Deck 22: Earths Evolution Through Geologic Time

Question 1

When did the Big Bang occur?

A)3)8 billion years ago
B)4)6 billion years ago
C)7)8 billion years ago
D)13.7 billion years ago

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Scientific knowledge of many events of the Precambrian is limited because ________.

A)metamorphism altered and deformed many rocks
B)plate tectonics consumed many of the oldest tectonic plates
C)many ancient rocks have been eroded
D)any ancient rocks have been covered by a mantle of sediments
E)metamorphism, plate tectonics, erosion, and sediments account for the limited knowledge of Precambrian events

Answer 2

E

Question 3

What is the name of the theory that describes the formation of the universe?

A)Theory of Gravitational Attraction
B)Big Bang Theory
C)Theory of Continental Drift
D)Solar Nebula Theory

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following gases was present in Earth's early atmosphere?

A)Water vapor
B)Carbon dioxide
C)Hydrogen
D)Methane
E)All of these gases

Question 5

Where is the oldest known rock on Earth located?

A)Ural Mountains, Russia
B)Slave Craton, Alberta, Canada
C)Gobi Desert, Mongolia
D)Dharwar Craton, India

Question 6

The ________ of a continent consists of Precambrian rocks of the craton covered by a thin mantle of sedimentary rocks.

A)shield
B)platform
C)rift zone
D)plateau

Question 7

What is a craton?

A)The highly deformed, leading edge of a continent where subduction is occurring
B)The oldest part of a continent that has not been significantly deformed for 600 million years
C)An exotic terrane being accreted to a landmass
D)A down-dropped graben bounded by normal faults

Question 8

Which process is responsible for the oxygen in the atmosphere today?

A)Photosynthesis
B)Outgassing of volcanoes
C)Weathering of carbonate rocks
D)Asteroid impact

Question 9

What geologic era are we in today?

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

Question 10

The first primitive organisms on Earth came into existence approximately ________ years ago.

A)10,000
B)550 million
C)3)8 billion
D)4)6 billion

Question 11

The oldest known terrestrial material (a zircon included in a younger rock)dates back to 4.4 billion years ago.Where is this material located?

A)Dharwar Craton, India
B)Slave Craton, Alberta, Canada
C)Jack Hills, Western Australia
D)Grenville Terrance, United States

Question 12

The ________ of a continent consists of a core area of Precambrian rocks exposed at the surface with no overlying cover materials.

A)shield
B)platform
C)rift zone
D)plateau

Question 13

What affect would the formation of a supercontinent have on the climate of this landmass?

A)The climate would have become colder.
B)The climate would have become more humid.
C)The climate would have remained the same.
D)The climate would have become drier.

Question 14

What was the name of the supercontinent that formed approximately 1.1 billion years ago?

A)Rodinia
B)Pangaea
C)Nuna
D)Baltica

Question 15

Because of the original molten state of Earth, it is likely that the first crust was ________ in composition.

A)ultramafic
B)mafic
C)intermediate
D)felsic

Question 16

Why is there virtually no hydrogen and helium present in the atmosphere today?

A)These gases were burned off by solar radiation.
B)The gravitational force of Earth was not strong enough to hold them.
C)These gases were consumed by rock-forming processes.
D)Acid rain removed these gases from the atmosphere.

Question 17

How old is the oldest known mineral, a zircon crystal, on Earth?

A)13.7 billion years old
B)4)6 billion years old
C)4)4 billion years old
D)2)657 billion years old

Question 18

What is the molecular formula for ozone?

A)O
B)O₂
C)O₃
D)O₄

Question 19

A(n)________ is defined as a cataclysmic, explosive death of a star.

A)supernova
B)accretion
C)planetesimal
D)condensation

Question 20

Which of the following elements would have been the first to form after the formation of the universe?

A)Lithium and carbon
B)Helium and phosphorous
C)Hydrogen and helium
D)Iron and magnesium

Question 21

A(n)________ is a period when a supercontinent rifts into fragments, spreads apart, and the fragments reassemble into a new supercontinent.

A)convection cycle
B)supercontinent cycle
C)suturing cycle
D)orogenic cycle

Question 22

When did the first terrestrial plants appear on the land surface?

A)400 million years ago
B)327 million years ago
C)225 million years ago
D)65 million years ago

Question 23

For how long were dinosaurs the dominant species on the Earth?

A)5 million years
B)37 million years
C)160 million years
D)546 million years

Question 24

During which period did the break-up of Pangaea begin?

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

Question 25

The ________ Period was called the golden age of trilobites, resulting in more than 600 genera of these organisms.

A)Silurian
B)Cambrian
C)Jurassic
D)Mississippian

Question 26

Which of Earth's major extinctions was the most extensive, eliminating 70 percent of all terrestrial organisms and up to 95 percent of marine organisms?

A)Cambrian Explosion
B)Permian Extinction
C)Cretaceous Extinction
D)Late Devonian Extinction

Question 27

The dominant plant group during the Mesozoic Era was ________.

A)exosperms
B)methanogens
C)angiosperms
D)gymnosperms

Question 28

One hypothesis for the formation of life suggests that amino acids were carried ready-made to Earth by ________.

A)solar radiation
B)prokaryotes
C)carbonaceous chondrites
D)lightning

Question 29

________ are organisms that reproduce sexually and have cells that contain nuclei.

A)Prokaryotes
B)Eukaryotes
C)Protologics
D)Cenozoics

Question 30

How old are the oldest fossils of more advanced organisms, the eukaryotes?

A)3)8 billion years
B)3)5 billion years
C)2)8 billion years
D)2)1 billion years

Question 31

In what geologic period did lobe-finned fish adapt to terrestrial environments?

A)Cambrian
B)Devonian
C)Triassic
D)Ordovician

Question 32

The Navajo Sandstone, such as that exposed at Zion National Park in Utah, is evidence of a ________ environment during the Jurassic Period in the western United States.

A)beach
B)continental shelf
C)lacustrine
D)desert

Question 33

The ________ refers to a huge expansion in biodiversity 530 million years ago, which also marks the first appearance of invertebrate organisms.

A)Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event
B)Cambrian Explosion
C)Rise of Reptiles
D)Great Dying

Question 34

Flying reptiles such as the Archaeopteryx led to the evolution of ________.

A)dinosaurs
B)birds
C)mammals
D)insects

Question 35

The earliest fossil evidence of life is in the form of ________.

A)cyanobacteria
B)trilobites
C)Tully Monsters
D)brachiopods

Question 36

Subduction of the ________ Plate beneath the North American Plate at approximately 60 million years ago resulted in the ________ Orogeny that created the Rocky Mountains.

A)Pacific; Taconic
B)South American; Nevadan
C)Farallon; Laramide
D)African; Alleghanian

Question 37

Why did invertebrates, particularly arthropods, get so large in the Late Paleozoic?

A)There was more moisture in the atmosphere.
B)Ozone in the atmosphere shielded them from ultraviolet radiation.
C)There was more vegetation for them to feed on.
D)There was more oxygen in the atmosphere.

Question 38

Which of the following organisms is defined as a primitive, single-celled organism that lacks separation between the nucleus and the rest of the cell?

A)Eukaryote
B)Prokaryote
C)Brachiopod
D)Bryozoan
E)All of the above

Question 39

During which geologic time period did Pangaea form?

A)Precambrian
B)Late Paleozoic Era
C)Mesozoic Era
D)Mid-Cretaceous Era

Question 40

What era, period, and epoch do we currently exist in?

A)Precambrian, Jurassic, Eocene
B)Mesozoic, Permian, Pleistocene
C)Paleozoic, Paleogene, Paleocene
D)Cenozoic, Quaternary, Holocene

Question 41

Which of the following does not characterize the early development and specialization of mammals?

A)Increase in brain capacity
B)Increase in body size
C)Increase in lung capacity
D)Specialization of teeth to accommodate diets

Question 42

The early Earth was not hospitable to life as we know it because of meteorite bombardment, an oxygen-poor atmosphere, and the molten state of the planet for the first few million years.

Question 43

Pluto has been downgraded to the status of a protoplanet.

Question 44

Which organism, developing approximately 4.2 million years ago, represents the link between humans and apes?

A)Homo habilis
B)Homo erectus
C)Homo sapiens
D)Australopithecus

Question 45

Mammals did not evolve until the beginning of the Cenozoic and then did so to fill an evolutionary niche left behind by the dinosaurs.

Question 46

What event was responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs?

A)Meteorite impact in the Yucatan Peninsula
B)Eruptions of the Siberian Traps
C)Assembly of Pangaea
D)Rise of flowering plants

Question 47

Flying reptiles are a form of dinosaur.

Question 48

Most Precambrian rocks lack fossils, which makes correlating rock units over large distances difficult.

Question 49

Dinosaurs and large mammals coexisted during the Mesozoic era.

Question 50

Recent studies have indicated that dinosaurs may have been warm-blooded rather than cold-blooded.

Question 51

Which of the following is a modern descendant of the gymnosperm plants of the Mesozoic?

A)Orchids
B)Junipers
C)Lichen
D)Oaks

Question 52

Stromatolites went extinct at the end of the Permian Period along with 95 percent of all marine species on Earth.

Question 53

The flowering plants that developed during the Cenozoic were gymnosperms.

Question 54

The acidity levels of the early oceans were much lower than today, so it took 4 billion years of weathering in order to reach the level of salinity present in the oceans today.

Question 55

The dominant plant group in the Cenozoic Era is ________.

A)exosperms
B)methanogens
C)angiosperms
D)gymnosperms

Question 56

Explain how interstellar debris will eventually form a planetesimal.

Question 57

Which group of animals will bear live young that are underdeveloped and must stay in the mother's pouch to complete their development?

A)Placentals
B)Marsupials
C)Prokaryotes
D)Angiosperms

Question 58

The Geologic Time Scale records the history of Earth all the way back to the formation of the universe.

Question 59

Oxygen was one of the main gases in the early atmosphere.

Question 60

Why is the molten metallic core of Earth necessary for life to exist?

Question 61

In what kind of environment did the organism in this image live?

A)Desert
B)Rainforest
C)Marine
D)Swamp

Question 62

Compare and contrast western and eastern North America during the Cenozoic Era.

Question 63

How does the formation, break-up, and subsequent formation of supercontinents explain the origin of cratons?

Question 64

What role did the creation of the ozone layer have in the distribution of life forms across the planet and why?

Question 65

Some of the dominant marine reptiles of the Mesozoic were reptiles whose ancestors had evolved on land, but returned to life in the sea.What physiological evidence supports this interpretation?

Question 66

How does the process and rate seafloor spreading affect sea level?

Question 67

What were the first animals to leave the sea and adapt to a terrestrial environment? When did they do so? What physiological properties did they have that made them able to do so?

Question 68

What organism is visible in this image?

A)Amphibian
B)Brachiopod
C)Crinoid
D)Trilobite

Question 69

In what geologic time period would the mammoth in this image have existed?

A)Neogene to Quaternary Periods
B)Cambrian Period
C)Jurassic to Cretaceous Periods
D)Permian Period

Question 70

What geologic process triggered the Permian Extinction? Where did the trigger occur?

Question 71

What period had the greatest amount of cratonic formation?

A)Hadean
B)Proterozoic Eon
C)Archean Eon
D)Phanerozoic Eon

Question 72

Evaluate the validity of the idea that Earth is "The Goldilocks Planet" in the solar system.Support your position with three points.

Question 73

What is the importance of cyanobacteria for our atmosphere? What did they produce and how? What happened to the first materials they produced?

Question 74

Compare and contrast reptiles and mammals.Why were mammals able to occupy more diverse habitats than reptiles could?