Deck 8: Fossils in Geological Context

Question 1

Who is associated with the principle of faunal succession?

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

Answer 1

Smith

Question 2

Strata are __________.

A) layers of rock
B) trace fossils
C) petrified remains of organisms
D) none of these

Answer 2

layers of rock

Question 3

Who is associated with the principle of superposition?

A) Steno
B) Cuvier
C) Smith
D) Hutton

Answer 3

Steno

Question 4

Who proposed the principle of cross-cutting relationships?

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

Question 5

Which of the following is an example of a trace fossil?

A) fossilized feces
B) a petrified skull
C) tracks left behind by an extinct animal
D) layers of earth

Question 6

Geology is best defined as the study of __________.

A) the earth
B) fossils
C) what happens to remains from death to discovery
D) optical stimulated luminescence

Question 7

__________is a field devoted to the gleaning of all the information that can be extracted from fossils.

A) Taphonomy
B) Paleontology
C) Geology
D) Stratigraphy

Question 8

Most living creatures end up as fossils.

Question 9

Which of the following states that older strata are laid down below younger strata?

A) the principle of cross-cutting relationships
B) the principle of original horizontality
C) the principle of superposition
D) the principle of faunal succession

Question 10

A fossil can be studied to learn __________.

A) its age
B) the kind of organism it represents
C) the environment is which the original creature lived
D) all of these

Question 11

__________ suggests that the natural forces operating today are also those that operated in the past.

A) taphonomy
B) lithostratigraphy
C) uniformitarianism
D) the principle of faunal succession

Question 12

Which of the following states that strata are laid down parallel to the Earth's gravitational field?

A) uniformitarianism
B) the principle of original horizontality
C) the principle of superposition
D) the principle of faunal succession

Question 13

The study of the distribution of layers of rock is called __________.

A) geology
B) biostratigraphy
C) taphonomy
D) stratigraphy

Question 14

Which is most likely to be preserved by fossilization?

A) brains
B) skin an internal organs
C) bones and teeth
D) hair

Question 15

Which of the following states that cut strata are older than the intruding strata?

A) the principle of cross-cutting relationships
B) the principle of original horizontality
C) the principle of superposition
D) the principle of faunal succession

Question 16

Which of the following states that there are predictable sequences of fauna through strata?

A) the principle of cross-cutting relationships
B) the principle of original horizontality
C) the principle of superposition
D) the principle of faunal succession

Question 17

Who is associated with the principle of original horizontality?

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

Question 18

From most to least inclusive, the geologic time scale (GTS) is divided into

A) eons, eras, periods, and epochs
B) eras, eons, epochs, periods
C) periods, epochs, eras, eons
D) epochs, periods, eras, and eons

Question 19

A scientist studying the biological and geological processes of fossilization is engaging in the science of __________.

A) taphonomy
B) geology
C) paleontology
D) none of these

Question 20

The concept of index fossils is associated with which principle?

A) the principle of cross-cutting relationships
B) the principle of original horizontality
C) the principle of superposition
D) the principle of faunal succession

Question 21

The GTS is divided into the __________ eons.

A) Precambrian and Cenozoic
B) Archaean and Phanerozoic
C) Mesozoic and Cenozoic
D) Precambrian and Phanerozoic

Question 22

Primate evolution occurs during the Cenozoic era, or about the last __________ years.

A) 65 million
B) 4.5 billion
C) 45 million
D) 6.5 billion

Question 23

We live in the __________ eon.

A) Holocene
B) Cenozoic
C) Quaternary
D) Phanerozoic

Question 24

We live in the __________ epoch.

A) Holocene
B) Cenozoic
C) Quaternary
D) Phanerozoic

Question 25

The Earth is estimated to be approximately __________ years old.

A) 65 million
B) 4.5 billion
C) 45 million
D) 6.5 billion

Question 26

We live in the __________ period.

A) Holocene
B) Cenozoic
C) Quaternary
D) Phanerozoic

Question 27

The Mesozoic spans from __________ years ago.

A) 4.5 million to 60,000
B) 4.5 billion to 543 million
C) 5.43 billion to 45 million
D) 248 million to 65 million

Question 28

What are the periods of the Mesozoic?

A) the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous
B) the Tertiary and Quaternary
C) the Precambrian and Phanerozoic
D) the Paleozoic, Cenozoic, and Jurassic

Question 29

The Tertiary period spans from __________.

A) 4.5 million to 60,000 years ago
B) 65 billion to 54.8 million years ago
C) 5.43 billion to 45 million years ago
D) 248 million to 6.5 million years ago

Question 30

Which is the least inclusive division of the GTS?

A) eras
B) epochs
C) periods
D) eons

Question 31

We live in the __________ era.

A) Holocene
B) Cenozoic
C) Quaternary
D) Phanerozoic

Question 32

What are the dates of the Precambrian?

A) 4.5 million to 60,000 years ago
B) 4.5 billion to 543 million years ago
C) 5.43 billion to 45 million years ago
D) 248 million to 6.5 million years ago

Question 33

What are the periods of the Cenozoic?

A) the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous
B) the Tertiary and Quaternary
C) the Precambrian and Phanerozoic
D) the Paleozoic, Cenozoic, and Jurassic

Question 34

The lengths of epochs, periods, and eras are standardized and inflexible.

Question 35

We are presently in the __________ period.

A) Paleozoic
B) Mesozoic
C) Jurassic
D) none of these

Question 36

Which of the following is defined as the origin or original source of a fossil?

A) lithostratigraphy
B) biostratigraphy
C) tephrostratigraphy
D) provenience

Question 37

Which of the following is an epoch of the Tertiary?

A) the Pleistocene
B) the Oligocene
C) the Holocene
D) the Cenozoic

Question 38

Which of the following is an epoch of the Quaternary?

A) the Pleistocene
B) the Oligocene
C) the Jurassic
D) the Cenozoic

Question 39

Primates are present for most of the Geologic Time Scale.

Question 40

Mammals arose during the __________ era.

A) Hadean
B) Cenozoic
C) Phanerozoic
D) Mesozoic

Question 41

The Piltdown fraud was ultimately exposed by the application of __________ techniques.

A) chronometric dating
B) potassium argon
C) chemical techniques of relative dating
D) calibrated techniques of relative dating

Question 42

Which dating technique is associated with crystalline materials?

A) Stratigraphic dating
B) Radiocarbon dating
C) Potassium-argon dating
D) Electron spin resonance

Question 43

What is a daughter-isotope?

A) a radiometric dating technique
B) a calibrated chemical stratum
C) the original radioactive isotope in a sample
D) the isotope that is produced as the result of radioactive decay

Question 44

Chronometric dating techniques provide __________.

A) the age of an object relative items found with it
B) an age estimate in years before the present
C) the relative age of an object
D) information about the magnetic polarity of strata

Question 45

A scientist studying chrons and subchrons is working with __________.

A) radiometric dating
B) fluorine analysis
C) the geomagnetic polarity time scale
D) obsidian hydration

Question 46

What is a parent-isotope?

A) a radiometric dating technique
B) a calibrated chemical stratum
C) the original radioactive isotope in a sample
D) the isotope that is produced as the result of radioactive decay

Question 47

Which of the following techniques covers the least amount of time?

A) Fission-track dating
B) Electron spin resonance
C) Potassium-argon dating
D) Radiocarbon dating

Question 48

__________ is a dating technique using comparison of fossils.

A) lithostratigraphy
B) biostratigraphy
C) tephrostratigraphy
D) provenience

Question 49

__________can be defined as variant forms of an element.

A) isotopes
B) half-life
C) radiometry
D) none of these

Question 50

Crystalline materials that have been buried in sediments may be chronometrically dated using the __________method.

A) electron spin resonance
B) stratigraphic
C) optically stimulated luminescence
D) none of these

Question 51

Which of the following deals specifically with volcanic ash?

A) lithostratigraphy
B) biostratigraphy
C) tephrostratigraphy
D) provenience

Question 52

__________ dating techniques can be correlated to an absolute chronology.

A) chronometric
B) potassium argon
C) chemical relative
D) calibrated relative

Question 53

The __________ method is particularly good for dating pottery or tools heated in a fire.

A) thermoluminescence
B) optically stimulated luminescence
C) radiocarbon
D) fission-track

Question 54

Half-life is half the time it takes for all of the original amount of an unstable isotope to decay into more stable forms.

Question 55

Fission-track dating relies in the decay of __________. .

A) Uranium
B) Potassium
C) Fluoride
D) Carbon

Question 56

__________ is the study of geologic deposits and their formation.

A) lithostratigraphy
B) biostratigraphy
C) tephrostratigraphy
D) provenience

Question 57

Relative dating techniques establish the age of a fossil only in comparison to other material found with it.

Question 58

Chemical techniques of relative dating are associated with the analysis of __________.

A) fluorine, uranium, and nitrogen
B) geomagnetic polarity
C) stratigraphy
D) all of these

Question 59

__________ is a common radiometric method for dating volcanic deposits.

A) stratigraphic dating
B) Electron spin resonance
C) Potassium-argon dating
D) Radiocarbon dating

Question 60

Radiocarbon dating is the primary technique for dating __________.

A) volcanic deposits
B) organic material
C) obsidian
D) uranium decay

Question 61

Explain the climatic shifts that typify the Paleocene and Miocene.

Question 62

A scientist studying paleosol is working with __________.

A) ancient soil
B) oxygen isotopes
C) plant macrofossils
D) carbon isotope ratios

Question 63

Fossils can be used to reconstruct ancient animal communities and therefore make inferences about ancient environments and habitats.

Question 64

What are the various types of relative dating? In what instances might relative dating techniques offer a chronological date?

Question 65

__________ years ago, the earth was divided into two continents, Gondwanaland and Laurasia.

A) 50 million
B) 200 million
C) 2 billion
D) 3.5 million years ago

Question 66

Citing specific examples, explain how electron trap techniques work and the types of objects that may be dated with these methods.

Question 67

Information about stable carbon isotope ratios help build vegetation maps.

Question 68

Explain the climatic shifts that typify the Pliocene to the Early Pleistocene.

Question 69

What are the different types of fossils and how do they form?

Question 70

How can the Principles associated with Lyell, Smith, Hutton, and Steno inform us about fossils. Be specific.

Question 71

The story of climate change during the Cenozoic is generally one of __________.

A) warming and drying
B) warming and increased moisture
C) cooling and drying
D) cooling and increased moisture

Question 72

Studying ancient vegetation includes investigating __________.

A) plant macrofossils
B) ancient pollen
C) phytoliths
D) all of these

Question 73

A high ? 18oxygen/16oxygen ratio in the shells of marine animals indicates __________.

A) colder temperatures and lower sea levels
B) higher temperatures and lower sea levels
C) colder temperature sand higher sea levels
D) warmer temperatures and higher sea levels

Question 74

Citing specific examples, explain how scientists use proxies to reconstruct ancient environments.

Question 75

Explain the Principles associated with Lyell, Smith, Hutton, and Steno.

Question 76

Using Potassium-argon dating as an example, explain how radiometric dating works.

Question 77

Explain the climatic shifts that typify the Pleistocene. How might have these conditions effected hominin evolution?