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Geology Unit
Review
The continuous processes of
forming and destroying rocks
on Earth is known as what?
Rock Cycle
What do we call an
established amount of time
it takes for decaying atoms
of a given element to lose
half its original mass?
Elemental half-life
Ice Cores give scientists the
most information about what
kind of changes over time on
Earth?
Atmosphere or climate
When an organism dies,
decays and minerals enter
the cavity creating a replica
of the fossil, what kind of
fossil is produced?
Cast fossil
What do we call the
method of determining age
of a fossil or rock layer
compared to other fossils or
rock layers?
Relative Dating
How do scientists determine
that species of related
organisms have changed over
time?
The fossil record
What kind of fossils are
made from organisms
caught in tar, amber or
ice – where their true
form remains for study?
Preserve fossil
A fossil found only in a narrow
geological time period which can
be used as a marker for relative
dating in a given layer of rock is
called what?
Index fossil
What would the relative age of
an igneous intrusion which
runs through two layers of
sedimentary rock be compared
to the sedimentary rock?
The intrusion is younger
What do we call the Scientific
Principle which states: “In
undisturbed strata of rock, the
lower strata are older than the
higher strata?”
Law of Superposition
Scientists are studying volcanic
rocks in Hawaii, what kind of
rocks are they most likely to
encounter?
igneous
A temperature difference
which causes hot fluids to rise
and cold fluids to sink (fluids ‐
liquids & gases) create what?
Convection Current
A disturbance in the
geological column,
which produces missing
layers is known as what?
Unconformity
Using radioactive
isotopes to determine the
approximate age of a
fossil in years is known
as what?
Absolute Dating
Rocks which have been formed
through extensive heat and
pressure to form new kinds of
rock from the old rock
material are classified as what
kind of rock?
Metamorphic Rock
Marine fossils found on
mountain tops are indications
that the distribution of the
Earth’s what have been
changing over time?
Oceans
Fossils from organisms that are
only found during a narrow
range of geologic time make
good what?
Index fossils
A footprint, burrow, or
other evidence of the
presence of an organism is
known as what kind of
fossil?
Trace Fossil
The Single Super-continent
that included all current land
masses which broke apart 200
million years ago is known as
what?
Pangaea
What type of rock are fossils
most likely to be found?
Sedimentary
When Tectonic Plates collide or
are pushing towards each other,
what kind of Tectonic Plate
Boundaries is it?
Convergent
Formation of new areas of
oceanic crust due to magma
rising at mid-ocean ridges and
moving outward is known as
what?
Sea Floor Spreading
A theory developed by Alfred Wegener
based on fossil plant and animal
evidence that states that continents on
Earth are in constant, slow motion
caused by Plate Tectonics and
Convection Currents in the mantle is
known as what?
Theory of Continental Drift
The natural process where
individuals with the most
successful adaptations pass
their characteristics on to the
next generation in greater
numbers is known as what?
Natural Selection
What is the most likely
explanation for bat wings and
whale fins to have similar
functioning bone structure?
They had a common ancestor
What is the primary method
that scientists have used to
determine that the Earth has
rocks that are more than 4
billion years old?
Radiometric or Absolute
dating
Material drilled from ice or
Earth crustal material to
determine historical data is
referred to as what?
Core Samples
Rock that surrounds a
cast and takes on the
shape like a clay mold, is
what kind of fossil?
Mold Fossil
How are Bird wings and
Butterfly wings related?
They are analogous structures
What kind of fossil would best
help determine the relative age
of a particular rock layer?
Index Fossil
Rocks which have been
formed by the cooling of
magma or lava into solid
are classified as what kind
of rock?
Igneous
A rock sample has only 25% of the
original radioactive parent material
and that material has an elemental
half-life of 100,000 years.
Approximately how old is the rock?
200,000 years old
Rocks which have been formed
through deposition and
cementation. Also included
rock formed from living
organisms such as limestone
and coal are classified as what
kind of rock?
Sedimentary Rock
What kind of structures of
organisms support the idea
that organisms have common
ancestors?
Homologous Structures
The system of chronological
measurement by which we retrace
the geologic and life history of the
Earth from its formation 4.6
billion years ago to the present
day using Eons, Eras and Periods
is collectively known as what?
Geologic Time Scale
What direction did Pangaea
first split?
North to South
When genetic variability is low,
how does that relate to that
species’ ability to adapt to
changes in the environment?
Ability to adapt is also low
Butterflies of a certain species
change color over time to look
like their poisonous relatives.
What kind of adaptation is
that?
protective
Lava that hardens on the
surface of the Earth. The rock
layers below this rock layer are
always older than this rock
layer. What do we call this?
Extrusion
Where Tectonic Plates move
away from each other are
classified as what kind of
Tectonic Plate Boundaries?
divergent
What might explain why the
fossils of an organism that are
found at lower layers of rock
but not in upper layers of
rock?
The organism became extinct
When Tectonic Plates are
sliding past one another it is
what kind of Tectonic Plate
Boundary?
Transform
What kind of dating is the
most accurate method of
determining the age of a fossil?
Radioactive dating
Where magma pushes into
other rock layers and cools
beneath the surface. These are
always younger than the rock
layers around and beneath it
are called what
Intrusions
Theory explaining the structure
of the Earth's crust & resulting
interactions between the rigid
plates that move slowly over the
underlying mantle is known as
what?
Plate Tectonics
Where would you expect to
find the most earthquake
activity in the crust of the
Earth?
Near tectonic plate
boundaries
Cracks in rock which allow
movement are known as what?
Faults
Structures of different
organisms which function in
the same way but may
accomplish different tasks
indicating a common path of
development are what kind of
structures?
Homologous