Practice Questions for Lectures 17
Geology 1200
Use these questions to test your knowledge of Lectures 17.
1. Which of the following northern continents lay near the early Paleozoic tropics?
a) Canada.
b) Siberia.
c) Greenland.
d) All of the above
2) All of the following modern life forms were absent from the early Paleozoic (Cambrian
through Devonian) world EXCEPT:
a) birds
b) brachiopods
c) insects.
d) palm trees.
3) The Paleozoic Era contains what proportion of Earth history?
(Hint: if the PreCambrian is 88%, only 12% is left for "everything else". The Paleozoic is only
part of that 12%))
a) 47%.
b) 27%.
c) 17%
d) 7%.
4) Which of the following is NOT true concerning placement of the base of the Cambrian
System?
a) The base of the Cambrian System was marked by mass extinctions.
b) The base of the Cambrian System was first marked by the lowest occurrence of large
skeletal fossils.
c) The base of the Cambrian System was later lowered to include the small shelly fauna.
d) The base of the Cambrian System now includes the earliest occurrence of complex trace
fossils.
5) The one Paleozoic system that was NOT defined in western Europe was the:
a) Carboniferous System.
b) Cambrian System.
c) Silurian System.
d) Permian System..
6) Which one of the following systems was NOT defined from Wales?
a) Carboniferous..
b) Cambrian.
c) Ordovician.
d) Silurian.
7) At the beginning of the Paleozoic, the largest continent was:
a) Baltica.
b) Laurentia.
c) Siberia.
d) Gondwana.
8) Laurentia contained all of the following continents EXCEPT:
a) North America.
b) Europe..
c) northern Great Britain.
d) Greenland.
9) 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..
10) The most important stage in the assembly of Pangaea occurred when:
a) Laurasia collided with Kazakhstania.
b) Laurasia collided with Gondwana..
c) Laurasia collided with Siberia.
d) Laurentia collided with Baltica.
11) All of the following tectonic events occurred during the Hercynian Orogeny EXCEPT:
a) intrusion.
b) metamorphism.
c) rifting..
d) uplift.
12) Another stage in the assembly of Pangaea occurred during the Hercynian Orogeny when:
a) the northern margin of Gondwana converged on southern Baltica., uniting north and
south Europe..
b) Siberia collided with Kazakhstania.
c) Kazakhstania collided with Baltica.
d) the eastern margin of North America collided with the northern margin of Africa.
13) The Altai Mountains of central Asia were produced during the Pennsylvanian Period when:
a) the northern margin of Gondwana converged on southern Baltica.
b) Siberia collided with Kazakhstania..
c) Kazakhstania collided with Baltica.
d) the eastern margin of North America collided with the northern margin of Africa.
14) The final stage in the assembly of Pangaea occurred when:
a) the northern margin of Gondwana converged on southern Baltica, forming the Hercynian
Mountains.
b) Siberia collided with Kazakhstania in the Pennsylvanian, forming the Altai Mountains.
c) Kazakhstania collided with Baltica in the Permian, forming the Ural Mountains..
d) the eastern margin of North America collided with the northern margin of Africa,
forming the Appalachian Mountains.
15) 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.
16) 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.
17) 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.
18) Which of the following statements concerning the Cambrian System of Sedgewick is NOT
true?
a) These rocks were the youngest between the Precambrian (then called the "Primary
System") and the Old Red Sandstone..
b) These rocks were sparsely fossiliferous.
c) These rocks had complex stratigraphic and structural relationships.
d) These rocks were correlated on the basis of their lithology.
19) Which of the following statements concerning the Silurian System of Murchison is NOT
true?
a) Murchison began defining the Silurian System with the rocks just below the Old Red
Sandstone.
b) Murchison based stratigraphic relationships within his Silurian System on fossils.
c) As presently defined, it extends to the top of the Precambrian (then called the "Primary
System") ..
d) Murchison defined the base of the Silurian System by exploring rocks in the Cambrian
System.
20) To resolve the Sedgewick-Murchison problem, Lapworth defined the:
a) Devonian System.
b) Ordovician System.
c) Primary System.
d) Carboniferous System.
21) In the late Permian, the continent of Pangaea was ice-free because:
a) warm equatorial waters from the Panthalassa Ocean reached both poles.
b) the Gondwana landmass had drifted north into warmer climates.
c) the arid nature of the continental interior. (Why was it arid?)
d) All of the above..
22) In the Late Permian, the interior of Pangaea was very warm because: (Hints not on Test)
a) (dry climate) lack of weathering and reduced coal formation caused carbon dioxide levels
to rise..
b) widespread limestone production occurred in coastal regions. (removes CO2 from the air,
earth gets colder)
c) abundant vegetation raised levels of humidity. (Interior? See Figure 21-6 and p.432)
d) The reptiles learned to make campfires.
23) Which statement concerning Paleozoic mountain building in eastern North America is NOT
true?
a) The Appalachian-Ouachita mountain belt extends from Newfoundland to Texas.
b) Mountains built by collisions were quickly eroded, forming clastic wedges.
c) Closing of the Iapetus Ocean was facilitated by mountain-building events.
d) Deformation in the Appalachian Mountain belt occurred only during the Allegheny
Orogeny..
24) Which type of tectonic activity was NOT present in the Paleozoic of eastern North America?
a) Rifting..
b) Docking.
c) Subduction
d) Continental collisions.
25) The height of the ancient Taconic Mountains has been estimated from:
a) their present height.
b) the volume of sediments eroded from them..
c) their present length and width.
d) All of the above.
26) Which Early Paleozoic event was responsible for building the Taconic Mountains?
a) Closure of the Iapetus Ocean.
b) Formation of a subduction zone beneath Avalonia.
c) Suturing of portions of Avalonia to Laurentia
27) Older passive margin sediments that underwent Taconic deformation were:
a) sutured to Laurentia.
b) accreted to Laurentia as volcanic arcs.
c) metamorphosed and thrust over the shelf towards the craton.
d) downwarped in the Appalachian foreland basin and then buried by deep-water
sediments..
28) 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
29) The Caledonian Orogeny (formed Laurasia) involved the collision of Laurentia with:
a) Avalonia.
b) Gondwana.
c) Siberia.
d) Baltica..
30) All of the following resulted from the Late Silurian-Early Devonian Caledonian Orogeny
EXCEPT:
a) mountain building.
b) metamorphism.
c) deposition of the Queenston clastic wedge.. (that's eroded Taconic Mts.)
d) deposition of the Old Red Sandstone clastic wedge.
31) The Acadian orogeny resulted in:
a) deposition of the Queenston clastic wedge. (no, that's Taconic)
b) docking and suturing of the remainder of Avalonia to Laurentia. (no, Laurasia)
c) deposition of the Old Red Sandstone clastic wedge. (no, that's erosion of Caledonia)
d) docking and suturing of the remainder of Avalonia to Laurasia..
32) Erosion of the Acadian highlands produced the:
a) Catskill clastic wedge..
b) Queenston clastic wedge. (no, that's eroded Taconic Mts.)
c) Old Red Sandstone clastic wedge. (no, that's eroded Caledonian)
d) Acadian Mountains.
33) The most dramatic collision recorded in the Appalachian Mountains is the:
a) Acadian Orogeny.
b) Caledonian Orogeny.
c) Taconic Orogeny.
d) Allegheny Orogeny..
34) Deformation of the Allegheny Orogeny was most severe in the:
a) Thin-skin tectonics of the Valley and Ridge province.
b) Blue Ridge province of thrust Grenville rocks.
c) Piedmont province near the suture..
d) Plateau Province of Paleozoic sediments.
35) Deformation of the Allegheny Orogeny was least severe in the:
a) Valley and Ridge province.
b) Blue Ridge province.
c) Piedmont province.
d) Plateau Province..
36) 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.
37) 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.
38) The Ouachita Orogeny resulted from collision of the southern margin of North America with:
a) Avalonia.
b) Central America.
c) Africa.
d) South America..
39) During the Ouachita Orogeny, deep-water sediments from the continental slope and rise of
North America were:
a) metamorphosed and intruded.
b) thrust up and over the edge of the North American craton..
c) downwarped to form a foreland basin.
d) relatively undeformed.
40) During the Early Paleozoic, the western margin of North America was a:
a) passive margin..
b) foreland basin.
c) volcanic island arc.
d) subduction zone.
41) All of the following environments typify the passive margin EXCEPT:
a) continental shelf.
b) continental slope.
c) continental rise.
d) volcanic island arc..
42) The Antler Orogeny began with the formation of:
a) a westward-dipping subduction zone..
b) an eastward-dipping subduction zone.
c) a passive margin.
d) a continental slope and rise.
43) 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) formation of highlands.
d) high-grade metamorphism and intrusion..
44) The Ancestral Rockies were produced by:
a) continental collision.
b) accretion of a volcanic island arc to the plate margin.
c) uplift of crustal blocks along high-angle faults..
d) salt basins.
45) All of the following landforms are associated with the Ancestral Rockies EXCEPT:
a) the Front Range.
b) the Catskill Mountains..
c) the Garden of the Gods.
d) the Uncompahgre Plateau.
46) Cratonic sequences in the stratigraphic record of North America primarily record:
a) cyclic sedimentation.
b) sedimentary sequences of regression away from the cratonic interior.
c) sedimentary sequences of transgression onto the cratonic interior..
d) formation of clastic wedges.
47) 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)
48) Which one of the following sedimentary sequences records regression?
a) Fine limestone overlain by quartz-rich sandstone. (coarsening upward)
b) A disconformity between two sediment layers
c) Quartz-rich sandstone overlying a shale. (coarsening upward)
d) All of the above..
REMEMBER: Hints in parentheses are NOT on the test
49) Coal beds in cyclothems represent which sedimentary environment?
a) Freshwater lakes.
b) Shallow marine lagoons.
c) Exposed grassy tide flats.
d) Coastal swamps
50) Cyclic sedimentation of Late Paleozoic age 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.
51) Evaporite deposition in the Michigan Basin was a result of:
a) evaporation of seawater in the basin..
b) dissolution processes in the basin.
c) unrestricted flow of seawater over the basin
52) High sea levels in the Michigan Basin favored:
a) growth of narrow reefs in the basin center.
b) growth of barrier reefs along the basin margin.
c) carbonate deposition in the basin interior.
d) All of the above..
E. Short Answer
1. What caused the Catskill clastic wedge? What types of sedimentation were characteristic of
the wedge in the Late Devonian, once the foreland basin was nearly filled?