Practice Questions Paleozoic Geology KEY
Structural Geology
Use these questions to test your knowledge of Paleozoic Geology.
1. Which of the following northern regions lay near the early Paleozoic tropics?
a) Canada.
b) Siberia.
c) Greenland.
d) All of the above
2) Which of the following life forms were present in the Paleozoic world?
a) Brachiopods and trilobites
b) Birds, Dinosaurs, and early mammals
3) Which one of the following systems was NOT defined from Wales?
a) Permian (Murchison defined this in Russia)
b) Cambrian.
c) Ordovician.
d) Silurian.
4) At the beginning of the Paleozoic, the largest continent was:
a) Baltica.
b) Laurentia.
c) Siberia.
d) Gondwana.
5) Laurentia contained the following continents:
a) North America, northern Great Britain, Greenland.
b) Africa, South America, India, Australia, Antarctica
6) The initial stage in the assembly of Pangaea occurred when:
a) Laurentia collided with Siberia.
b) Baltica collided with Gondwana.
c) Baltica collided with Kazakhstania.
d) Laurentia collided with Baltica. (formed “Laurasia”)
7) In the Paleozoic, Gondwana was covered by ice sheets during the:
a) Ordovician Period.
b) Carboniferous Period.
c) Permian Period.
d) All of the above.
8) In the Paleozoic, lower carbon dioxide concentrations were brought about by:
a) lack of forests supplying abundant organic material.
b) drift of the Gondwana landmass south into colder climates.
c) the large scale production of limestone.
d) widespread surface decay of organic matter.
9) In the Paleozoic, the single largest source of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere was:
a) deposition of large amounts of organic matter.
b) volcanic activity during sea-floor spreading and subduction.
c) widespread limestone production.
d) abundant vegetation on the land surface.
10) In the late Permian, the continent of Pangaea was ice-free
a) True
b) False
11) Which Early Paleozoic event was responsible for building the Taconic Mountains?
a) Formation of a subduction zone beneath Avalonia.
b) Suturing of portions of Avalonia to Laurentia
12) Sediments eroded from the Taconic Mountains were deposited as a thick wedge of sediments:
a) on the continental rise and slope.
b) in the foreland basin.
c) on the passive margin.
d) seaward of the volcanic arc
13) The Caledonian Orogeny (formed Laurasia) involved the collision of Laurentia with:
a) Avalonia.
b) Gondwana.
c) Siberia.
d) Baltica.
14) The Queenston clastic wedge (E. Silurian, e.g. Shawangung and High Falls-Bloomsburg Fm.)
eroded off of:
a) The Acadian Mts.
b) theTaconic Mts.
c) The Pyrenees
15) The Acadian orogeny resulted in docking and suturing of the remainder of Avalonia to
Laurasia during the:
a) Pennsylvanian
b) Devonian
c) Ordovician
16) Erosion of the Acadian highlands produced the:
a) Catskill clastic wedge (we saw this along US 80 in PA)
b) Queenston clastic wedge (we saw this at Delaware Water Gap)
c) Allentown Dolomite (we mapped this at Sparta, NJ)
17) The most dramatic collision recorded in the Appalachian Mountains is the:
a) Acadian Orogeny.
b) Caledonian Orogeny.
c) Taconic Orogeny.
d) Allegheny Orogeny.
18) Deformation of the Allegheny Orogeny was most severe in the:
a) Plateau Province of Paleozoic sediments.
b) Thin-skin tectonics of the Valley and Ridge province.
c) Blue Ridge province of thrust Grenville rocks.
d) Piedmont province near the suture.
19) Deformation of the Allegheny Orogeny was least severe in the:
a) Plateau Province of Paleozoic sediments.
b) Thin-skin tectonics of the Valley and Ridge province.
c) Blue Ridge province of thrust Grenville rocks.
d) Piedmont province near the suture.
20) Allegheny deformation in the Blue Ridge province was characterized by:
a) thin-skinned folding and faulting of platform rocks.
b) extreme metamorphism and intrusion
c) colossal thrust faulting.
d) flat-lying rocks showing a lack of deformation.
21) Allegheny deformation in the Valley and Ridge province was characterized by:
a) thin-skinned folding and faulting of platform rocks.
b) extreme metamorphism and intrusion.
c) colossal thrust faulting.
d) flat-lying rocks showing a lack of deformation.
22) The Ouachita Orogeny resulted from collision of the southern margin of North America with:
a) Avalonia.
b) Central America.
c) Africa.
d) South America.
23) During the Early Paleozoic (Cambrian to Silurian) , the western margin of North America
was a:
a) passive margin.
b) foreland basin.
c) volcanic island arc.
d) subduction zone.
24) All of the following environments typify a passive margin EXCEPT:
a) continental shelf.
b) continental slope.
c) continental rise.
d) volcanic island arc.
25) The Antler Orogeny began with the formation of:
a) a westward-dipping subduction zone.
b) a passive margin.
c) a continental slope and rise.
26) All of the following events occurred during the Antler Orogeny in western North America
EXCEPT:
a) accretion of a volcanic arc to the plate margin.
b) deposition of a clastic wedge.
c) rifting
27) The Ancestral Rockies were produced by:
a) accretion of a volcanic island arc to the plate margin.
b) uplift of crustal blocks along high-angle faults.
c) salt basins.
28) All of the following landforms are associated with the Ancestral Rockies EXCEPT:
a) the Front Range.
b) the Catskill Mountains.
c) the Uncompahgre Plateau.
29) Sediments in the stratigraphic record of North America primarily record:
a) sedimentary sequences of regression away from the cratonic interior. (erosional surface)
b) sedimentary sequences of transgression onto the cratonic interior. (pile of sediment)
30) All of the following sedimentary sequences record marine transgression EXCEPT:
a) fine-grained shale overlain by calcareous ooze. (fining upward)
b) mudstone overlain by quartz-rich sandstone. (coarsening upward).
c) quartz-rich sandstone overlain by shale. (fining upward)
31) Which one of the following sedimentary sequences records regression?
a) Fine limestone overlain by quartz-rich sandstone, capped by an erosional surface
(Coarsen upwards, then exposed and eroded away)
b) Shale overlying Quartz-rich sandstone
32) Coal beds in cyclothems represent which sedimentary environment?
a) Freshwater lakes.
b) Alpine streams
c) Coastal swamps
33) Cyclic sedimentation during the Pennsylvanian was due to:
a) local cycles of uplift and subsidence.
b) oscillating rates of sea-floor spreading.
c) periodic buildup and melting of Gondwana glaciers
d) local cycles of uplift and erosion.
34) Evaporite deposition in the Michigan Basin was a result of:
a) evaporation of seawater in the basin.
b) unrestricted flow of seawater through the basin