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WorksheetsEarth's Life Rock Strata and Fossil Record
Total questions: 39
Worksheet time: 44mins
Name
Class
Date
1.
If Earth's history is put on a scale of 1 yard (1 in = 100 million yrs), human civilization would have been around for
a)
less than one inch.
b)
1 yard.
c)
10 inches.
d)
24 inches.
2.
What is the breakdown of unstable isotopes into stable isotopes of other elements called?
a)
uncomformities
b)
relative dating
c)
Carbon-14
d)
radioactive decay
3.
How far back in time can geologists study the history of the earth?
a)
1.6 billion years
b)
46 million years
c)
4.6 billion years
d)
160 billion years
4.
What is the most accurate method to date very old rocks?
a)
uranium-lead method
b)
carbon 14 dating
c)
relative dating
d)
potasium-carbon dating
5.
What is the largest division of time?
a)
eon
b)
epoch
c)
era
d)
period
6.
What type of dating indicates a specific age of a rock by using methods such as carbon dating or Uranium 235?
a)
Relative Dating
b)
Absolute Dating
7.
What type of dating indicates an approximate age of a fossil in relationship to other layers of rock in an area?
a)
relative dating
b)
absolute Dating
c)
radiometric dating
8.
What forms when sediment fills in a cavity left by a dead organism?
a)
cast
b)
index
c)
trace
d)
mold
9.
What is the idea that geologic change occurs suddenly?
a)
uniformitarianism
b)
geologic breakdown
c)
catastrophism
d)
geologic column
10.
What is the science that combines uniformitarianism and catastrophism?
a)
modern geology
b)
paleontology
c)
archeology
d)
ancient geography
11.
What is the idea that geologic processes are occurring now are the same as those that occurred in the past?
a)
unconformities
b)
uniformitarianism
c)
epicism
d)
catastrophism
12.
What is a fossil that is used to establish the age of a rock layer because the fossil is distinct, abundant, and widespread and the species that formed that fossil existed for only a short span of geologic time?
a)
index fossil
b)
trace fossil
c)
fossil
d)
varve
13.
What is a fossilized mark that formed in sedimentary rock by the movement of an animal on or within soft sediment called?
a)
index fossil
b)
fossil
c)
trace fossil
d)
permineralization
14.
Which of the following is a method of determining the absolute age of an object by comparing the relative percentages of a radioactive (parent) isotope and a stable (daughter) isotope?
a)
radiometric dating
b)
uniformitarianism
c)
law of superposition
d)
paleontology
15.
The time required for half of a sample of a radioactive isotope to break down by radioactive decay to form a daughter isotope is called what?
a)
uniformitarianism
b)
relative age
c)
half-life
d)
radioactive dating
16.
The _____ is an ideal sequence of rock layers that contains all of the known fossils and rock formations on Earth arranged from oldest to youngest.
a)
nondeposition column
b)
geologic column
c)
angular unconformity
d)
disturbed rock column
17.
Rock layers can be disturbed by
a)
folding, petrification, faulting, and intrusions
b)
folding, tilting, faulting, and climbing
c)
folding, mummification, faulting, and intrusions
d)
folding, faulting, tilting, and intrusions
18.
Which of the following questions can be answered by studying these fossil layers?
a)
What did the fish eat?
b)
Which organisms lived before/after/or at the same time?
c)
Why did dinosaurs become extinct?
d)
Are reptiles the ancestors to birds or fish?
19.
What might you conclude if a fish fossil was found on top of a mountain in Kentucky?
a)
An Earthquake happened there.
b)
A Volcano erupted there.
c)
A forest covered that area for a while.
d)
A Sea once covered the area.
20.
Which of the following is the oldest?
a)
Layer L
b)
Intrusion D
c)
Intrusion H
d)
Layer E
21.
When scientists use logic to determine the age of one fossil compared to another, they use this type of dating.
a)
relative
b)
Carbon
c)
absolute
d)
radiometric
22.
Fossilized bones and teeth, as well as amphibian and reptile fossils can be found in this.
a)
sedimentary rock
b)
igneous rock
c)
metamorphic rock
d)
topsoil
23.
This rock diagram has a line running through with arrows pointing in the direction of rock movement. What does the line represent?
a)
a fold
b)
a fault
c)
a tilt
d)
an intrusion
24.
What is the name for structure D in the image?
a)
strata
b)
igneous intrusion
c)
lava
25.
In this rock layer diagram there is a fault at E and an intrusion at D. Which occurred first? How do you know?
a)
Intrusion D occurred first because the instrusion has been moved by the fault.
b)
The fault occurred first because it has moved the intrusion D.
c)
Intrusion D occurred first because it can be seen in all of the rock layers.
d)
Fault E occurred first because it is a normal fault.
26.
Which rock layer, feature or event is most recent?
a)
B
b)
C
c)
D
d)
E
27.
Fossils that are found in one distinct layer are referred to as...
a)
shell fossils
b)
reference fossils
c)
index fossils
d)
faults
28.
What is hardened tree sap called?
a)
coprolites
b)
index fossils
c)
gastroliths
d)
amber
29.
What are fossilized feces called?
a)
coprolites
b)
index fossils
c)
gastroliths
d)
amber
30.
Which of the following is a condition that will preserve remains?
a)
amber
b)
frozen in permafrost
c)
tar
d)
all of these are correct
31.
Which type of fossil is formed when the remains of a former living thing is turned into stone?
a)
cast
b)
preserved
c)
carbonized
d)
petrified
32.
What type of fossil fills a mold, and is a model of the actual organism?
a)
cast
b)
trace
c)
carbon imprint
d)
mummification
33.
These are dinosaur footprints. What is this a example of?
a)
amber
b)
index fossils
c)
permineralized remains
d)
trace fossils
34.
Which fossil is an impression left by the original organism?
a)
cast
b)
mold
c)
trace
d)
preserved remains
35.
Relative dating of rock layers tells us that the deeper we dig, _______.
a)
the younger the rocks get
b)
the smellier the rocks get
c)
the harder the rocks get
d)
the older the rocks get
36.
Which division on the geologic time scale is the shortest?
a)
epoch
b)
era
c)
eon
d)
period
37.
Trilobites are good __________ fossils because they were abundant and widespread geographically.
a)
cast
b)
index
c)
preserved
d)
mold
carbonized
carbonized
38.
Which is known as the age of the mammals?
a)
Mesozoic Era
b)
Holocene Epoch
c)
Cenozoic Era
d)
Cambrian
39.
The claw of a giant ground sloth was found recently. 12.5% of the original carbon-14 remains. Carbon-14 has a half-life of 5,730 years.
How old is this giant ground sloth?
How old is this giant ground sloth?
a)
5,730 years
b)
17,190 years
c)
11,460 years
d)
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