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Download Earth History Study Guide Answers are in RED 1) How has scientific
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Earth History Study Guide Answers are in RED 1) How has scientific understanding of Earth’s past changed with time? We used to think that the world was dominated by larger catastrophic events (catastrophism), but now we think that Earth’s history has been dominated by the same small changes and cause and effect we see today. Scientists also used to think that the continents had not moved. Today we know from the evidence that supports plate tectonics that the continents have moved in the past and continue to move today. 2) What are the methods we use to figure out dates in Earth history? Be specific. We use relative and absolute dating. One method of relative dating we use is the Law of Superposition which tells us that in undisturbed sedimentary rock, the oldest are at the bottom and the youngest are at the top. One method of absolute dating that we use is radiometric dating. 3) Put the following events in order based on the geologic timeline from what came first to last: Humans, Mammals, Dinosaurs, Fish, Reptiles, Flowers Fish, Reptiles, Dinosaurs and Mammals, Flowers, Humans 4) What major event in Earth history allowed dinosaurs to become successful? The super ridiculous extinction that wiped out 95% of life at the Permian-Triassic boundary on the geologic timescale. 5) What major event in Earth history allowed mammals to become successful? The ridiculous extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago at the K-T boundary. 6) What evidence did Wegener have to support his theory of Continental Drift? Continents lined up like puzzle pieces, fossils from different continents matched up where those pieces fit together, and landforms matched up on the different continents. 7) What evidence came about in the 1950s (after Continental Drift) that supported Plate Tectonics? The ocean floor was rugged and young, evidence of repeated reversals of the Earth’s magnetic field in the past, seafloor spreading, and a concentration of earthquakes along plate boundaries, 8) Draw an example of fossils that would be evidence for each of the following environments: a. Forest—plant fossil b. Ocean—fish or seashell fossil c. Desert—scorpion fossil 9) How do each of the following plate boundaries move: a. Convergent—colliding b. Divergent—dividing c. Transform--sliding d. Subduction—more dense crust dives under the less dense crust 10) What features do each of the following plates produce and what is a real world example: a. Convergent—mountain building, ex: Himalayas b. Divergent—seafloor spreading or rift valleys, ex: Mid-Atlantic Ridge c. Transform—earthquakes and faults; ex: San Andreas Fault d. Subduction—volcanoes; ex: Cerro Negro in Nicaragua 11) How do canyons and valleys between mountains form? Weathering and erosion by water (rivers) cause canyons. Weathering and erosion by water or ice (glaciers) cause valleys 12) How do mountains form? Two continental convergent plates colliding 13) What’s the difference between a constructive and destructive force? Constructive forces create landforms by building things up on the surface of the Earth. Destructive forces create landforms by breaking things down on the surface of the Earth. 14) Which of these are constructive and which are destructive: deposition, weathering, erosion, mountain building, landslides, volcanoes Constructive: deposition, mountain building, landslides, volcanoes Destructive: weathering, erosion, volcanoes and landslides 15) What drives plate tectonics? Convection currents in the mantle and ridge push/slab pull at the crust 16) What’s the difference between oceanic and continental crust? Oceanic crust is denser, usually younger, primarily made up of basalt, and thinner. Continental crust is less dense, usually older, primarily made up of granite, and thicker. 17) How does climate change act as a reinforcing feedback loop? As more ice forms it causes increased reflectivity of the Earth’s surface which causes sunlight to bounce away, which causes the Earth to get cooler, which causes more snow and ice to form, which furthers the feedback loop. As more ice melts, you have more vegetation which absorbs more heat and sunlight, which causes the Earth to warm more, which causes more ice to melt and more vegetation to grow, which further drives the reinforcing loop. 18) What causes climate to change? Changes in the strength of the Sun, composition of the atmosphere, changes in ocean currents and plate tectonics, reflectivity of Earth’s surface 19) How do we know how climate has changed in the past? Ice cores, geologic record, sediment cores, and the changing location of species 20) What is the primary theory for what caused the dinosaur extinction? An asteroid colliding with Earth, the resulting tsunami, and ash and gas in the atmosphere halting photosynthesis 21) What evidence supports the primary theory for what caused the dinosaur extinction? Finding tsunami deposits in the Brazos River Basin, Texas, determining that rocks taken from the Chicxulub crater are the same age as the K-T boundary, discovering gravitational field anomalies on the Yucatan peninsula, from surveys done for oil exploration, finding high levels of iridium in the K-T boundary layer, identifying spherules and shocked quartz in Haiti, finding that an isotope of plutonium is not in the K-T boundary layer, and observing differences in foraminifera fossils above and below the K-T boundary layer 22) How do earthquakes relate to plate tectonics? By looking at the major places that earthquakes occur on Earth, we can identify where the major plate boundaries are 23) How does radiometric dating work (what is being measured and what does it tell you)? You are measuring how much of a particular element (like carbon) has decayed or decreased. The less of the element you have, the more time has passed. 24) What is “global warming” and what’s causing it? Global warming is the increase of the Earth’s average surface temperature due to a build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. 25) Explain three effects of global warming in your own words. Rising sea levels because of ice and glaciers melting, increased extreme weather like tropical storms and hurricanes, and rising temperatures because there is less ice to reflect the sunlight and more grass to absorb the heat.