Earth Science SOL Review Sheet #11: Paleontology

Earth Science SOL Review Sheet #11: 

Paleontology

Essential Knowledge and Skills

·   A fossil is the remains, impressions, or other evidence of the former existence of life preserved in rock.

·   Some ways in which fossils can be preserved are molds, casts, and original bone or shell.

·   Nearly all fossils are found in sedimentary rocks.

·   In Virginia, fossils are found mainly in the Coastal Plain, Valley and Ridge, and Appalachian Plateau provinces.

·   Most Virginia fossils are of marine organisms. This indicates that large areas of the state have been periodically covered by seawater.

·   Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic fossils are found in Virginia.

·   Relative time places events in a sequence without assigning any numerical ages.

·   Fossils, superposition, and cross-cutting relations are used to determine the relative ages of rocks.

·   Absolute time places a numerical age on an event.

·   Radioactive decay is used to determine the absolute age of rocks.

·   Describe how life has changed and become more complex over geologic time.

·   Interpret a simple geologic history diagram using superposition and cross-cutting relations.

Let's practice some of the important words you need to know.

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Vocabulary

Multiple Choice

What is absolute dating?

• A process to determine the location of archaeological sites.
• A technique for dating historical documents.
• A method to estimate the age range of fossils.
• A technique used to determine the exact age of an object or event.

Multiple Choice

Parent material used in radiometric dating of organic remains

• Carbon-14
• Uranium-238
• Radon-222
• Potassium-40

Multiple Choice

A model of an organism formed when a mold fills with sediment

• Cast
• Fossil
• Mold
• Imprint

Multiple Choice

Current era; Age of Mammals

• Cenozoic Era
• Paleozoic Era
• Mesozoic Era
• Proterozoic Era

Multiple Choice

When a species no longer exists

• Surviving
• Invasive
• Extinct
• Endangered

Multiple Choice

Any direct evidence of life that lived before recorded history

• Fossils
• Cave paintings
• Ancient tools
• Artifacts

Multiple Choice

A fossil used to determine the age of other fossils or rocks

• Index fossil
• Trace fossil
• Preserved fossil
• Sedimentary fossil

Multiple Choice

When interpreting a geologic column, if one event cuts through or affects another, it must be younger than the one it cut through

• Radioactive Decay

• Law of Relative dating

• Law of Superposition

• Law of Cross Cutting Relationships

Multiple Choice

What is the Law of Superposition?

• The Law of Superposition is a geological principle that states that in undisturbed sedimentary rock layers, older layers are found below younger layers.
• The Law of Superposition is a geological principle that indicates that younger layers are always found below older layers.

• The Law of Superposition applies only to igneous rocks.
• The Law of Superposition states that all rock layers are the same age.

Multiple Choice

A dent or a hollow in a rock in the shape of an organism

• Mineral
• Cast

• Sediment
• Mold

Multiple Choice

The era when dinosaurs were dominant

• Paleozoic Era
• Cenozoic Era
• Archeozoic Era
• Mesozoic Era

Multiple Choice

What are original remains?

• Bones, shells, teeth, and in some cases entire bodies that are preserved without changing the original material

• Chemical traces of an organism's existence that remains over time.

• Impressions left by organisms in sediment that have changed over time.

• Fossils that have been altered by time

Multiple Choice

Era containing life from trilobites to reptiles

• Precambrian Era
• Cenozoic Era
• Mesozoic Era
• Paleozoic Era

Match

Match the following term with their description.

• Paleozoic

• Mesozoic

• Cenozoic

Era of ancient life

Age of reptiles

Age of mammals

• Era of ancient life

• Age of reptiles

• Age of mammals

Multiple Choice

What is relative dating?

• Relative dating involves analyzing fossil DNA.
• Relative dating is a technique used to determine the chronological order of geological events, not the precise age.

• Relative dating is used to predict future geological events.
• Relative dating measures the exact age of rocks.

Multiple Choice

The release of subatomic particles from the nuclei of radioactive elements until a stable non-radioactive element is produced, is used to determine the absolute age of rocks and or fossils

• Radioactive decay
• Chemical weathering
• Thermal metamorphism
• Nuclear fusion

Now, let's practice some SOL-type questions.

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SOL Review

Multiple Choice

Which of these is MOST LIKELY a sedimentary rock?

Multiple Choice

In which type of environment were the sediments that formed these sedimentary rock layers most likely deposited?

• glacial

• mountainous

• marine

• terrestrial plateau

Multiple Choice

During which era were the dinosaurs the dominant life form on Earth?

• Mesozoic Era
• Paleozoic Era
• Cenozoic Era
• Precambrian

Multiple Choice

Use this diagram to answer the question.

Which statement gives an accurate age relationship for the bedrock in the cross section?

• Intrusion A is younger than intrusion C.

• Intrusion C is younger than intrusion B.

• Intrusion B is older than intrusion A.

• Intrusion C is older than layer E.

Multiple Choice

Use this diagram to answer the question.

The most obvious (easily seen) buried erosional surface is found between rock units–

• A and B

• D and F

• C and D

• E and H

Multiple Choice

What does the presence of this fossil suggest about the area during the Devonian?

• swamp

• desert

• marine

• polar

Multiple Choice

Which rock type is the oldest?

Multiple Choice

The diagram represents the current number of decayed and undecayed atoms in a sample that was originally 100% radioactive material. If the half-life of the radioactive material is 1,000 years, what is the age of the sample?

• 1000 years

• 2000 years

• 3000 years

• 4000 years

Multiple Choice

During which era did man first appear?

• Mesozoic

• Precambrian

• Paleozoic

• Cenozoic

Multiple Choice

What is the estimated age of the Earth?

• 3 billion years
• 4.5 billion years
• 4.5 million years

• 3 million years