Earth's History

A scientist finds the bones of a dinosaur. What could help the scientist determine the approximate age of the dinosaur bones?

• the birds living in the area

• the weather conditions in the area of the bones

• the kinds of trees living in the area of the bones

• the index fossils in the area of the bones

Which best describes how ice cores are important to the study of geologic history?

• they show unconformities, which signal changes in deposition

• they hold index fossils, which are used to date the different ice cores

• they contain evidence showing changes in the atmospheric composition over time

• they follow the Law of Superposition, which gives reasons for extinctions of species

What do transitional fossils best support?

• the Theory of Biological Evolution

• the Law of Superposition

• the Theory of Geological Evolution

• the Theory of Continental Drift

Scientists find dinosaur fossils in the bottom rock layers of a cliff and mammal fossils in the middle rock layer of the cliff. Which could best be concluded from this evidence?

• Dinosaurs ate plants.

• Dinosaurs were eaten by mammals.

• Dinosaurs lived on Earth before the mammals.

• Dinosaurs and mammals lived at the same time.

Which best describes the Law of Superposition?

• Each sedimentary layer of rock represents 1,000 years of Earth's age, much like the rings of a tree.

• In undisturbed layers of sedimentary rock, the upper rock layers are older than the lower rock layers.

• In undisturbed layers of sedimentary rock, the lowest layers contain the older rocks.

• Rocks that form near volcanoes are older than surrounding rock.

What do earthquakes tell scientists about the history of the planet?

• Earth's climate is constantly changing.

• The continents of Earth are continually moving.

• Dinosaurs became extinct about 65 million years ago.

• The oceans are much deeper today than millions of years ago.

How do scientists know that some mountains were once at the bottom of an ocean?

• Freshwater rivers flow to the ocean.

• Saltwater fish are found in some mountain streams.

• Dinosaur bones have been discovered in the mountains.

• Marine fossils have been found on the peaks of some mountains.

What would indicate that a series of fossils represent the evolution of the horse?

• All of the fossils were found in the same layers of rocks as horse fossils.

• All of the fossils are completely identical to horse bones.

• All of the fossils show similar structures to that of the modern horse.

• All fo the fossils were located in the same place on Earth as horses.

What does a scientist most likely consider when studying the relative ages of rock layers in a canyon wall?

• chemical weathering

• current climate

• amount of daily rainfall

• Law of Superposition

Which can most likely be concluded about the top layer of rock seen in an undisturbed cliff wall?

• The top layer is older than the layers located farther down the cliff.

• The top layer is younger than layers located farther down the cliff.

• The top layer contains more fossils than the layers located farther down the cliff.

• the top layer contains fewer fossils than layers located farther down the cliff.