Earth Geologic History and Relative and Absolute Age of Rocks

Which process would be most effective in determining the age of fossils embedded in rock?

• relative dating
• absolute dating
• use of index fossils
• use of core sampling

By which method have scientists determined that the Earth is about 4.5 billion years old?

• plate tectonics
• relative dating
• radioactive dating
• law of superposition

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-6

Which statement is true?

• The oldest layers of rock and soil are closest to the surface of the earth
• The youngest layers of rock and soil are farther away from the surface of the earth.
• Carbon-14 dating is an example of relative dating, and the law of superposition is an example of absolute dating.
• Absolute geologic dating and relative geologic dating are two methods used by scientists to determine the age of geologic evidence.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

Fossil remains of a trilobite are most likely to be found in which type of rock?

• igneous
• volcanic
• sedimentary
• metamorphic

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

Which statement best describes the Law of Superposition?

• Each sedimentary layer of rock represents 1,000 years of Earth's age, much like the rings of a tree.
• In undisturbed layers of sedimentary rocks, the upper rock layers are older than the lower rock layers.
• In undisturbed layers of sedimentary rock, the lowest layers contain the older rocks.
• Rocks that form near volcanoes are older than surrounding rock.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

The youngest rocks can be found at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

• True

• False

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

The timeline below represents time on Earth from the beginning of the Paleozoic Era (A) to the present (B). Which numbered position best represents the time when humans first appeared in the fossil record?

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

Scientists infer that oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere did not exist in large quantities until after

• The first multicellular, soft-bodied marine organisms appeared on Earth
• The initial opening of the Atlantic Ocean
• The first sexually reproducing organisms appeared on Earth
• Photosynthetic cyanobacteria evolved in Earth’s oceans

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-6

What is radio active decay?

• The preserved remains of an organism.

• Atoms in an unstable element break down to form another element.

• When things die and their remains are buried.

• The time it takes for 1/2 of the radioactive atoms to decay in an element.

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS1-8

How is the geologic time scale divided?

• major extinctions

• major change in species

• major change in geology

• all of the above

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4