Geology Practice Test

Which statement is true about present day Earth?

• It is in the Precambrian time span

• It is in the Cambrian time span

• It is in the Cenozoic Era

• It is in the Mesozoic Era

What can a geologist understand by studying the fossil composition of sedimentary rocks?

• how animals built their shelters

• how life forms evolved over time

• how some extinct animals preyed on others for food

• how land animals used rocks as habitats

A mass extinction occurred at the end of each era. Which extinction marked the end of the Mesozoic.

• amphibians

• dinosaurs

• marine invertebrates

• wooly mammoths

How are volcanic ash deposits and index fossils used similarly by geologists?

• as geologic time markers

• to show when an unconformity occurred

• as an indicator of mass extinctions

• to date catastrophic geologic events

Which is evidence that life forms have changed over the years.

• older rock layers lack fossil of mammals

• rock layers are organized from older to younger

• fossils are distributed among different rock layers

• rock layers are formed by the deposition of sediments

Which geologist time period was the longest?

• Cenozoic

• Mesozoic

• Paleozoic

• Precambrian

Which sequence shows the correct order of the geologist time periods from youngest to oldest?

• Cenozoic

  Mesozoic

  Paleozoic

  Precambrian

• Precambrian

  Paleozoic

  Mesozoic

  Cenozoic

• Paleozoic

  Mesozoic

  Precambrian

  Cenozoic

• Mesozoic

  Cenozoic

  Paleozoic

  Precambrian

What represents a natural factor that can cause the extinction of organisms?

• deforestation

• land development

• over-harvesting

• volcanic eruptions

The diagram shows three sedimentary rock layers and an igneous intrusions.

What is the relative age of igneous intrusion W?

• Igneous intrusion W is younger than sedimentary rock layers Z and X, but its relative age is to layer Y cannot be determined

• Igneous intrusion W is younger than sedimentary rocks layers Y and Z but older than layer X.

• Igneous intrusion W is older than sedimentary rock layers Z and X, but its relative age to layer Y cannot be determined

• Igneous intrusions W is older than sedimentary rock layers Y and X but younger than layer Z.

Review the diagram showing a fault located among layers of sedimentary rocks.

What is the relative age of the fault?

• The fault is older than layer B

• The fault is older than layer C

• The fault is older than layer E

• The fault is older than layer F