Deck 12: Earths Evolution Through Geologic Time

Question 1

The era of "ancient life" is the ________ era.

A) Cenozoic
B) Precambrian
C) Neolithic
D) Mesozoic
E) none of these

Answer 1

E

Question 2

________ are among the most widespread Paleozoic fossils.

A) Stromatolites
B) Birds
C) Dinosaurs
D) Salamanders
E) Brachiopods

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Mammals became the dominant land animals during the ________ era.

A) Pleistocene
B) Cenozoic
C) Cretaceous
D) Mesozoic
E) Paleozoic

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The ________ means "the Sun in the making."

A) solar disk
B) presun
C) nebular Sun
D) sol
E) protosun

Question 5

The ________ period was a time of major extinctions, including 75 percent of amphibian families.

A) Jurassic
B) Mississippian
C) Permian
D) Pennsylvanian
E) Devonian

Question 6

As the solar system began forming, the first materials to condense into small particles were ________ and nickel.

A) oxygen
B) silicon
C) nitrogen
D) carbon
E) none of these

Question 7

The ________ era is known as the "age of flowering plants."

A) Precambrian
B) Paleozoic
C) Cenozoic
D) Devonian
E) Silurian

Question 8

Which one of the following represents the greatest expanse of geological time?

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

Question 9

The age of Earth is about ________.

A) 2 billion years
B) 4.6 million years
C) 16 million years
D) 4.5 billion years
E) 195 million years

Question 10

As they formed, due to their high temperatures and comparatively weak gravitational fields, which planets were unable to retain appreciable amounts of hydrogen, helium, and ammonia?

A) Jupiter and Neptune
B) Mercury and Earth
C) Uranus and Pluto
D) Jupiter and Uranus
E) Neptune and Uranus

Question 11

During the early Paleozoic era, South America, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, India, and perhaps China comprised the vast southern continent of ________.

A) Europe
B) Laurasia
C) Gondwanaland
D) Antindia
E) Pangaea

Question 12

Which one of the following does NOT characterize the early development and specialization of the primitive mammals?

A) increase in size
B) increase in stomach capacity
C) increase in brain capacity
D) specialization of limbs
E) specialization of teeth

Question 13

Which era of geologic time spans about 88 percent of Earth's history?

A) Precambrian
B) Paleozoic
C) Mesozoic
D) Cenozoic
E) none of above

Question 14

Which of the following gases was NOT part of Earth's original atmosphere?

A) water vapor
B) carbon dioxide
C) nitrogen
D) oxygen
E) both A and C

Question 15

The beginning of the Cambrian period marks an important event in animal evolution - the appearance of organisms with ________.

A) wings
B) cells
C) hard parts
D) vertebrae
E) none of the above

Question 16

The major source of free oxygen in the atmosphere is from ________.

A) molten rock
B) water
C) green plants
D) silicate minerals
E) glaciers

Question 17

The most common Precambrian fossils are ________, layered mounds of calcium carbonate.

A) prokaryotes
B) chert
C) trilobites
D) stromatolites
E) none of these

Question 18

Which type of bacteria thrive in environments that lack free oxygen?

A) aerobic
B) placental
C) anaerobic
D) foraminifera
E) photosynthetic

Question 19

The Precambrian rock record indicates that much of Earth's first free oxygen combined with ________ dissolved in water.

A) potassium
B) silicon
C) iron
D) carbon
E) none of these

Question 20

Due to a virtual absence of land plants and certain animals, fossil fuels are notably absent in ________ rocks.

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

Question 21

The waste gas released by plants as they synthesize food sugars from carbon dioxide and water is ________.

A) oxygen
B) methane
C) nitrogen
D) carbon dioxide

Question 22

During the ________ era, the westward-moving North American plate began to override the Pacific plate, eventually causing the tectonic activity that ultimately formed the mountains of western North America.

A) Precambrian
B) Paleozoic
C) Mesozoic
D) Cenozoic
E) none of the above

Question 23

During the late Paleozoic, the present-day North America, Europe, western Asia, Siberia, and perhaps China formed the northern continent of ________.

A) Gondwanaland
B) Laurasia
C) Greenland
D) Africa
E) none of the above

Question 24

________ means "planets in the making."

A) Jovian
B) Asteroids
C) Terrestrial
D) Protoplanets

Question 25

Each continent contains large "core areas" of Precambrian rocks referred to as ________.

A) rifts
B) plates
C) plateaus
D) shields
E) none of these

Question 26

The first true terrestrial animals were the ________.

A) mammals
B) reptiles
C) lobe-finned fish
D) trilobites
E) marsupials

Question 27

The beginning of the ________ era is marked by the appearance of the first life forms with hard parts.

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

Question 28

During the ________ period, large evaporite deposits of rock salt and gypsum formed in North America.

A) Cambrian
B) Silurian
C) Pennsylvanian
D) Jurassic
E) Tertiary

Question 29

Most ________ rocks are devoid of fossils, which hinders correlation of rocks.

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

Question 30

The most economically important resource in Cenozoic strata of the Gulf Coast is ________.

A) petroleum
B) carbon
C) coal
D) fresh water
E) iron

Question 31

Earth's primitive atmosphere evolved from gases ________.

A) produced by radioactive decay
B) collected from the nebula
C) escaping from water
D) from the Sun
E) expelled from within

Question 32

Most of Earth's iron ore occurs in middle ________ rocks.

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

Question 33

By the ________ period, large tropical swamps extended across North America, eventually becoming the vast coal deposits of today.

A) Cambrian
B) Silurian
C) Pennsylvanian
D) Devonian
E) Triassic

Question 34

The supercontinent of Pangaea began to break up during the ________ era.

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

Question 35

Abundant fossil evidence did not appear in the geologic record until about ________.

A) 5 billion years ago
B) 6 million years ago
C) 540 million years ago
D) 300 million years ago
E) 3 billion years ago

Question 36

The ________ period is sometimes called the "golden age of trilobites."

A) Cambrian
B) Silurian
C) Pennsylvanian
D) Devonian
E) Triassic

Question 37

This least understood era of Earth's history has not been subdivided into briefer time units.

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

Question 38

Which era is sometimes called the "age of dinosaurs?"

A) Pleistocene
B) Cenozoic
C) Cretaceous
D) Mesozoic
E) none of the above

Question 39

The process in which plants use light energy to synthesize food sugars from carbon dioxide is called ________.

A) photosynthesis
B) hydration
C) oxidation
D) fusion
E) none of these

Question 40

By the close of the Paleozoic, all the continents had fused into the single super continent of ________.

A) Laurasia
B) Pangaea
C) Appalachia
D) Gondwanaland
E) Europa

Question 41

Word Analysis. Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit the pattern.
A. trilobites B. brachiopods C. fish D. dinosaurs

Question 42

During the early Paleozoic era, the continent of Gondwanaland included North and South America.

Question 43

The bodies of our solar system began forming about 5 billion years ago from an enormous cloud of minute rocky fragments and gases.

Question 44

The supercontinent of Pangaea formed during the late Mesozoic era.

Question 45

One group of reptiles, exemplified by the fossil Archaeopteryx, led to the evolution of ________.

A) dinosaurs
B) mammals
C) cephalopods
D) birds
E) horses

Question 46

Most Mesozoic rocks are devoid of fossils; consequently this is the least understood span of Earth's history.

Question 47

Which period is known as the "age of fishes"?

A) Jurassic
B) Mississippian
C) Permian
D) Pennsylvanian
E) Devonian

Question 48

The first true terrestrial land animals were the mammals.

Question 49

Due to differentiation, the lighter, gaseous materials escaped Earth's interior and became the primitive atmosphere.

Question 50

Earth's original atmosphere, several billion years ago, was similar to the present atmosphere.

Question 51

Following the reptilian extinctions at the close of the Mesozoic, two groups of mammals, the marsupials and ________, evolved.

A) eukaryotes
B) cephalopods
C) trilobites
D) placentals
E) stromatolites

Question 52

The cells of these primitive organisms lack organized nuclei and they reproduce asexually.

A) trilobites
B) eukaryotes
C) prokaryotes
D) brachiopods
E) none of these

Question 53

The Cenozoic era is the age of mammals.

Question 54

During the Cenozoic, plate interactions gave rise to many events of mountain building, volcanism, and earthquakes in ________ North America.

A) western
B) central
C) eastern
D) southern
E) northern

Question 55

The major source of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere is from the decay of plants.

Question 56

Probably the single most characteristic feature of the Precambrian is its great abundance of fossil evidence.

Question 57

Word Analysis. Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit the pattern.
A. Cenozoic B. Phanerozoic C. Mesozoic D. Paleozoic

Question 58

We are now living in the Mesozoic era.

Question 59

The decay of radioactive atoms, coupled with heat released by colliding particles, produced at least some melting of Earth's early interior.

Question 60

Word Analysis. Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit the pattern.
A. Cambrian B. Mississippian C. Jurassic D. Devonian

Question 61

The earliest land plants had large, broad leafs to efficiently intercept sunlight.

Question 62

The fault-block mountains of Nevada and Mexico formed during the Cenozoic era.

Question 63

When Earth's primitive surface cooled below water's boiling point, torrential rains slowly filled low areas, forming oceans.

Question 64

Fossil fuels are abundant in Precambrian rocks.

Question 65

During the early Paleozoic era, the ________ orogeny affected eastern North America from the present-day central Appalachians to Newfoundland.

Question 66

During the Cenozoic era, a great wedge of sediments from the eroding Rockies created the Great Plains.

Question 67

The beginning of the Precambrian era is marked by the appearance of the first life forms with hard parts.

Question 68

The large outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) contain huge amounts of hydrogen and other light materials as part of their composition.

Question 69

Much of the original free oxygen in the atmosphere combined with iron dissolved in water to become iron oxide.

Question 70

Mammals replaced reptiles as the dominant land animals in the Cenozoic era.

Question 71

The theory for the formation of the solar system is known as the ________.

Question 72

Bacteria that thrive in oxygen free environments are called ________ bacteria.

Question 73

A wave of late Pleistocene extinctions rapidly eliminated many large mammals.

Question 74

The rock formations of the ________ era are more widespread and less disturbed than those of any other time.

Question 75

Well preserved remains of many tiny organisms extend the record of life back beyond 5 billion years.

Question 76

What were the three gases that made up Earth's original atmosphere?

Question 77

A major event of the Mesozoic era was the breakup of the supercontinent called Pangaea.

Question 78

During the Cenozoic era, the eastern and western margins of North America experienced similar geologic events.

Question 79

Volcanic activity was common in western North America during much of Cenozoic time.

Question 80

Many reptile groups became extinct at the close of the Cenozoic era.