Homework for Cenozoic Geology
Structural Geology
Use these questions to test your knowledge of Cenozoic Geology
A. Multiple Choice
1) The warm climate of the Early Eocene was indicated by fossils of:
(a) tropical plants near the equator.
(b) tropical plants in the high latitudes.
2) During the Tertiary, temperatures cooled and mid-latitude climates
became drier, so:
(a) grasslands changed to forests
(b) forests were replaced by grasslands.
3) Grasses have drought-tolerant carbon cycles.
a) True
b) False
4) All of the following stages represent glacial advances EXCEPT:
(a) Illinoian.
(b) Nebraskan.
(c) Sangamon.
(d) Wisconsinan.
5) The best record of glacial climates is preserved in:
(a) glacial striations
(b) glacial outwash.
(c) glacial till.
(d) the tests of planktonic foraminifera .
6) During glacial ages, the proportion of 18O isotope compared to 16O
isotope IN THE OCEAN is:
(a) about the same.
(b) greater.
(c) less.
(d) none of the above.
7) The transitional period between the end of a glacial stage and the onset of
an interglacial stage can last:
(a) about 100,000 years.
(b) from 10,000 to 15,000 years.
(c) a few tens of years.
(d) there is insufficient evidence to predict the time interval.
8) The glacial stage for which standard radiocarbon (carbon-14) dating
can be applied is the:
(a) Kansan.
(b) Nebraskan.
(c) Illinoian.
(d) Wisconsinan.
9) All of the following represent the effects of lowered sea level EXCEPT:
(a) river valleys cut into the continental shelf.
(b) continental shelves with forests and animal populations.
(c) formation of land bridges.
(d) glacial rebound. [glaciers melted, sea level is higher, not lower]
10) The modern rise of sea level is due to all of the following EXCEPT:
(a) thinning of the Greenland ice sheet.
(b) melting of alpine glaciers.
(c) expansion of oceanic surface waters as they warm.
(d) increased rates of seafloor spreading.
B. True or False.
11) The separation of Antarctica from Australia and South America
during the Eocene allowed the formation of a west wind with unlimited
fetch. This cause a circum-polar current that isolated Antarctica from
warming Western Boundary Currents.
a) True
b) False
12) Construction of the central american volcanic arc isolated the North
Atlantic. That ocean became saltier (denser), and much of the warm
water carried by the Gulf Stream sank before it could warm Arctic air.
a) True
b) False