Earth's History Review

Which term describes a gap in the geologic record due to erosion?

• absolute age

• relative age

• unconformity

• radioactive dating

Which conclusion can be drawn about the age of layer A?

• It is older than layer B

• It is more recent than layer B

• It is more recent than intrusion D

• It is older than layer C

What is true of the fault?

• It happened before intrusion D

• It is younger than the rock it is cutting through

• It is older than the rock it is cutting through

• It happened before rock layer B

Which layer in the picture is probably the youngest?

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

Based on the Law of Superposition, what can be concluded about fossils?

• Fossils give clues about past climate patterns.
• Fossils form from the hard parts of organisms.
• The oldest fossils are found in the lowest rock layers.
• The most recent fossils were advanced organisms.

Which group of organisms has the shortest record of life on Earth?

• Eurypterids
• Graptolites
• birds
• placoderm fish

One similarity between uranium-238 and carbon-14 is that both

• decay at predictable rates
• Have the same half-life
• Are normally found in large quantities in living matter
• Are found in granite

Which radioactive isotope (version of an element) is most often used when determining the age of fossil bones found in sediments deposited during the Holocene Epoch?

• Carbon-14
• Potassium-40
• Uranium-238
• Rubidium-87

Many scientists infer that one cause of the mass extinction of dinosaurs and ammonoids that occured approximately 65.5 million years ago was

• tectonic plate subduction of most of the continents
• an asteroid impact that resulted in climate change
• a disease spreading among many groups of organisms
• severe damage produced by worldwide earthquakes

Orgamisms that later became good index fossils lived over a

• wide geographic area and existed for a long geologic time
• wide geographic area and existed for a short geologic time
• limited geographic area and existed for a long geoligic time
• limited geograophic area and existed for a short geologic time