Clues to Earth’s Past
Practice Test
1.
What type of method do scientists use to determine correlation of rock layers?
a.
fossil evidence
b.
half-life
c.
radioactive decay
d.
all of the above
Hint
2.
When sedimentary rock is deposited on top of igneous or metamorphic rock, scientists call this __________.
a.
normal unconformity
b.
disconformity
c.
angular unconformity
d.
nonconformity
Hint
3.
How do unconformities form?
a.
when animals remove portions of rock by scraping them away
b.
when animals add portions of rock by depositing them in the empty spaces
c.
when rocks are displaced by growing roots
d.
when erosion removes portions of rock by washing or scraping them away
Hint
4.
What kind of information have fossils provided for scientists?
a.
They have helped scientists determine when organisms became extinct.
b.
They have helped scientists determine when life first appeared on Earth.
c.
They have helped scientists determine when plants and animals first lived on land.
d.
all of the above
Hint
5.
What does a paleontologist study?
a.
plants
b.
fossils
c.
dinosaurs
d.
life
Hint
6.
Why do many organisms leave carbonaceous films as evidence of their lives?
a.
because the tissues of most organisms are made of compounds that contain nitrogen
b.
because the bones of most organisms are made of compounds that contain nitrogen
c.
because the tissues of most organisms are made of compounds that contain carbon
d.
because the bones of most organisms are made of compounds that contain carbon
Hint
7.
What principle did James Hutton use to determine that Earth was much older than a few thousand years old?
a.
superposition
b.
uniformitarianism
c.
disconformitarianism
d.
conformitarianism
Hint
8.
When younger sediments are deposited on top of an older area of erosion, scientists call this __________.
a.
angular unconformity
b.
normal unconformity
c.
nonconformity
d.
disconformity
Hint
9.
What do scientists use to help them determine the absolute age of rocks and other objects?
a.
the number of atoms they are made of
b.
the properties of the fossils they are made of
c.
the properties of the atoms they are made of
d.
their weight
Hint
10.
Why do trace fossils provide so much information about how an organism lived?
a.
because the fossils leave evidence of what the organism ate
b.
because the fossils leave evidence about the shape of the organism's entire body
c.
because the tracks can give scientists hints about the size of the organism's foot
d.
because the tracks can give scientists hints to an organism's lifestyle
Hint
