _______________
9) _______________
10) _______________
11) _______________
12) _______________
13) _______________
14) _______________
15) _______________
16) _______________
OLDEST