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Earth Science Exam #1

front 1

Which of the following energy sources is thought to drive the lateral motions of Earth's lithospheric plates?

back 1

export of heat from deep in the mantle to the top of the asthenosphere

front 2

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.

back 2

Mesozoic

front 3

In the late 1700s James Hutton published his important work titled ________.

back 3

Theory of the Earth

front 4

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

back 4

worms have no hard parts

front 5

________ was never proposed as evidence supporting the existence of Pangaea.

back 5

Islands of Precambrian rocks along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

front 6

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

back 6

Devonian

front 7

The dense core of Earth is thought to consist predominantly of ________.

back 7

iron

front 8

Which of the following refers to the investigative process by which geologists identify and match sedimentary strata and other rocks of the same ages in different areas?

back 8

correlation

front 9

About 88 percent of geologic time is represented by the time span called the ________.

back 9

Precambrian

front 10

The composition of the Earth's inner core is thought to be ________.

back 10

solid iron-nickel alloy

front 11

Early results of the Deep Sea Drilling Project clearly justified the conclusion that ________.

back 11

the ocean basins are relatively young; no seafloor with an age in excess of 180 million years was ever found

front 12

The former late Paleozoic supercontinent is known as ________.

back 12

Pangaea

front 13

The study of Earth's atmosphere is known as ________.

back 13

meteorology

front 14

Most of our knowledge about Earth's interior comes from ________.

back 14

seismic waves

front 15

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

back 15

Paleozoic

front 16

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

back 16

Precambrian

front 17

Mammals became the dominant land animals during the ________ era.

back 17

Cenozoic

front 18

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

back 18

photosynthesis

front 19

All of the following are possible steps of scientific investigation except for ________.

back 19

assumption of conclusions without prior experimentation or observation

front 20

Catastrophism ________.

back 20

helped man understand the true nature of the forces that shaped the Grand Canyon

front 21

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

back 21

western

front 22

In correct order from the center outward, Earth includes which units?

back 22

inner core, outer core, mantle, crust

front 23

A ________ is a well-tested and widely accepted view that best explains certain scientific observations.

back 23

theory

front 24

What is the source of the energy that powers the Earth system?

back 24

both A and B

front 25

Assume that you have just examined several flat-lying sedimentary layers. After much study you determine that there is a considerable span of time for which no sedimentary rock layer exists at this site. You have just discovered a(n) ________.

back 25

disconformity

front 26

The ________ means "the Sun in the making."

back 26

protosun

front 27

Which one of the following statements about the crust is NOT true?

back 27

Oceanic crust is enriched in potassium, sodium, and silicon.

front 28

Visualize five horizontal sedimentary strata exposed in a cliff or canyon wall identified by consecutive numbers, 1 being the lowest bed and 5 being the highest. Which of the following statements concerning the strata are true?

back 28

Beds l and 3 are older than bed 4.

front 29

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

back 29

Cenozoic

front 30

The average composition of the continental crust most closely approximates that of ________.

back 30

basalt

front 31

The ________ is the thinnest layer of the Earth.

back 31

crust

front 32

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

back 32

birds

front 33

The age of Earth is about ________.

back 33

4.5 billion years

front 34

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

back 34

both water vapor and nitrogen

front 35

The ________ is thought to be a liquid, metallic region in the Earth's interior.

back 35

outer core

front 36

In the early part of the twentieth century, ________ argued forcefully for continental drift.

back 36

Alfred Wegener

front 37

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

back 37

green plants

front 38

The first true terrestrial animals were the ________.

back 38

reptiles

front 39

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

back 39

Mesozoic

front 40

The ________ is the idea or concept that ancient life forms succeeded each other in a definite, evolutionary pattern and that the contained assemblage of fossils can determine geologic ages of strata?

back 40

principle of fossil succession

front 41

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

back 41

none of these

a. prokaryotes

b. trilobites

c. chert

d. eukaryotes

front 42

The ________ area geologically old mountain range folded and deformed during the Paleozoic.

back 42

Appalachians in the eastern United States

front 43

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

back 43

540 million years ago

front 44

The ________ explains how our solar system probably formed from a giant cloud of gases and dispersed solid particles.

back 44

nebular theory

front 45

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

back 45

oxygen

front 46

What is the age of the Earth accepted by most scientists today?

back 46

4.5 billion years

front 47

The lithosphere is defined as ________.

back 47

a rigid layer of crustal and mantle material

front 48

Who is credited with formulating the doctrine of uniformitarianism?

back 48

Hutton

front 49

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

back 49

Permian

front 50

What are the basic differences between the disciplines of physical and historical geology?

back 50

Historical geology involves the study of rock strata, fossils, and geologic events, utilizing the geologic time scale as a reference; physical geology includes the study of how rocks form and of how erosion shapes the land surface.

front 51

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

back 51

Mesozoic

front 52

Consider the names of the eras in the geologic time scale. What is meant by "zoic"?

back 52

life; living things

front 53

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

back 53

Pangaea

front 54

The ________ refers to the sum total of all life on Earth.

back 54

biosphere

front 55

The subdivision of the geologic time scale that represents the longest time span is called a(n) ________.

back 55

eon