Fall Final Exam Review Earth Systems

Who is credited with formulating the doctrine of uniformitarianism?

• Hutton

• Playfair

• Aristotle

• Lyell

A major difference between Catastrophism and Uniformitarianism is _______.

• catastrophism requires all changes on the earth be due to unpredictable events that cannot be explained while Uniformitarianism proposes that all events are predictable

• catastrophism supports rapid changes on the earth and a young age of the earth while Uniformitarianism requires long times for changes to be significant and thus a very old earth

• uniformitarianism explains the young age of the earth by suggesting that while processes have not changed over time, the rates of processes may vary significantly

• uniformitarianism does not allow for catastrophic events while catastrophism is based on the assumption that they are they major forces of change in the earth.

The principle of lateral continuity proposes that sedimentary rock layers continue in all directions until they grade into a different rock type or thin out on the edge of a basin is important because ___________.

• it allowed geologists t correlate sedimentary rock unites over large distances

• it provided an explanation how rocks behave in a depositional setting

• it provided a way to recognize if rocks had been deformed

• it showed that catastrophism could not explain the flat layers of the earth

Which of the following is an essential characteristic of an index fossil?

• The fossils are exceptionally abundant and well preserved.

• The organism lived only in specific environments such as beaches or estuaries.

• The organism only lived for a short period of geologic time

• The fossils occur in deep - water marine sediments, but the organism actually lived in the sunlit, surface layer of the ocean.

Which of the following denotes the divisions of the geologic time scale in the correct order of decreasing lengths of time beginning with the longest time interval and ending with the shortest?

• eon, era, period, epoch

• eon, epoch, period, era

• era, period, epoch, eon

• eon, era, period, epoch

Which of the following is an essential characteristic of an index fossil?

• The fossils are exceptionally abundant and well preserved.

• The organism lived only in specific environments such as beaches or estuaries.

• The organism only lived for a short period of geologic time.

• The fossils occur in deep-water marine sediments, but the organism actually lived in the sunlit, surface layer of the ocean.

The percentage of radioactive atoms that decay during one half-life is _________.

• 75

• 25

• 50

• 100

What general term denotes any buried, erosional surface where rock layers are missing?

• nonconformity

• disconformity

• unconformity

• conformity

In an undeformed sequence of sedimentary rocks, each bed is older than the one above and younger than the one below. The preceding is a statement of the law of _______.

• inclusions

• superposition

• original horizontality

• lateral continuity

The unconformity in which the strata on either side are essentially parallel is termed a(n)_______.

• angular unconformity

• nonconformity

• correlation

• disconformity