Question 1

A worm would stand a poor chance of being fossilized because ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  worms were very rare during the geologic past
B)  worms have no hard parts
C)  worms contain no carbon-14
D)  worms live in the shallow ocean

Question 2

Who first formulated the principle of uniformitarianism?

Accepted Answer

A)  Aristotle
B)  Lyell
C)  Steno
D)  Hutton

Question 3

"John is older than Susan" is an example of a relative date.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 4

Use the geological cross-section to determine the age of rock layer D as precisely as possible.

Accepted Answer

A)  It is 40 million years old.
B)  It is between 39 million years old and 25 million years old.
C)  It is between 39 million years old and 17 million years old.
D)  It is older than 17 million years old.

Question 5

Which of the following is an essential characteristic of an index fossil?

Accepted Answer

A)  The organism lived in a very specific environment or two, such as tropical volcanic islands.
B)  The organism lived for a very limited period of geologic time.
C)  The fossils of the organism are exceptionally well preserved.
D)  The organism lived on the land, not in the ocean.

Question 6

Since the Moenkopi Formation was deposited at the end of the Permian period and the very beginning of the Triassic, and the Navajo Sandstone was deposited at the end of the Triassic and into the Jurassic, what is the age of the Chinle Formation?

Accepted Answer

A)  Permian
B)  Triassic
C)  Jurassic
D)  Cambrian

Question 7

Why do the eras of the Pharnerozoic eon all end with "zoic"?

Accepted Answer

A)  They are based on rock called zoisites.
B)  These names refer to life or living things; they invoke the changes in fossil organisms from one era to the next.
C)  "Zoic" means "time" in Latin.
D)  These eras were all first described near the London Zoo, so the names pay tribute to that location.

Question 8

We now live in the ________ era.

Accepted Answer

The answer of We now live in the ________ era....

Question 9

The process by which geologists identify and match sedimentary strata and other rocks of the same ages in different areas is ________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The process by which geologists identify and...

Question 10

The four basic units that make up the geologic time scale are the eon, the aria, the episode, and the period.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 11

According to the figure, the age of the Dakota Sandstone must be less than 160 million years, and greater than 66 million years old.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 12

The earliest 88 percent of geologic time is represented by the time span informally called the ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  Paleozoic
B)  Precambrian
C)  Mesozoic
D)  Phanerozoic

Question 13

All of geologic time prior to the beginning of the Paleozoic era is commonly referred to as the ________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of All of geologic time prior to the...

Question 14

The principle of ________ is the concept that ancient life forms evolved in a definite order and therefore their fossils can help determine the geologic ages of strata.

Accepted Answer

A)  superposition
B)  cross-cutting relationships
C)  fossil succession
D)  fossil assemblage

Question 15

Assuming that this is an undisturbed sedimentary sequence (that is, superposition is valid), and that unit G is Cambrian in age, unit F could be Ordovician.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 16

The Phanerozoic, Proterozoic, and Archean are all eons.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 17

Catastrophism and uniformitarianism differed in which way?

Accepted Answer

A)  Catastrophism argued for a young Earth, while uniformitarianism argued for an old Earth.
B)  Catastrophism emphasized rapid change, while uniformitarianism argued for slow, gradual change being more important.
C)  both of the above
D)  none of the above

Question 18

If numerical dating of rock unit A gave a crystallization age of 1.2 billion years, and numerical dating of rock unit F gave a crystallization age of 500 million years, then how old is rock unit E?

Accepted Answer

Rock unit E would have to be y...

Question 19

After three half-lives, ________ of an original, radioactive, parent isotope remains and the rest has decayed into the daughter isotope.

Accepted Answer

12.5% or o...

Question 20

The amount of time it takes for half of the remaining radioactive isotopes to decay is the ________ of a isotope system.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The amount of time it takes for...

Exam 8: Geologic Time

If numerical dating of rock unit A gave a crystallization age of 1.2 billion years, and numerical dating of rock unit F gave a crystallization age of 500 million years, then how old is rock unit E?

Correct AnswerverifiedRock unit E would have to be y...View AnswerShow Answer

We now live in the ________ era.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

The amount of time it takes for half of the remaining radioactive isotopes to decay is the ________ of a isotope system.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which of the following is an essential characteristic of an index fossil?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

After three half-lives, ________ of an original, radioactive, parent isotope remains and the rest has decayed into the daughter isotope.

Correct Answerverified12.5% or o...View AnswerShow Answer

Use the geological cross-section to determine the age of rock layer D as precisely as possible.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Since the Moenkopi Formation was deposited at the end of the Permian period and the very beginning of the Triassic, and the Navajo Sandstone was deposited at the end of the Triassic and into the Jurassic, what is the age of the Chinle Formation?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Assuming that this is an undisturbed sedimentary sequence (that is, superposition is valid), and that unit G is Cambrian in age, unit F could be Ordovician.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

The process by which geologists identify and match sedimentary strata and other rocks of the same ages in different areas is ________.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Why do the eras of the Pharnerozoic eon all end with "zoic"?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

The four basic units that make up the geologic time scale are the eon, the aria, the episode, and the period.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

The principle of ________ is the concept that ancient life forms evolved in a definite order and therefore their fossils can help determine the geologic ages of strata.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

According to the figure, the age of the Dakota Sandstone must be less than 160 million years, and greater than 66 million years old.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

The Phanerozoic, Proterozoic, and Archean are all eons.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

"John is older than Susan" is an example of a relative date.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

All of geologic time prior to the beginning of the Paleozoic era is commonly referred to as the ________.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

A worm would stand a poor chance of being fossilized because ________.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

The earliest 88 percent of geologic time is represented by the time span informally called the ________.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Who first formulated the principle of uniformitarianism?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Catastrophism and uniformitarianism differed in which way?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

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Rock unit E would have to be y...
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12.5% or o...
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