Quiz about Fossils Test Retake Assignment

Question 1

What principle states that the same geologic processes at work shaping Earth today have always shaped Earth?

Accepted Answer

Uniformitarianism

Answer

Catastrophism

Answer

Law of Cross-Cutting

Answer

Law of Superposition

Question 2

What principle states that the oldest layer is on the bottom and that each layer above it gets younger and younger?

Accepted Answer

Law of Superposition

Answer

Catastrophism

Answer

Law of Cross-Cutting

Answer

Uniformitarianism

Question 3

What principle states that Earth has been shaped by sudden, rare events called catastrophes?

Accepted Answer

Catastrophism

Answer

Law of Cross-Cutting

Answer

Law of Superposition

Answer

Uniformitarianism

Question 4

What principle states that a feature cutting across layers of rock is younger than the layers it cuts across?

Accepted Answer

Law of Cross-Cutting

Answer

Catastrophism

Answer

Law of Superposition

Answer

Uniformitarianism

Question 5

What 3 reasons explain why the fossil record is incomplete?

Accepted Answer

Only certain areas of the world have the correct conditions for fossils to form.

Accepted Answer

Many organisms cannot be fossilized.

Accepted Answer

Many fossils have yet to be found.

Answer

Fossils of soft-bodied organisms are found more often.

Question 6

An ideal sequence of rock layers that contains all known fossils and rock layers from oldest to youngest.

Accepted Answer

Geologic Column

Answer

Law of Inclusions

Answer

Geologic Time Scale

Answer

Ice Core

Question 7

A core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet.

Accepted Answer

Ice Core

Answer

Law of Inclusions

Answer

Geologic Column

Answer

Geologic Time Scale

Question 8

A break in the Earth's crust along which blocks of Earth's crust slide relative to one another.

Accepted Answer

Fault

Answer

Folding

Answer

Tilting

Answer

Intrusion

Answer

Unconformity

Question 9

Occurs when rock layers bend and buckle due to Earth's internal forces.

Accepted Answer

Folding

Answer

Fault

Answer

Tilting

Answer

Intrusion

Answer

Unconformity

Question 10

Occurs when rock layers slant, but not fold, due to Earth's internal forces.

Accepted Answer

Tilting

Answer

Fault

Answer

Folding

Answer

Intrusion

Answer

Unconformity

Question 11

A wavy line in diagrams that indicates a missing part of the geologic column.

Accepted Answer

Unconformity

Answer

Fault

Answer

Folding

Answer

Tilting

Answer

Intrusion

Question 12

Molten rock from Earth's interior that squeezes into existing rock and cools.

Accepted Answer

Intrusion

Answer

Fault

Answer

Folding

Answer

Tilting

Answer

Unconformity

Question 13

A fossil of an organism that lived during a relatively short, well-defined time span and can be used to determine absolute age.

Accepted Answer

Index Fossil

Answer

Relative Dating

Answer

Radiometric Dating

Answer

Absolute Dating

Question 14

Determining the absolute age of a sample based on the ratio of parent material to daughter material.

Accepted Answer

Radiometric Dating

Answer

Relative Dating

Answer

Absolute Dating

Answer

Index Fossil

Question 15

Determining whether an object or event is older or younger than another object or event.

Accepted Answer

Relative Dating

Answer

Radiometric Dating

Answer

Absolute Dating

Answer

Index Fossil

Question 16

A process of establishing the age of an object by determining the number of years it has existed.

Accepted Answer

Absolute Dating

Answer

Relative Dating

Answer

Radiometric Dating

Answer

Index Fossil

Question 17

Any naturally preserved evidence of life.

Accepted Answer

Fossil

Answer

Cast

Answer

Mold

Answer

Trace Fossil

Question 18

Any naturally preserved evidence of an animal's activity (footprints, burrows, etc.)

Accepted Answer

Trace Fossil

Answer

Fossil

Answer

Cast

Answer

Mold

Question 19

A cavity in the ground where a plant or animal were buried.

Accepted Answer

Mold

Answer

Fossil

Answer

Cast

Answer

Trace Fossil

Question 20

An object created when sediment fills a mold and becomes a rock.

Accepted Answer

Cast

Answer

Fossil

Answer

Mold

Answer

Trace Fossil

Question 21

What are 2 ways scientists can use fossils to learn about the past?

Accepted Answer

Changes in the environment

Accepted Answer

Changes to organisms over time.

Answer

Changes in surrounding rock layers.

Answer

Changes in wind patterns.

Question 22

You discover a brand new fossil in the same rock layer as an index fossil that lived 34 million years ago. What do you know about the brand new fossil?

Accepted Answer

The brand new fossil is about 34 million years old.

Answer

The brand new fossil is younger than the index fossil.

Answer

Then brand new fossil is older than the index fossil.

Answer

The brand new fossil and index fossil competed over the same food.

Question 23

Heavy flooding in Iowa revealed the fossils you see in the diagram. What do these fossils most likely suggest about Iowa's past?

Accepted Answer

Iowa was once covered by an ancient sea.

Answer

A massive tsunami washed as far inland as Iowa at one point in time.

Answer

Rock from the coastline was transported to Iowa for construction.

Answer

Volcanic eruptions near a lake projected rocks all the way to Iowa.

Question 24

Is the following statement an example of relative dating or absolute dating?

The dinosaur died 65 million years ago.

Accepted Answer

Absolute dating

Answer

Relative dating

Question 25

Is the following statement an example of relative dating or absolute dating?

In between the Precambrian and Mesozoic eras, marine life dominated.

Accepted Answer

Relative dating

Answer

Absolute dating

Question 26

Which fossil would make a good index fossil?

Accepted Answer

D

Answer

B

Answer

F

Answer

A

Question 27

Which of the following events occurred last?

Accepted Answer

3

Answer

B

Answer

5

Answer

A

Question 28

Of the rock layers C, D, H, and A, which layer is the youngest?

Accepted Answer

C

Answer

D

Answer

H

Answer

A

Question 29

According to the Law of Superposition, the oldest fossil in this diagram would be:

Accepted Answer

Trilobite

Answer

Bird

Answer

Fish

Answer

Whale

Question 30

The diagram represents a cross-section of some rock layers. A fault is present in these rock layers.

Determine the relative ages of the rock layers and the fault. Choose the answer that correctly lists the layers in order from oldest to youngest.

Accepted Answer

A, C, B, D

Answer

A, B, C, D

Answer

D, B, C, A

Answer

B, A, C, D

Question 31

Layer A is an example of

Accepted Answer

Intrusion

Answer

Fault

Answer

Tilting

Answer

Folding

Question 32

H is an example of

Accepted Answer

a fault

Answer

an intrusion

Answer

tilting

Answer

folding

Question 33

Which statement below is an example of using the Law of Superposition?

Accepted Answer

Layer B is younger than Layer M.

Answer

Layer D is 25,000 years old.

Answer

Layer C is younger than Layer N.

Answer

Layer G shows folding.

Question 34

The image below shows fossil layers at different locations in the Grand Canyon and evidence of an unconformity.

Based on the image and your understanding of rock layers, why is Layer B not present at Location 4?

Accepted Answer

The layer was eroded by the environment.

Answer

Neither of these organisms lived at Location 4.

Answer

These organisms were soft bodies and were not preserved.

Answer

The rock at Location 4 is newer than the rock at Location 1 and 2.

Question 35

The diagram shows rock layer C, fault AB, and intrusion D. Choose the option below that correctly lists them from oldest to youngest.

Accepted Answer

D, AB, C

Answer

C, AB, D

Answer

AB, D, C

Answer

C, D, AB

Question 36

What is the absolute age of the primitive fish?

Accepted Answer

About 400 million years

Answer

Older than the Sea Scorpions

Answer

Younger than the last dinosaurs

Answer

About 400 thousand years

Question 37

What is the relative age of the Brachiopods to the Quarry dinosaurs?

Accepted Answer

The Brachiopods are older than the Quarry dinosaurs.

Answer

The Brachiopods are about 330 million years old.

Answer

The Brachiopods are younger than the Quarry dinosaurs.

Answer

The Quarry dinosaurs are about 330 million years old.

Question 38

What are the oldest fossils shown in the chart?

Accepted Answer

Trilobites

Answer

Primitive Horses

Answer

Giant Insects

Answer

Sea Scorpions

Question 39

A scientist finds the bones of a dinosaur. What could help the scientist determine the approximate age of the dinosaur bones?

Accepted Answer

The index fossils in the area of the bones.

Answer

The birds living in the area of the bones.

Answer

The weather conditions in the area of the bones.

Answer

The kinds of trees living in the area of the bones.

Question 40

This diagram shows a cross-section of land that has not been overturned and includes a fossil.

What can be concluded about the relative age of the fossil? Select 3 of the following.

Accepted Answer

The fossil is older than the shale.

Accepted Answer

The fossil is the same age as the sandstone.

Accepted Answer

The fossil is younger than the limestone.

Answer

The fossil is younger than the sandstone.

Answer

The fossil is younger than the conglomerate.

Question 41

Which of the following is the best scientific evidence that mammals evolved from reptiles?

Accepted Answer

Fossils that show gradual changes in skull shape from reptile-like organisms to mammal-like organisms.

Answer

Similarities in the diets of extinct reptiles and modern mammals.

Answer

Similarities in the average lifespans of modern reptiles and modern mammals.

Answer

Fossils of ancient reptiles and mammals that appear together in the same layers of rock.

Question 42

Monte Bolca is located high in the mountains of northern Italy. This site is one of the world's largest deposits of coral reef fish fossils. There are fossils of more than 160 fish species dating back 49 million years.

Which statement is consistent with this evidence and explains how ancient coral reef fossils can be found high in the mountains far from any sea?

Accepted Answer

Land that was uplifted to form the mountains was once covered by the sea.

Answer

A huge tidal wave pushed marine life up into the mountains.

Answer

Prehistoric man carried fish into the mountains from the sea.

Answer

Fish were thrown into the mountains by a tremendous volcanic explosion.

Question 43

Which radioisotope from the table can be used to calculate the absolute age of a fossil that is more than 800 million years old?

Accepted Answer

Potassium-40

Answer

Carbon-14

Answer

Uranium-235

Question 44

Which best describes how ice cores are important to the study of geologic history?

Accepted Answer

They contain evidence showing changes in the atmospheric composition over time.

Answer

They show unconformities, which signal changes in deposition.

Answer

They hold index fossils, which are used to date the different ice cores.

Answer

They follow the Law of Superposition, which gives reasons for extinctions of species.

Fossils Test Retake Assignment

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