bhivh

Question 1

uniformitarianism

Answer 1

the theory that changes in the earth’s crust during geological history have resulted from the action of continuous and uniform processes.

Question 2

catastrophism

Answer 2

the theory that changes in the earth’s crust during geological history have resulted chiefly from sudden violent and unusual events.

Question 3

paleontology

Answer 3

the branch of science concerned with fossil animals and plants.

Question 4

relative dating

Answer 4

used to arrange geological events, and the rocks they leave behind, in a sequence.

Question 5

absolute dating

Answer 5

the process of determining an age on a specified chronology in archaeology and geology.

Question 6

superposition

Answer 6

the ability of a quantum system to be in multiple states at the same time until it is measured.

Question 7

isotope

Answer 7

each of two or more forms of the same element that contain equal numbers of protons but different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei, and hence differ in relative atomic mass but not in chemical properties; in particular, a radioactive form of an element.

Question 8

radioactive decay

Answer 8

the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation.

Question 9

half-life

Answer 9

the time required for any specified property (e.g. the concentration of a substance in the body) to decrease by half.

Question 10

fossil

Answer 10

the remains or impression of a prehistoric organism preserved in petrified form or as a mold or cast in rock.

Question 11

trace fossil

Answer 11

a fossil of a footprint, trail, burrow, or other trace of an animal rather than of the animal itself.

Question 12

mold

Answer 12

a type of fungus

Question 13

cast

Answer 13

cause (light or shadow) to appear on a surface.

Question 14

unconformity

Answer 14

a surface of contact between two groups of unconformable strata.

Question 15

mass extinction

Answer 15

when species vanish much faster than they are replaced.

Question 16

Jurassic period (for 16-20 list when the time period was and what was the dominant animal group on Earth)

Answer 16

major Triassic–Jurassic extinction event

Question 17

Cretaceous period

Answer 17

began 145.0 million years ago and ended 66 million years ago

Question 18

Devonian period

Answer 18

between about 419.2 million and 358.9 million years ago.

Question 19

Quaternary period

Answer 19

the third and last of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era.

Question 20

Permian period

Answer 20

Earth’s crustal plates formed a single, massive continent called Pangaea.