Deck 23: Cenozoic Earth and Life History

Question 1

The Great Salt Lake in Utah is the only pluvial lake which remains at the size it was during the Wisconsin glacial stage.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The age of oceanic crust in the Pacific is asymmetric because ____.

A)much of the crust in the eastern Pacific has been subducted
B)spreading is faster on the east side of the ridge than on the west side
C)the eastern Pacific collided with the Americas to form mountain ranges
D)volcanism on the west side of the ridge has made the crust larger
E)almost none of the crust in the eastern Pacific has been subducted

Answer 2

much of the crust in the eastern Pacific has been subducted

Question 3

The North American Cordillera was only active in the Mesozoic and has a very simple deformational history.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The age of the oceanic crust in the Pacific is ____.

A)all uniform
B)asymmetric
C)older in the middle
D)older than the Cretaceous
E)older than the Paleocene

Question 5

There is evidence to suggest that the world's global cooling trend began in the Eocene and continued through the Pleistocene.

Question 6

The Laramide orogeny involved little or no ____.

A)tectonic activity
B)volcanism
C)erosion
D)faulting
E)sedimentation

Question 7

The oldest hominids belong to the genus Homo .

Question 8

Rifting in the Rio Grande Rift continues today at the rate of ____.

A)2 mm per year
B)1 cm per year
C)2 cm per year
D)10 cm per year
E)2 m per year

Question 9

The Himalayas today can best be described as ____.

A)volcanically active
B)seismically active but without active mountain building
C)a place of mountain building because there is no seismic activity
D)no longer tectonically active
E)seismically active with active mountain building

Question 10

Geologists know more about Cenozoic Earth and life history than about any other era of geologic time.

Question 11

The Colorado Plateau has been affected by Cordilleran orogenic events.

Question 12

The evolution of the horse involved major changes from Hyracotherium, including increase in size and development of one toe.

Question 13

Angiosperms constitute less than 90% of all land plants.

Question 14

The geologic province caused by the collision of India with Asia is known as the Alpine-Himalayan Orogenic Belt.

Question 15

The eastern North America during the Cenozoic can best be described as a(n)____.

A)active orogenic belt
B)area of uplift and erosion
C)active volcanic region
D)flat eroded plain
E)major marine basin

Question 16

Evaporation of pluvial lakes formed thick sand and gravel deposits.

Question 17

The Cenozoic Era is divided into the ____.

A)Tertiary and Quaternary periods
B)Paleogene and Tertiary periods
C)Tertiary and Neogene periods
D)Paleogene and Neogene periods
E)Quaternary and Paleogene periods

Question 18

The convergence of the Cocos and Nazca plates produced the Cascade volcanoes.

Question 19

Tertiary reservoirs of the Gulf Coastal Plain and southern California are important in U.S. petroleum production.

Question 20

Late Cretaceous to early Tertiary age, coal deposits were higher grade coal than the Pennsylvanian age deposits found in the eastern United States.

Question 21

Formation of basin and range mountains is a result of ____.

A)thrust faulting
B)folding and faulting
C)normal faulting
D)volcanism
E)batholithic intrusions

Question 22

The Early Tertiary sedimentary sequence of the Gulf Coastal Plain is ____.

A)a generally transgressive sequence
B)a generally regressive sequence
C)completely nonmarine
D)completely eroded away
E)generally missing

Question 23

The angle of the subducted slab during the Laramide orogeny was ____.

A)very steep resulting in volcanism near the trench
B)very shallow resulting in volcanism near the trench
C)very steep causing deformation far inland
D)very shallow causing deformation far inland
E)almost vertical

Question 24

Why might the abundance of marine diatoms be related to increased volcanism?

A)Volcanic activity resulted in decreased sunlight, which affected the growth of all marine phytoplankton except diatoms.
B)Volcanic activity may have resulted in the increase in silica in seawater.
C)Increased volcanic activity warmed sea water, creating a favorable habitat for diatoms.
D)Increased volcanism caused cooling of sea water, which created optimal conditions for diatom growth.
E)Increased volcanism created new ecological habitats for diatoms.

Question 25

During the Cenozoic, brachiopods ____.

A)greatly expanded their numbers and diversity
B)were greatly reduced in number of genera
C)took over habitats previously occupied by mollusks, forcing those creatures to go extinct
D)became the most important marine invertebrate phyla
E)became extinct

Question 26

Primates lack the _____ found in other mammalian orders.

A)reproductive patterns
B)cement-covered teeth
C)bone structure
D)strong specializations
E)similarities

Question 27

At the height of the Great Ice Age, the present desert regions of southwestern United States ____.

A)were covered with continental ice sheets
B)were drier than modern day conditions
C)had large lakes form in intermontane basins
D)were tropical rainforest environments
E)were covered with valley glaciers

Question 28

_____ became the dominant reef-builders in the Cenozoic seas.

A)Rudists
B)Mollusks
C)Corals
D)Crinoids
E)Brachiopods

Question 29

The Pleistocene Epoch is best known for _____.

A)widespread volcanism
B)pluvial lakes
C)evolution of Homo sapiens
D)widespread glaciation
E)tectonic activity

Question 30

Mammalian faunas of _____ were particularly hard hit by the Pleistocene extinctions.

A)the Himalayas and Antarctica
B)Antarctica and South America
C)North America and South America
D)Australia and North America
E)Asia and North America

Question 31

Ungulates include orders of mammals, which are all ____.

A)three-toed
B)hoofed
C)herbivores
D)large
E)hoofed herbivores

Question 32

The oldest currently known homonid is ____.

A)Sahelanthropus tchadensis
B)Homo sapiens
C)Homo erectus
D)Orrorin tugenensis
E)Ardepithecus kadabba

Question 33

The Mesozoic orogenies of the Cordillera ____.

A)only progressively affected areas from west to east
B)only progressively affected areas from east to west
C)involved deformation but not magmatism
D)involved magmatism but not deformation
E)progressively affected areas from west to east, and involved only deformation, not magmatism

Question 34

The first rodents evolved during the ____.

A)Paleocene
B)Eocene
C)Oligocene
D)Miocene
E)Pliocene

Question 35

The evolution of _____ is well recorded in the fossil record.

A)horses
B)camels
C)elephants
D)rhinoceroses
E)dogs

Question 36

Because of the large amount of weight in a glacial mass, the crust of Earth may ____.

A)remain stationary
B)rebound or uplift
C)subside
D)collapse into the mantle
E)melt

Question 37

When did the last ice age begin?

A)150 years ago
B)500 years ago
C)10,000 years ago
D)1.5 million years ago
E)2.6 million years ago

Question 38

What is not a direct or an indirect result of glaciation?

A)uplift
B)change in sea level
C)proglacial lakes
D)plate motion
E)pluvial lakes

Question 39

Homo habilis coexisted with _____ for approximately 200,000 years.

A)Homo sapiens
B)Australopithecus sediba
C)Australopithecus robustus
D)Australopithecus afarensis
E)Australopithecus anamensis

Question 40

Heat transfer from the equatorial regions to the poles ceased during the ____.

A)Paleogene
B)Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
C)Paleogene Thermal Maximum
D)Holocene glaciation
E)Pleistocene glaciation

Question 41

The plate tectonic activity that gave rise to orogens around much of the circum-Pacific orogenic belt was ____________________.

Question 42

Less evaporation and more precipitation during the glacial stages led to the formation of ____________________ lakes.

Question 43

Which group did the extinction at the end of the Pleistocene most affect?

A)only marine organisms
B)terrestrial mammals weighing more than 40 Kg
C)terrestrial mammals weighing less than 40 Kg
D)marine mammals weighing more than 40 Kg
E)all mammal groups equally

Question 44

How and when did the land that is the present state of Florida originate?

Question 45

During the last two million years, there have been at least ____________________ warm-cold cycles.

Question 46

The major difference between modern humans and Neanderthals is ____________________.

Question 47

What are the features of an orogeny?

Question 48

The ____________________ orogeny resulted in the formation of the Himalayan Mountains.

Question 49

What is the North American Cordillera?

Question 50

How did the Cenozoic conditions of eastern and western North America differ?

Question 51

The Cenozoic Era has been 66 million years long. This is only ____________________ percent of all geologic time. (Use one decimal point in your answer.)

Question 52

Cenozoic orogenic activity has primarily been concentrated in what two major zones or belts?

Question 53

Mammals that lay eggs are called ____________________ mammals.

Question 54

Diatomaceous earth is a sedimentary rock composed of the ____________________ shells of micro-organisms.

Question 55

Since the appearance of Cro-Magnon, what has been the major area of human evolution?

Question 56

The oldest hominids belong to the genus ____________________.

Question 57

____________________ gold deposits are formed by stream deposits.

Question 58

The evolutionary trend in mammal size during the Pleistocene could have been in response to ____.

A)global warming when there was more food available
B)cooler temperatures because large animals retain heat more efficiently
C)protection from predation of other organisms
D)increased predatory ability
E)decreased metabolic requirements

Question 59

During the Neanderthal era, climate was characterized by ____.

A)balmy pleasant weather year-round
B)stifling hot summers and mild winters
C)long, frigid winters and short summers
D)temperatures extremes, frigid winters, and hot summers
E)the same types of temperatures in the same places seen today

Question 60

The first of the hominids to make major migrations was ____________________.

Question 61

What are the Columbia River basalts and what is their origin?

Question 62

In what two ways was the Laramide orogeny different from other orogenies?

Question 63

How were Neanderthals different from modern humans?