REVIEW TEST 2
This review is a suggested list of terms and practice questions. This is NOT all-inclusive.
Check notes, power points, and textbook for topics covered in class that may not be
included here.
Terms from each chapter for review:
Ch. 4
absolute dating
radioactive decay -- alpha decay - beta decay – fission track dating
catastrophism – principle of uniformitarianism
daughter – parent elements
half-life – decay curve – calculation of age
principles: cross cutting relationships, lateral continuity, horizontality, superposition, fossil
succession, inclusions
tree ring dating
Ch. 5
unconformities – disconformity, angular unconformity, nonconformity
correlation – biostratigraphic, lithostratographic, time-stratigraphic
fossil – how formed -- guide fossil or index fossil, body fossil, cast, carbonization
sedimentary facies
marine transgression – regression – Walther’s law
Ch. 6
Sedimentary rocks: detrital, chemical, biochemical,
steps in lithification of detrial
NOTE: this test will NOT include environments of formation. That will be included on your
next lab test.
Ch. 7
chromosomes – genes – alleles – DNA (know what these terms mean – you do not have to
analyze these)
mutation
inheritance of acquired characteristics
artificial selection, natural selection
Darwin—theory of evolution
Mendel -- genetics
convergent evolution, divergent evolution, parallel evolution, mosaic evolution
phyletic gradualism, punctuated equilibrium
species
homologous structures, analagous structures, vestigal structures
living fossil
Ch 8 – To be announced
The following is a practice review quiz. Your instructor is NOT responsible for errors in
this review quiz. It is up to YOU to find the correct response for each question. An
answer key is provided. If you find any errors, contact your instructor.
1.Placing geologic events in a chronological order from their position in the rock record is
A.
B.
C.
D.
neptunism
uniformitarianism
relative dating
absolute dating
2.Assigning a specific date to a rock, which is measured in years before present, is known as
A. relative dating
B. absolute dating
C. superposition
D. catastrophism
3.Radiometric dating is based upon
A. the presence of fossils
B. cross cutting relationships
C. spontaneous decay of radioactive elements
D. superposition
4.The geologic time scale that we use today is based upon
A. absolute time and relative time
B. absolute time and geographic locations
C. relative time and obsolete time
D. relative time and fossil lithologies
5. The observation that in an undisturbed section of sedimentary rock the oldest is on the bottom
and the youngest is on the top is
A. the principle of cross-cutting relations
B. the principle of lateral continuity
C. the principle of inclusions
D. the principle of superposition
6. If an igneous rock cuts across a sedimentary rock, we know that the igneous rock is
A. older than the sedimentary rock
B. younger than the sedimentary rock
C. the same age as the sedimentary rock
D. a minimum of 1.2 million years old
7. The observation that sediment is deposited in essentially flat layers led to
A. the principle of cross-cutting relations
B. the principle of lateral continuity
C. the principle of original horizontality
D. the principle of superposition
8. Hutton's concepts that eventually formed the basis for uniformitarianism stated that
A. the past history of the Earth can be explained by present-day processes
B. Earth’s rocks are precipitated in ocean basins
C. the Earth is approximately 10,000 years old
D. major events, such as widespread flooding, are responsible for the Earth’s surface
E. All of the above
9. Radioactive Na24 decays with a half-life of 15 hours. Starting with 1000 atoms of this nuclide,
how many atoms would exist after 45 hours?
A. 500
B. 250
C. 125
D. 996
E. no Na24 would remain
10. If a radioactive element has a half-life of 4,000,000 years, the amount of parent material
remaining after 12,000,000 years of decay will be this fraction of the original amount:
A. 1/32
B. l/16
C. 1/8
D. 1/4
11. The atomic number of an element is the same as the number of
A. electrons in the nucleus
B. neutrons in the nucleus
C. protons in the nucleus
D. electrons in the outer shell
E. protons and neutrons in the nucleus
12. Alpha decay is
A. the loss of a proton and a neutron
B. the loss of a proton and capture of an electron
C. the loss of two protons and two neutrons
D. the loss of an electron from a neutron
E. the capture of an electron
13.Beta decay is
A. the loss of a proton and a neutron
B. the loss of a proton and capture of an electron
C. the loss of two protons and two neutrons
D. the loss of an electron from a neutron
E. the capture of an electron
14. The half-life of a radioactive isotope is
A. half the amount of time required for the isotope to decay
B. half the duration of a radioactive isotope’s existence
C. half of the isotope’s decay rate
D. the time necessary for half of the radioactive parent atoms to decay to daughter atoms
15. If an isotope has a half-life of 50 million years, and 1/8 of the remaining sample consists of the
parent isotope, the age of the rock from which the sample was taken is
A. 400 million years
B. 300 million years
C. 150 million years
D. 100 million years
16. Radiocarbon dating is possible because
A. carbon 14 is no longer being formed in the atmosphere
B. the ratio of carbon 14 to carbon 12 varies with time
C. life forms stop accumulating carbon 14 when they die
D. the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has not changed over time
17. In the field, you encounter layers of sedimentary rock through which a dike of
igneous granite intrudes. The granite is dated radiometrically to be 28.7 million years. How
old is the sedimentary rock?
A. younger than 28.7 million years
B. 28.7 million years
C. older than 28.7 million years
D. 40.2 million years
Chapter 5
18. If a sandstone contains fragments of an underlying granite, we can infer that
A. both the sandstone and the granite are the same age
B. the sandstone is older than the granite
C. the relative age of the sandstone and granite cannot be determined
D. the granite intruded into the sandstone
E. the sandstone is younger than the granite
19. An erosional surface that separates strata that are parallel with one another is called a(n)
A. angular unconformity
B. disconformity
C. nonconformity
D. bedding plane
20. An erosional surface that separates tilted strata below from flat lying strata above is called a(n)
A. angular unconformity
B. disconformity
C. nonconformity
D. bedding plane
21. An erosional surface that separates older metamorphic or igneous rocks from younger
overlying sedimentary rocks is called a(n)
A. angular unconformity
B. disconformity
C. nonconformity
D. bedding plane
22. What is the correct order of sedimentary facies, from shoreline toward open water?
A. shale, mud, and sand
B. limestone, sand and conglomerate
C. limestone, shale, and mud
D. sandstone, shale, and limestone
23. The term facies in sedimentary rocks refers to the
A. lateral changes resulting from deposition in different depositional environments that had
existed simultaneously
B. vertical variation resulting from deposition in the same environment separated by
significant time intervals
C. lateral variation resulting from deposition in the same environment separated by
significant time intervals.
D. laterally homogeneous strata deposited over a long time interval in the same
environment
24. Sedimentary facies are a result of
A. similar depositional processes operating in adjacent environments
B. similar depositional processes operating in geographically separate environments
C. different depositional processes operating in geographically separate environments
D. different depositional processes operating in adjacent environments
25. Which of the following is a cause of marine transgressions?
A. continental uplift
B. lowering of sea level with respect to a continent
C. rapid sea floor spreading
D. formation of large glaciers.
26. Which of the following is a trace fossil?
A. mammal tooth
B. frozen mammoth
C. ripple mark
D. dinosaur footprint
27. A clam shell is buried in the sand, then dissolved leaving a cavity. The cavity fills with mineral
matter. The object produced is a(n)
A. burrow
B. mold
C. cast
D. carbon film
28. Of the following, which was not used by 19th century geologists for developing the geologic
column?
A. fossil succession
B. radiometric age dating
C. superposition
D. rock types and composition
29. The process used to demonstrate that rock strata are equivalent is called
A. equivalency
B. interpolation
C. extrapolation
D. correlation
30. Radiometric dating of detrital minerals (particals) in sedimentary rocks gives
A. the exact age of the sedimentary rock
B. an age older than the sedimentary rock
C. an age younger than the sedimentary rock
D. the age of lithification of the sedimentary rock
31. You date an igneous rock that cuts across a sedimentary layer. What can you determine about
the age of the sedimentary rock?
A. a minimum age
B. a maximum age
C. no age inference can be made at all
D. an exact age
E. an age range
32. In the field, a geologist notices igneous rock below parallel sedimentary layers. The
igneous rock has pieces of limestone from the first sedimentary layer contained within it.
What can be said about the age of the limestone?
A. The limestone was deposited simultaneous as the emplacement of the igneous rock.
B. The limestone is older than the igneous rock
C. The limestone is younger than the igneous rock
D. The limestone can only be dated through its included fossils
Chapter 6
33. If all of the grains in a sedimentary rock are about the same size, the rock can be characterized
as
A. cemented
B. compacted
C. cross bedded
D. graded
E. well sorted
34. Detrital sedimentary rocks are formed by
A. precipitation from aqueous fluid
B. dissolved shells of marine organisms that recrystallize from aqueous solution
C. melting of other rock
D. the lithification of particles deposited by weathering and erosion
35. Chemical sedimentary rocks are formed by
A. precipitation from aqueous fluid
B. dissolved shells of marine organisms that recrystallize from aqueous solution
C. melting of other rock
D. the lithification of particles deposited by weathering and erosion
36. Biochemical sedimentary rocks are formed by
A. presence of trace fossils
B. organic material that is lithified or precipitated
C. melting of other rock
D. the lithification of particles deposited by weathering and erosion
Chapter 7
37.. What led Darwin to develop his theory of natural selection?
A. His renewed interest in the biblical account of creation
B. His observation of language variation in human populations in the British Isles
C. His observations of no documentable difference in plant and animal population over
wide geographic areas.
D. His observations that distinct, but closely related, groups of plants and animals inhabited
isolated islands
38. Which of the following is not a component of the Darwin-Wallace theory of natural selection?
A. all populations contain heritable variations
B. some variations are more favorable than others
C. not all young survive to maturity
D. all organisms can knowingly select their genetic direction
39. The central theme for the theory of evolution is
A. all life forms that existed in the past exist today
B. all life forms that have existed on Earth rose from spontaneous generation
C. all life forms that exist on Earth today are completely unrelated to life forms that existed
in the past
D. all life forms that exist today are descendants of life forms that existed in the past
40. Lamarck's theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics was based on
A. discovery of DNA
B. discovery of genes
C. discovery of mitochondria
D. observation and interpretation
E. experiments
41. In evolutionary terms, the best thing to be is
A. the biggest, meanest organism around
B. so well adapted to your environment that you can’t change if your environment changes
C. well adapted to your environment but able to change if your environment changes
D. the smartest organism around
E. the best camouflaged organisms around
42. One important conclusion of Mendel's genetic studies with pea plants is
A. mutation is the only important factor in change
B. genes controlling traits do not blend during inheritance, but are transmitted as discrete
entities
C. the traits that an organism inherits are the average of the two alleles
D. if particular traits do not appear in each generation, they are lost from the species
E. once a trait becomes recessive, it is lost to the population forever
43. An important aspect of mutation is that
A. the only mutations that can be passed on to the next generation are those that occur in
sex cells (sperm and eggs)
B. all mutations are bad
C. all mutations are good
D. all mutations can be passed to the next generation
44.A population that has similar individuals that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring is
called a
A. mating pair
B. family
C. breeding stock
D. species
45. Structures that are superficially dissimilar but have a common origin with subsequent
modifications are called
A. heterologous structures
B. homologous structures
C. vestigial structures
D. analogous structures
46. Features that serve the same function on very dissimilar organisms are called
A. heterologous structures
B. homologous structures
C. analogous structures
D. vestigial structures
47. The wings of sparrows and eagles are _______, but the wings of bats, birds and insects are
_______.
A. vestigial, homologous
B. homologous, erogenous
C. homologous, analogous
D. analogous, homologous
48. Structures in an organism that are nonfunctional remnants of organs that were once functional
in ancestors are called
A. relict organs
B. ancestral organs
C. analogous organs
D. homologous organs
E. vestigial organs
49. Plant and animal breeders choose traits they deem desirable, and specifically breed
for those traits. They practice
A. allopatric speciation
B. artificial selection
C. evolution
D. natural selection