Quiz about Unit 3 Geologic Time and Fossils Review

Question 1

Which phrase describes the relative age of a rock?

Accepted Answer

uses the law of superposition to determine which rock is older or younger

Answer

can determine the age based on location of a rock within the same layer

Answer

requires only one rock to determine the age

Answer

can provide the exact age of a rock

Question 2

The image shows flat sedimentary rock layers in the foreground and angled sedimentary rock layers in the background. According to the principle of original horizontality, what most likely happened to the rock layers in the background?

Accepted Answer

They were deposited horizontally and then shifted by a geologic event.

Answer

They cracked at an angle.

Answer

They were deposited at an angle.

Answer

They were deposited vertically and then shifted by a geologic event.

Question 3

Which feature causes a gap in the geologic record?

Accepted Answer

unconformity

Answer

extrusion

Answer

fault

Answer

intrusion

Question 4

The image shows cross-cutting relationships. B, W, E, and K represent rock layers, and Q represents a fault. Which statement describes the geologic features?

Accepted Answer

Fault Q occurred before layer K was deposited.

Answer

Layer K is the oldest.

Answer

Layer W is the youngest.

Answer

Layers B, W, and E were deposited after fault Q occurred.

Question 5

The images show sedimentary layers before and after they were shifted by a geologic event. After the geologic event, which layer is the oldest?

Accepted Answer

Layer A

Answer

Layer B

Answer

Layer C

Answer

Layer D

Question 6

Which characteristic is shared by extrusions, intrusions, and faults?

Accepted Answer

All are younger than the surrounding rocks.

Answer

All are cracks.

Answer

All are igneous rocks.

Answer

All cause gaps in the geologic record.

Question 7

How do index fossils help scientists?

Accepted Answer

They aid in comparison of rock layers at distant locations.

Answer

They aid in the study of ranges of different organisms.

Answer

They advance understanding of the origin of life on Earth.

Answer

They advance understanding of rock type at the time the organism lived.

Question 8

A scientist finds a fossil that she thinks might make a good index fossil. Which characteristic does this fossil most likely have?

Accepted Answer

It is the remains of an organism that is found in abundance nearby.

Answer

It is the remains of an organism still found alive today.

Answer

It is the only fossil for this type of organism that has ever been found.

Answer

It is the remains of an organism that lived in a narrow geographic area.

Question 9

Which information can be determined using half-life?

Accepted Answer

age of material

Answer

type of particle released

Answer

percentage of rock that has aged

Answer

number of radioactive particles left

Question 10

After two half-lives, how much of the original material has decayed?

Accepted Answer

75 percent

Answer

25 percent

Answer

50 percent

Answer

100 percent

Question 11

For which object would a geologist use carbon-14 dating to determine age?

Accepted Answer

The bones of animals

Answer

Rocks older than 50,000 years

Answer

Types of sedimentary rocks

Answer

parts of volcanic rock

Question 12

Which measurement do geologists use to find the absolute age of once-living things?

Accepted Answer

amount of carbon-14 and nitrogen-14 in the remains

Answer

amount of decayed daughter elements

Answer

total number of half-lives for the element potassium

Answer

age of ancient rocks located near the remains

Question 13

Which values do scientists compare when using potassium-argon dating?

Accepted Answer

the amount of parent and daughter material trapped in the rock

Answer

the number of stable and unstable parent atoms

Answer

the number of non-decayed elements left in the rock

Answer

the amount of gas from the decayed material that has escaped from rock

Question 14

Which phrase describes carbon-14 dating?

Accepted Answer

dates the remains of organisms to determine when they died

Answer

uses the rate at which nitrogen-14 decays into carbon-14

Answer

measures the number of unstable elements in ancient volcanic rocks

Answer

determines the age of ancient fossils older than 50,000 years old

Question 15

Which characteristic of potassium makes it useful for dating rocks?

Accepted Answer

It has a long half-life.

Answer

It decays at an unknown rate.

Answer

It produces lead as it breaks down.

Answer

It can be used to date all types of rock.

Question 16

Which statement accurately describes radioactive dating?

Accepted Answer

Geologists compare the observed abundance of naturally occurring radioactive isotopes and their decay products using decay rates.

Answer

Geologists use only one type of radioactive dating.

Answer

Geologists compare parent and daughter elements to determine rock type.

Answer

Geologists will measure how stable multiple parent elements can decay into multiple daughter elements.

Question 17

Which best describes eras and periods?

Accepted Answer

Eras and periods both appear at the start of the Cambrian period.

Answer

Eras have a smaller time span than periods.

Answer

Eras and periods are independent of each other.

Answer

Eras were more recently established on the time scale than periods.

Question 18

What information does the geologic time scale provide?

Accepted Answer

information about when plants first appeared

Answer

explanation of how Earth formed

Answer

places where dinosaurs roamed on Earth

Answer

reasons why organisms evolve into different species

Question 19

Study the image. Which describes the geological time of the first land plants?

Accepted Answer

The first flowering plants were introduced toward the end of the Mesozoic era.

Answer

Conifers appeared after the first flowering plants.

Answer

Conifers first appeared around 182 million years ago.

Answer

The first flowering plants appeared around 240 million years ago.

Question 20

What determines the length of a geologic time period?

Accepted Answer

fossil record

Answer

material density

Answer

meteors and rocks

Answer

radioactive materials

Question 21

A volcanic eruption releasing rock, ash, and dust particles into the air is an example of which interaction?

Accepted Answer

the geosphere interacting with the atmosphere

Answer

the biosphere interacting with the geosphere

Answer

the geosphere interacting with the hydrosphere

Answer

the hydrosphere interacting with the atmosphere

Question 22

Which spheres of Earth are directly influenced when human-caused air pollution leads to acid rain that dissolves limestone rocks?

Accepted Answer

geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere

Answer

atmosphere, cryosphere, geosphere

Answer

cryosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere

Answer

biosphere, atmosphere, cryosphere

Question 23

Some consumers, like lions, do not eat plants or any other producers. They only eat other animals. How do lions obtain the carbon they need?

Accepted Answer

by eating animals that have carbon-based molecules stored in their bodies

Answer

by breathing it in from the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide

Answer

by absorbing carbon-based molecules through their skin from the soil

Answer

by drinking water that contains carbon dioxide

Question 24

The diagram illustrates the water cycle. Which best describes the process occurring at locations U and X?

Accepted Answer

Water changes from a liquid to a gas.

Answer

Water cycles from a nonliving to a living part of the environment.

Answer

Water changes from a gas to a liquid.

Answer

Water cycles from a living to a nonliving part of the environment.

Question 25

Which process does NOT result in the release of carbon?

Accepted Answer

Producers take in carbon dioxide.

Answer

Animals break down food molecules to obtain energy.

Answer

The remains of producers are broken down by decomposers.

Answer

The remains of consumers are broken down by soil decomposers.

Question 26

How is the nitrogen cycle important to humans?

Accepted Answer

It converts nitrogen into a form that humans can obtain by eating other organisms.

Answer

It produces free nitrogen that humans can breathe.

Answer

It produces nitrogen compounds that humans can breathe.

Answer

It converts nitrogen into a form that humans can obtain by absorbing it through their skin.

Question 27

The image shows sedimentary rock layers. According to the law of superposition, which layer is the oldest?

Accepted Answer

4

Answer

1

Answer

2

Answer

3

Question 28

Which event is most likely if an index fossil is found in a layer at location 1, but the layer and index fossil are not found at location 2 nearby, which is known to be the same relative age?

Accepted Answer

The organism did not exist at location 2.

Answer

The layer at location 2 is too old to contain fossils.

Answer

The locations were too close together.

Answer

The layers at location 2 formed much earlier than those at location 1.

Question 29

In rock layers, jellyfish fossils are found lower than trilobite fossils, and trilobite fossils are found lower than ammonite fossils. What can be determined from this information?

Accepted Answer

Jellyfish existed before trilobites and ammonites.

Answer

Trilobites existed before jellyfish and ammonites.

Answer

Ammonites existed before trilobites and jellyfish.

Answer

Jellyfish, trilobites, and ammonites lived together.

Question 30

The image shows sedimentary rock layers with index fossils and a fault. Which statement accurately describes the rock layers?

Accepted Answer

Layer 2 and layer 9 are the same relative age.

Answer

Layer 8 is older than layer 1.

Answer

Layer 3 is younger than layer 6.

Answer

Layer 4 and layer 10 are the same relative age.

Question 31

The diagram shows cross-cutting relationships among rocks. Which statement accurately describes the geologic features?

Accepted Answer

D occurred after B.

Answer

D occurred before A.

Answer

A formed after the horizontal layer above was deposited.

Answer

F formed before the horizontal layer above was deposited.

Question 32

Which phrase describes the absolute age of a rock?

Accepted Answer

is the number of years since it formed

Answer

does not provide an exact age

Answer

is the age compared to other rocks around it

Answer

indicates whether it is younger or older than the rocks above it

Question 33

A geologist finds four layers of sedimentary rock. She determines that no geologic events have shifted the layers. She labels the layers A, B, C, and D from the top to the bottom. Which statement about these layers is accurate?

Accepted Answer

B is younger than D.

Answer

A is older than B.

Answer

B is older than C.

Answer

C is younger than A.

Question 34

Which correctly lists three different geologic features that help scientists determine the relative ages of rocks by their positions?

Accepted Answer

index fossils, intrusions, and cross-cutting relationships

Answer

magma, erosion, and intrusions

Answer

erosion, magma, and cross-cutting relationships

Answer

intrusions, index fossils, and magma

Question 35

Which phrase describes organisms that formed index fossils?

Accepted Answer

are extinct

Answer

had soft parts

Answer

were generally large

Answer

lived in a narrow geographic area

Question 36

Which statement describes the law of superposition?

Accepted Answer

In horizontal rock layers, each layer is younger than the one below it.

Answer

Sedimentary rocks were originally in horizontal layers.

Answer

Rock layers must be in existence before something can happen to them.

Answer

Rocks that are not in horizontal layers were shifted by some geologic event.

Question 37

Which statement describes what is gained or lost during radioactive decay?

Accepted Answer

Atoms lose smaller particles.

Answer

Atoms gain other atoms.

Answer

Elements take in energy.

Answer

Elements gain smaller particles.

Question 38

Which statement explains why carbon-14 dating cannot be used to date ancient rocks?

Accepted Answer

Carbon-14 decays relatively quickly.

Answer

Carbon-14 decays at a varying rate.

Answer

Carbon-14 can be used only to date the remains of organisms.

Answer

Carbon-14 has a half-life that is much longer than potassium.

Unit 3 Geologic Time and Fossils Review

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