Paleontology Test Review

What determines the length of a geologic time period?

fossil record

material density

meteors and rocks

radioactive materials

• Fossil Record

• Material Density

• Meteors and Rocks

• Radioactive Materials

Which period belongs to the Paleozoic era and not the Cenozoic era?

• Devonian

• Neogene

• Paleogene

• Quaternary

Which best explains how scientists confirmed that the moon formed around the same time as Earth?

• Scientists determined the approximate age of fossils from the moon and Earth.

• Scientists used radioactive dating to study the age of material from the moon and Earth.

• Scientists explored the cycle of condensation and evaporation over time on the moon and Earth.

• Scientists analyzed the content of gases that were part of the atmospheres on the moon and Earth.

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-5

NGSS.HS-ESS1-6

Which statement accurately describes a half-life?

• A rock’s size is determined by half-life.

• All stable and unstable elements have a half-life.

• An atom of an element becomes half its original size in a half-life.

• A half-life is the time required for half of a radioactive element to decay.

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS1-8

The diagram illustrates radioactive decay. Which statement correctly identifies structures 1 and 2 in the diagram?

• Structure 1 is an unstable atom that turns into structure 2, a new atom.

• Structure 1 is a stable element that breaks down into structure 2, an unstable element.

• Structure 1 is a radioactive element that loses particles to create structure 2, released energy.

• Structure 1 is a radioactive atom that decays into structure 2, half of the original unstable element.

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS1-8

Which statement describes potassium-argon dating?

• Argon breaks down into other elements and compounds.

• Potassium-40 decays into argon gas over time.

• Potassium-40 becomes stable when trapped in rocks.

• Argon is unstable and will decay into potassium-40 over time.

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS1-8

Which characteristic of potassium makes it useful for dating rocks?

• It has a long half-life

• It decays at an unknown rate.

• It produces lead as it breaks down.

• It can be used to date all types of rock.

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS1-8

Which statement describes the law of superposition?

• Sedimentary rocks were originally in horizontal layers.

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

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

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

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

Which phrase describes faults?

• cause gaps in the geologic record 

• are older than surrounding rocks

• cause rocks to break and move

• are igneous rocks that form beneath Earth’s surface

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?

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

• The locations were too close together.

• The organism did not exist at location 2.

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