Determining Absolute & Relative Age

The ​ (a)   scales scientists use to measure geologic time are (b)   and ​ ​ relative time.

• absolute time
• human time
• geologic time
• stone time
• two
• one
• three

What describes the law of superposition?

• the age of rocks goes from oldest at bottom to youngest at top

• the age of rocks goes from youngest at the bottom to oldest at the top

What do scientists use to determine the absolute age of rocks

• Comparing the order of layers

• Looking at the radioactive decay of elements

• Making a hypothesis

• Drilling deep into the Earth

While digging in the ground you found a rock and you want to determine exactly how many years old it is. What type of dating will you need to do?

• Relative Dating

• Absolute Dating

What evidence do we have that a large asteroid struck the earth causing mass extinction?

• carbon dating shown in rock layers

• fossil evidence found in rocks

• iridium found only in asteroid is found world wide in the same rock layer.

What are likely parts of an organism that will create a fossil?

• Bones

• Organs

• Soft Tissue

True or False: The geologic time scale breaks up Earth's history into specific chunks of time.

• True

• False

An explosion of life specifically sea life that happened about 500 million years ago was called

• the great life event

• the big bang

• the permian era

• the Cambrian explosion

What do some scientists think caused the largest Mass Extinction event in Earth's history that wiped out 90% of all species at the end of the Paleozoic Era?

• An asteroid hit the Earth

• An ice age happened

• The oxygen levels in the atmosphere dropped

• A series of large volcanic eruptions

What is the current era we live in?

• Phanerozoic Era

• Cenozoic Era

• Mesozoic Era