Dating Fossils

Which best describes a fossil that helps determine the relative age of a rock layer?

• trace fossil
• index fossil
• radioactive fossil
• unconformity fossil

Which process would be most effective in determining the age of fossils embedded in rock?

• relative dating
• absolute dating
• use of index fossils
• use of core sampling

By which method have scientists determined that Earth is about 4.5 billion years old?

• plate tectonics
• relative dating
• radioactive dating
• law of superposition

Which characteristic of carbon-14 dating helps scientists determine the approximate time a species became extinct?

• Carbon-14 is NOT present in more recent fossils
• Carbon-14 increases at a constant rate over time
• Carbon-14 decreases at a constant rate over time
• Carbon-14 can only be foun in fossils of a certain period

Which layer contains the oldest index fossils?

• Layer 1
• Layer 2
• Layer 3
• Layer 4

Which is the most accurate method scientists can use to estimate Earth's age?

• relativism
• superposition
• relative dating
• radioactive dating

Which statement is true ? 

• The oldest layers of rock and soil are closet to the surface of the earth
• The youngest layers of rock and soil are farther away from the surface of the earth
• Carbon-14 dating is an example of relative dating an the law of superposition is an example of absolute dating
• Absolute geologic dating an relative geologic dating are two methods used by scientists to determine age of geologic evidence

Several different fossils were found in rock layers in a geologic column. Above these rock layers, the fossils were almost nonexistent. Which most likely explains these observations?

• a non conformity occurred.
• All the organisms migrated.
• A period of mass extinction occurred.

This diagram shows fossils from different eras of geologic time. Which index fossil would indicate the oldest rock?

• Venericardia planicosta
• Nerinea trinodosa
• Paradoxides pinus

The picture shows the fossilized tooth of an extinct shark called a Megalodon. Which evidence can scientist most likely gain from studying the fossilized tooth?

• the different types of prey eaten by the shark
• the differences from teeth of iving sharks
• the events that led to how the shark died
• the color of the skin of the shark