Fossils and the Rock Record

Practice Test
      
  1.Which feature shown in the figure is the oldest?



 
  a.   P  
  b.   L  
  c.   Q  
  d.   H  
      
  2.What type of material is used in the dating technique of dendrochronology?  
  a.   tree leaves  
  b.   sediment layers from lake beds  
  c.   key beds  
  d.   tree growth rings  
      
  3.The __________ states that the processes that have been occurring today have been occurring since Earth formed.  
  a.   principle of superposition  
  b.   principle of original horizontality  
  c.   principle of cross-cutting relationships  
  d.   principle of uniformitarianism  
      
  4.What isotope is used for finding the age of materials that are organic in origin?  
  a.   uranium-238  
  b.   potassium-40  
  c.   carbon-14  
  d.   thorium-232  
      
  5.What is the current era?  
  a.   Archean  
  b.   Cenozoic  
  c.   Paleozoic  
  d.   Mesozoic  
      
  6.A gravel-sized particle in a conglomerate is __________ the conglomerate rock.  
  a.   the same age as  
  b.   older than  
  c.   always ten times older than  
  d.   younger than  
      
  7.What era of geologic time ended with the largest extinction event in Earth history?  
  a.   the Cenozoic  
  b.   the Cretaceous  
  c.   the Mesozoic  
  d.   the Paleozoic  
      
  8.According to the table, which was the first significant event that involved life?

Table 1: EARTH HISTORY-SHAPING EVENTS

Origin of the solar system

Earth forms, 4.6 B.Y.B.P.

Oceans form, 4.0 B.Y.B.P

Primitive algae evolves, 3.3 B.Y.B.P

First fossil evidence of multicellular organisms, 1.2 B.Y.B.P.

Trilobites are abundant, algal reefs form, 600 M.Y.B.P.

First corals evolve, invertebrates dominate oceans, 500 M.Y.B.P.

First land plants evolve, insects appear, 440 M.Y.B.P.

Fishes are abundant, early amphibians evolve, 400 M.Y.B.P.

Forests that become coal swamps are present,300 M.Y.B.P.

Earliest reptiles evolve, 300 M.Y.B.P.

Alleghenian Orogeny occurs, 270 M.Y.B.P.

Trilobites become extinct, 270 M.Y.B.P.

Earliest dinosaurs appear, 225 M.Y.B.P.

Pangaea breaks up, 225 M.Y.B.P.

Earliest mammals evolve, 200 M.Y.B.P.

Dinosaurs are abundant, 180 M.Y.B.P.

The first birds evolve, 180 M.Y.B.P.

Asteroid impact, 66 M.Y.B.P.

Modern groups of mammals appear, 60 M.Y.B.P.

Earliest horses evolve, 60 M.Y.B.P.

Large mammals evolve, 40 M.Y.B.P.

Carnivores abundant, 11 M.Y.B.P.

Adirondack mountains uplifted, 11 M.Y.B.P.

First humanoids evolve (Australopithecus africanus), 3 M.Y.B.P.

Ice Age of the Pleistocene begins, 1 M.Y.B.P.

Mammoths and mastodons are abundant, 1 M.Y.B.P.

Large ice sheets retreat ~ 10 000 years ago

Mount Vesuvius erupts and destroys Pompeii, A.D.79

New Madrid Earthquake, 1811-1812

Chicago Fire 1871

Krakatoa eruption in Java, 1883

Chicago Bull win 5th World Championship, 1997



 
  a.   origin of the solar system  
  b.   Earth forms  
  c.   primitive algae evolves  
  d.   oceans form  
      
  9.Which of these are indirect evidence of plant or animal life?  
  a.   microfossils  
  b.   trace fossils  
  c.   altered remains  
  d.   original hard parts  
      
  10.The principle of _________ states that an intrusion or fault is younger than the rocks it cuts across.  
  a.   uniformitarianism  
  b.   original horizontality  
  c.   superposition  
  d.   cross-cutting relationships  
      
  11.What does a disconformity in a sedimentary rock sequence represent?  
  a.   a volcanic eruption  
  b.   a gap in the rock record  
  c.   a flood event  
  d.   duplicated strata in the rock record  
      
  12.What geologic principle states that in an undisturbed rock sequence, the oldest rocks are on the bottom and the youngest are on the top?  
  a.   cross-cutting relationships  
  b.   original horizontality  
  c.   superposition  
  d.   uniformitarianism  
      
  13.Petrified wood is an example of __________.  
  a.   an index fossil  
  b.   a mold  
  c.   permineralization  
  d.   original hard parts  
      
  14.A _________ is the unaltered remains of a once-living organism.  
  a.   trace fossil  
  b.   mold of a fossil  
  c.   fossil with permineralization  
  d.   fossil with original preservation  
      
  15.According to the figure, what marked the end of the Mesozoic Era?



 
  a.   the extinction of the dinosaurs  
  b.   the extinction of many marine invertebrates  
  c.   mammals are abundant  
  d.   the building of the Appalachians ends  
      
  16.What marks the end of the Proterozoic Eon?  
  a.   oxygen breathing organisms  
  b.   free oxygen  
  c.   mammals  
  d.   the first appearance of organisms with hard parts  
      
  17.What method is used to determine the exact age of a rock or fossil?  
  a.   relative age dating  
  b.   the principle of superposition  
  c.   dendrochronology  
  d.   radiometric dating  
      
  18.According to the figure, after four half-lives (22,820 years), how much C-14 would be left?



 
  a.   25%  
  b.   0%  
  c.   10%  
  d.   6.25%  
      
  19.What characterizes an index fossil?  
  a.   widely distributed geographically  
  b.   abundant  
  c.   all of these are correct  
  d.   easily recognized  

 
   
McGraw-Hill / Glencoe
The McGraw-Hill Companies