Download Earth History Test Study Guide Parts 1 and 2

Earth History Study Guide Part 1 – Relative and Absolute Age, Fossils, and Geologic Time
Name __________________________________________
1. What does the theory of uniformitarianism say about the rate and processes of change in Earth’s land/surface
features?
2. What does the theory of catastrophism say about the rate and processes of change in Earth’s land/surface features?
3. Define the “Law of Superposition”.
4. If sedimentary rock layers are undisturbed, how will they be arranged?
5. How can you determine the relative age of undisturbed rock layers?
6. What will always be the relative age of igneous intrusions, faults, and folds in layers of rock?
7. What will always be the relative age of sedimentary rock layers that contain igneous intrusions, faults, and folds?
8. What is a fault?
9. What is an unconformity?
10. Why do unconformities pose a problem for geologists when they are studying rock layers?
11. a. What are fossils? b. What are at least 3 things scientists can learn from studying fossils?
12. What are index fossils?
13. Why are index fossils useful in dating sedimentary rock layers?
14. How is a cast fossil related to a mold fossil?
15. What is a trace fossil?
16. In a petrified/permineralized fossil, what replaces the organism’s tissues?
17. What is “half-life”?
18. What is the term for atoms of the same element that have different numbers of neutrons?
19. How are these atoms (#18) related to radioactive decay?
20. The rate of radioactive decay for any isotope is __________. It does not speed up or slow down. Think about the
chart we filled in.
21. What can the rate of decay of a radioactive element tell us about a fossil or rock sample?
22. In using radioactive/radiometric dating to determine the absolute age of rocks and fossils, what is the parent
element? What is the daughter element?
23. If geologists find more parent element in a rock they are studying, they know the rock most be ____________. If
they find more daughter element in a rock, they know the rock must be _______________.
24. After 1 half-life, _______ of the parent element remains in the rock. After 2 half-lives, _________ of the parent
element remains in the rock. After 3 half-lives, ___________ of the parent element remains in the rock.
25. ____________________ is used to find the absolute age of things that were once living.
Earth History Study Guide Part 2 – Plate Tectonics and Geologic Time
Name __________________________________________
26. What is the theory of continental drift?
27. Who proposed the theory of continental drift?
28. What were the 4 evidences used to support the theory of continental drift?
29. What is the theory of plate tectonics?
30. What causes tectonic plates to move? EXPLAIN the process.
31. What are 3 results of tectonic plate movement?
32. What is the lithosphere?
33. What is a tectonic plate boundary?
34. Use arrows to make a simple drawing showing the movement of plates at divergent boundaries.
35. What are two features that can form at divergent boundaries?
36. Use arrows to make a simple drawing showing the movement of plates at convergent boundaries.
37. What geologic feature may form at convergent (collisional) boundaries between two continental plates?
38. What 3 features may form at convergent boundaries between an oceanic plate and another oceanic or a continental
plate?
39. Use arrows to make a simple drawing showing the movement of plates at transform boundaries.
40. What event is most often associated with transform boundaries?
41. How has the movement of Earth’s tectonic plates affected climate throughout Earth’s history? Give a specific
example. Use your brain for this one.
42. How has the movement of Earth’s tectonic plates affected Earth’s living organisms throughout Earth’s history? Give
a specific example. Use your brain for this one.
43.If scientists found fossils of marine organisms at the top of a mountain, what would be the likely explanation they
would give? Use your brain for this one.
44. Why are ice cores analyzed?
45. What substances can be found in ice cores?
46. What is the purpose of the geologic time scale?
47. What is the order of the geologic eras from least to most recent?
48. Which of the 4 eras covered the largest span of time and means “before life”?
49. In which geologic era did the first life forms appear, and where did they live?
50. What are 4 key events of Precambrian time?
51. In what era did land (terrestrial) plants and animals first appear?
52. Which geologic era had the largest mass extinction in Earth’s history?
53. In what era did the earliest birds and mammals appear?
54. What organisms were dominant during the Mesozoic Era?
55. What do scientists believe was the cause of mass extinctions, including the extinction of the dinosaurs?
56. What organisms were dominant in the Cenozoic Era?
57. What is the most significant event of the Cenozoic era?
58. Which geologic era are we currently in?
59. What event may mark the end of the Cenozoic Era?