NEO Preparation VI

Geologic Time

221. Fossils are most common in which rock types?

a. Sedimentary

b. Igneous

c. Metamorphic

d. All of these commonly contain fossils

222. A disconformity is ___________ .

a. Rock unit that does not contain fossils

b. An erosional surface between igneous and metamorphic rocks

c. An erosional surface between horizontal sedimentary rocks

d. An erosional surface between different rock types

223. Which of the following is used by geologists to determine the relative ages in a rock sequence?

a. Stratigraphy

b. Fossils

c. Cross-cutting relationships

d. All of these

224. Which of the following will not make a fossil?

a. Decomposed organic material

b. Plant impressions (casts)

c. Animal footprints

d. Loose animal bones

225. Most periods in the geologic time scale are named for _______.

a. Geographic localities

b. Fossils

c. Catastrophic events

d. Paleontologists

226. What scientific avenue of investigation gave scientists the best estimate of the age of the Earth?

a. Dating fossils

b. Archaeological dating

c. Radiometric dating

d. Carbon dating

227. Human beings evolved during which geologic era?

a. Cenozoic

b. Mesozoic

c. Paleozoic

d. Precambrian

228. Approximately how long ago did the Big Bang take place?

a. 10-15 thousand years ago

b. 10-15 million years ago

c. 100-150 million years ago

d. 10-15 billion years ago

229. the branch of geology that focuses on the study of fossils is_______

a. Paleotology

b. Fossilography

c. Taxonomy

d. Taphonomy

230. This era accommodated the development and growth of invertebrates

a. Paleozoic era

b. Cenozoic era

c. Mesozoic era

d. Jurassic period

231. With the threat of the big dinosaurs gone,

a. Plants grew taller  

b. Mammals thrived

c. It rained more

d. Large potholes became less of a problem

232. Scientists suggest the Himalayas were pushed up during which time?

 a. Paleozoic era

 b. Cenozoic era

 c. Mesozoic era

 d. Jurassic period

 233. Clair Patterson and Friedrich Houtermans separately found the age of the Earth by___________

 a. circumnavigating the globe in outrigger canoes

 b. finding and comparing the radioactive decay rates of isotopes of copper

 c. asking bright graduate students to help them

 d. finding and comparing the radioactive decay rates of isotopes of Lead

234. The supercontinent, Pangea, broke up into

 a. Pangea prime and sub-Pangea

 b. Laurasia and Gondwana

 c. India and Canada

 d. Antarctica and Holland

235. Geological time is measured in

  a. meters/second

  b. days/year

  c. geometric units

  d. geochronological units

236. Time that spans billions of years is known as

 (a) the beginning of the semester until the end

 (b) biological time

 (c) geological time

 (d) epidemiological time

 237. Between Archaen and Proterozoic, which is earlier?

 (a) Proterozoic

 (b) Archaen

 (c) scientists are still observing the protists

 (d) they are the same age

 

 238. Global ‘‘hot spots’’ of magma are thought to have caused

 (a) cracks in the super continent, Pangea

 (b) a thicker mantle

 (c) a change in vacation plans for early humans

 (d) a limited biosphere

 239. Rocks and fossils from the Precambrian eon are thought to be as much as

(a) 2 billion years old

(b) 3 billion years old

(c) 4 billion years old

(d) 5 billion years old

 240. What conditions promote fossilization?

 a. Rapid burial

 b. Lack of CO2

 c. Delayed Burial

 d. Abundance of Oxygen

 241. Compression is most common for _________

 a. fossils of leaves and ferns

 b. fossils of Marine Creatures

 c. fossils of Aeolian

 d. fossils of Fluvials.

 242. The possible depositional environment of the rock containing ammonite fossils was

 a. Fluvial

 b. Aeolian

 c. Glacial

 d. Marine

 243. The oldest fossil recorded on the earth is about ________ billion years old.

 a. 3

 b. 2

 c. 1

 d. 0.5

 244. A large number of animals got extinct at the end of the Cretaceous time. This extinction was caused by ________.

 a.  Meteorite impact;

 b. Tsunami;

 c. Volcanism;

 d. A and C

 245. Rocks containing fossils of __________ would be the oldest.

 a. Dinosaur bones;

 b. Trilobites;

 c. Bird bones;

 d. Woolly mammoth bones

 246. Paleoecology is________________

 247. Radiometric age is often referred to as __________ age.

 a. Total

 b. Absolute

 c. Historic

 d. Geologic

 248. An undeformed sedimentary layer is __________ than the layer above and _______ than the layer below.

 a. younger ---younger

 b. younger --- older

 c. older --- younger

 d. older --- older

 249. What is the name for an erosion surface that separates two sets of sedimentary layers with non-parallel bedding planes?

 a. cross-bedding

 b. formation

 c. angular unconformity

 d. fault

 250. A nonconformity is _________ .

 a. a rock unit that is different than units above or below it

 b. a gap in the geologic record bounded below by metamorphic or igneous rocks and bounded above by sedimentary rocks

 c. a rock unit that does not contain fossils

 d. a sequence of rocks that does not contain any gaps in the geologic record

Prepared By

Syed Rafi Tanzim