Chapter 10 Test: Clues to Earth's Past

Molds, casts, trace, and petrified wood are all examples of ____.

• fossils

• radioactive isotopes

• unconformities

• disconformities

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

What is the hardened tree sap that fossil insects are preserved in?

• trace fossils

• gastroliths

• coprolites

• amber

Determining the order of events and the relative age of rocks by examining the position of rocks in a sequence is called ____.

• absolute dating

• radiometric dating

• relative dating

• radiocarbon dating

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

Gaps in rock layers are called ____.

• unconformities

• index fossils

• half-lives

• none of the above

With ____ dating, a rock's exact age can be determined, whereas with ____ dating, a rock's age is compared to the ages of other rocks.

• absolute, relative

• relative, absolute

• true, absolute

• relative, approximate

What classification of unconformity occurs when sedimentary rock overlies igneous rock?

• disconformity

• nonconformity

• angular unconformity

• conformity

The amount of time it takes for one-half of the original amount of an isotope to decay is known as its ____.

• correlation

• half-life

• period

• radioactivity

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS1-8

Radiocarbon dating can be used to determine the age of what type of materials?

• igneous rock

• living organisms

• organic materials

• lava flows

All of the following conditions help preserve organisms as fossils EXCEPT ____.

• quick burial by sediments

• hard parts

• protection from scavengers

• activities of microorganisms

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

Index fossils are useful to geologists if the fossils ____.

• have lived over a short period of time

• are not easily recognized

• are not widely distributed geographically

• are scarce