Historical Geology Exam #1 Study Guide Questions With Correct Answers Pass Guaranteed

4.6 billion - correct answers Earth formed about ___ _____ years ago. homo sapiens - correct answers ___ _____ appeared on the Earth between 300,000 and 150,000 years ago. changed past - correct answers The Earth has ____ throughout time. Understanding ___ events will help us predict future events. relevant - correct answers All past events are _____ to our lives today. Geology - correct answers the study of the earth- deals with Earth materials, processes, and the history of the Earth and life. physical geology - correct answers deals with Earth materials and processes historical geology - correct answers deals with origin and changes of Earth and life through time and space historical - correct answers ______ geologists look at the results of past events and work backward in time to discover the causes of those events. exploration - correct answers _______ geologists search for fossil fuels and mineral resources- they must have knowledge of earth history to understand where to find energy and mineral resources and also must understand astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics multidisciplinary - correct answers Because geology incorporates information from many other sciences, it is referred to as a "__________" or "eclectic" science. scientific method - correct answers Science operates through the use of the _____ ______- a method for finding answers to questions and solutions to problems. detectives - correct answers Scientists work like _____ to gather data, to try and figure out what happened. This data may be obtained through observations and/or experiments, which can be repeated and verified by others. hypothesis - correct answers Typically, a number of ideas or interpretations are developed to explain what happened- each of which is called a ______. hypotheses - correct answers When scientists come up with several possible explanations, that is called the "method of multiple working _______"- each of which is tested, and may be accepted, or rejected, or modified. theory - correct answers A hypothesis that survives repeated challenges, and is supported by a large body of evidence, may be evaluated to the status of a _____. scientific law - correct answers If a theory triumphs over every challenge, it can be raised to the level of a _____ ___- which are often explained mathematically. geologic time - correct answers Recognition of the immensity of _____ ___ is geology's most important contribution to human knowledge. geochronology - correct answers the science that deals with determining the ages of rocks absolute age relative age - correct answers Name the two basic methods of dating rocks: 1. ______ ___ 2. ______ ___ absolute age - correct answers the actual age, quantifying the age of the rock or mineral in years radioactivity - correct answers The discovery of ______ in 1896 gave scientists the tool to find the absolute age of a rock. radiometric dating - correct answers involves analysis of the breakdown of unstable radioactive elements in rocks radioactive elements - correct answers ______ _____ decay be releasing subatomic particles from their nuclei- through this process, the unstable radioactive element is converted to a stable "daughter" element- many of which can be used as geologic clocks constant - correct answers Each radioactive element decays at its own nearly ____ rate, which can be measured, and once it is known, geologists can determine the length of time over which decay has been occurring by measuring the amount of radioactive parent element and the amount of stable daughter element half life - correct answers the time is takes for half of the parent radioactive element to decay to a daughter product- unique to each radioactive element relative age - correct answers determining which rocks are older and younger (such as rock unit A is older than rock unit B) relative dating - correct answers The Geologic Time Scale was developed through ____ ______. relative age - correct answers ______ ___ determinations provide a framework or geologic time scale in which to place events of the geologic past. radiometric dating - correct answers Using ______ _____, actual dates in years have been determined for the geologic time scale. plate tectonics - correct answers The theory of ____ ______ has revolutionized the understanding of geology and explains many large scale patterns in Earth's geological record- considered a "great unifying theory" in geology plates - correct answers The Earth's surface or lithosphere is divided into ______ (about 7 large and 20 smaller). lithosphere - correct answers The ________ is about 100km thick and consists of the rigid, brittle crust and uppermost mantle. asthenosphere - correct answers Rigid lithospheric plates rest (or "float") on the _________, the easily deformed, or partially molten part of the mantle below the lithosphere- plates are moving, but their rates and directions of movement vary. convectional flow - correct answers Plate movement is due to _______ ____ (circular movement of the asthenosphere due to hot material rising and cooler material sinking). divergent convergent transform - correct answers Name the three types of plate boundaries: 1. _______ 2. _______ 3. _______ divergent - correct answers where plates move apart from one another convergent - correct answers where plates move toward one another transform - correct answers where two plates slide past one another evolution - correct answers In biology, _____ is the "great unifying theory" for understanding the history of life. evolution - correct answers As a result of _____, plants and animals living today are different from their ancestors- they differ in appearance, genetic characteristics, body chemistry, and in the way they function- these differences appear to be a response to the changes in the environment and competition for food. fossils - correct answers record the changes in organisms over time evolution - correct answers The idea of _____ had developed by 2,600 years ago in the 7th century BC, as seen in the writings of Greek philosopher, Anaximander. Darwin Wallace - correct answers _____ and _____ were the first scientists to assemble a large body of convincing observational evidence in support of evolution. natural selection - correct answers Mechanism for evolution which Darwin called _____ ______ based on the following observations: - any given species produces more offspring than can survive to maturity - variations exist among the offspring - the offspring must compete with one another for food and habitat - offspring with the most favorable characteristics are more likely to survive to reproduce - beneficial traits are passed on to the next generation genetics - correct answers Many years later, scientists determined that _____ are the cause of the variations between generations. fossils modified vestigial similar - correct answers Lines of evidence for evolution cited by Darwin: - _____ provide direct evidence for changes in life in rocks of different ages - certain organs or structures are present in a variety of species, but they are ______ to function differently- differences in structures can help an organism be more competitive - modern organisms contain _____ organs that appear to have little or no use- these structures has a useful function in ancestral species - animals that are very different, had _____- looking embryos genetics biochemistry molecular biology - correct answers Other lines of evidence for evolution came from the fields of: - ________ (DNA molecule) - __________ (biochemistry of closely-related organism is similar, but very different form more distantly related organisms_ - ______ _____ (sequences of amino acids in proteins) organic evolution - correct answers refers to changes that have occurred in organisms with the passage of time fossils - correct answers the remains or traces of prehistoric life- can tell us much about the history of the Earth and life Herodotus - correct answers Around 450 BC, the Greek philosopher, _______, noticed fossil seashells in outcrops of sedimentary rocks that were far from the sea, and high above sea level, so he concluded that the area had once been beneath the sea (seas had once covered the continents) Noachian - correct answers To some, the seashell fossil findings suggested the ______ flood (the biblical flood of Noah). relative dating - correct answers As geologists acquired a better understanding of the immensity of geologic time, they were able to use ____ _____ to produce a more valid interpretation of fossils and sedimentary rocks. fossils - correct answers the record of plants and animals which lived and died over an immense span of time sediment - correct answers ________ is deposited worldwide and includes: - gravel, sand, silt, mud, and clay from rivers and streams - clay and organic debris settling to the sea floor - dust and volcanic ash carried by the wind and deposited beds strata - correct answers Most sedimentary rocks occur in the form of layers called ___ or ____- each layer is the result of the deposition of sediment during some natural event (such as a floor or storm). fossils - correct answers When plants and animals are covered by sediment and buried, they may become preserved as _____. rapid burial, hard parts - correct answers Characteristics which are favorable for fossil preservation: - ____ _____ with sediment to prevent destruction of the dead organism by scavenging or bacterial decay - animal has ____ ____ like bones, teeth, or shell soft parts - correct answers In rare circumstances, the ___ ___ of an animal (skin, muscle) may be preserved as fossils. freezing desiccation amber asphalt carbonized - correct answers Most common methods of soft part preservation are: - ______, as in glacial ice - _______ (drying or mummification) - preservation in tree sap or pine resin that hardens to become _____ (insects or small frogs may be preserved this way) - preservation in oily, tar-like _____ - ______ imprints of soft-bodied animals like jellyfish in in fine-grained sediment Nicholas Steno Steno's Laws - correct answers Danish physician living in Florence, Italy in the 1600s- observed sedimentary rocks and formulated three basic principles of historical geology, commonly referred to as "_____ ______" Principle of Superposition - correct answers oldest rocks on the bottom, younger rocks on top Principle of Original Horizontality - correct answers sediments are deposited in flat, horizontal layers (steeply dipping of folded rock layers indicate tectonic disturbance after deposition)