Earth's History

A team of geologists compared the rock layers found in Florida to those found in northwest Africa. They placed all the rock layers from the 2 regions in order from youngest to oldest. What did they make?

• a topographic map

• A fossil record

• a geologic record

• a geologic column

Which property of fossils allows scientist to determine the relative ages of rock layers?

• Fossils can be analyzed to determine their exact age.

• Fossils are usually found only in sedimentary rock.

• Fossils form from the remains of living organisms.

• Fossils show change over time as species evolve.

In the 1830s, and English scientist proposed the idea of uniformitariansim to describe the process of geologic change on Earth. Which of the following words is most closely associated with uniformitariansim?

• rare

• sudden

• gradual

• catastrophic

Sometimes a fossils is formed as a result of the movement of an organism in soft sediment. What type of fossil is this called?

• bone fossil

• frozen fossil

• petrified fossils

• trace fossil

The existence of humans on Earth represents a very short amount of time on the geologic time scale. In which epoch do we currently live?

• Eocene

• Pliocence

• Holocene

• Pleistocene

Early in the history of geology, scientist debated two different view of how geologic processes work. The 2 ideas became known as uniformatarianism and catastrphism. Which of the following correctly describes the early view of catastrophism?

• Geologic changes only occur because of slow, gradual processes.

• Geologic changes can quickly change Earth's structure.

• Geologic changes only occur in sudden, devastating events.

• Geologic changes can either be sudden or gradual.

The composition of sedimentary rock shows the source of the sediment that makes up the rock. Which of the following would provide the best evidence of how the rock formed?

• the rock's age

• the rock's color

• the rock's texture

• the rock's fossil content

Throughout the history of life on Earth, organisms have affected many Earth systems. Which of the following was the first organism that released oxygen into Earth's atmosphere, changing its composition.

• trees

• cyanobacteria

• lichen

• foramifera

Which of the following is an example of the modern view of uniformitarianism and catastrophism.

• Early in Earth's history, geologic change was mostly catastrophic but is now mostly uniform.

• Geologic changes that reshape Earth's surface only occur in sudden, devastating events.

• Some geologic processes happen quickly, while others happen over millions of years.

• Earth's surface is reshaped only through slow, gradual geologic processes.

How does the law of crosscutting relationships explain the age of a fault caused by an earthquake?

• The fault is older than the rocks above it.

• The fault is younger than the rocks above it.

• The fault is older than rocks it cuts through.

• The fault is younger than the rocks it cuts through.