Chapter 8 Part 1

Question 1

John Wesley Powell

Answer 1

led expedition on Colorado River through Grand Canyon in 1869

Question 2

James Ussher

Answer 2

-wrote comprehensive history from creation to 70 AD (fall of Jerusalem)

Question 3

James Ussher wrote

Answer 3

“Annals of the World” 1654

Question 4

Dates in James Ussher’s history

Answer 4

• 4004 BC–>creation week
• 2348-7 BC–>Noah’s Flood
• 1921 BC–>call of Abram
• 4 BC–>Birth of Jesus Christ

Question 5

1611

Answer 5

King James Bible published

Question 6

“Young-earth” creationism (YEC)

Answer 6

• earth is thousands of years old

- Noah’s flood explains rocks and fossils

Question 7

Nico Steno

Answer 7

young-earth creationist that

• established early rules for interpreting sedimentary rocks
• fossils are former living organisms
• rocks of the Alps were formed during different stages of the flood (accepted for hundreds of years but challenged in late 1700s)

Question 8

challenges to rocks of the Alps being formed during different stages of the flood

Answer 8

1) Were all rocks and fossils formed by Noah’s flood?

2) Was Ussher’s date of creation correct?

Question 9

tenets of catastrophism

Answer 9

1) Earth is ancient
2) Earth’s geology was formed by many catastrophes over time (Noah’s flood is only the most recent catastrophe)
- God created whole new species and ecosystems after each catastrophe

Question 10

Novel interpretations of Genesis

Answer 10

Day-age theory and gap theory

Question 11

day-age theory

Answer 11

the word ‘day’ should be reinterpreted to mean vast periods of time

Question 12

gap theory

Answer 12

there is a gap between Genesis 1 and 2 that God didn’t document where dinosaurs existed

Question 13

Georges Cuvier

Answer 13

“spokesperson”/”architect” for catastrophism

Question 14

James Hutton

Answer 14

• uniformitarianism

- wrote “Theory of the Earth”

Question 15

Charles Lyell

Answer 15

• uniformitarianism

- wrote “Principles of Geology” 1830-33

Question 16

uniformitarianism “motto”

Answer 16

“The present is the key to the past”

Question 17

actualism

Answer 17

• descension from uniformitarianism

- the events and structures of the geologic record were caused by processes much the same as those seen today

Question 18

2 Peter 3

Answer 18

there are events that are unlike anything we have/are/will experience

Question 19

2 types of geologic dating

Answer 19

• relative dating

- “absolute” dating

Question 20

relative dating

Answer 20

placing rocks and geologic events in sequence and order

Question 21

law of original horizontality

Answer 21

sediment (or ash falls and lava flows) tend to be deposited in flat sheets in a horizontal position

Question 22

law of superposition

Answer 22

for sediments, older sediments are at the bottom and younger sediments are at the top

Question 23

principal of cross-cutting relations

Answer 23

younger features will cut across older features (ex. fault, dikes (volcanic pipes)

Question 24

rule of inclusions

Answer 24

if a rock (A) contains pieces of another rock (B), then rock (B) must be older than rock (A)

Question 25

unconformities

Answer 25

surface that represents a break in time (due to non-deposition or erosion) during sedimentation

Question 26

uniformitarianism

Answer 26

the physical, chemical, and biological laws that operate today have also operated in the geologic past

Question 27

Can relative dating tell us how long ago something took place?

Answer 27

No, it only tells us that it followed one event and preceded another

Question 28

conformable

Answer 28

when we observe layers of rock that have been deposited essentially without interruption

Question 29

Does any place on earth have completely conformable strata?

Answer 29

no

Question 30

unconformities represent

Answer 30

significant geologic events in Earth history

Question 31

angular conformity

Answer 31

• most easily recognized

- consists of tilted or folded sedimentary rocks that are overlain by younger, more flat-laying strata

Question 32

disconformities

Answer 32

• more common but usually less conspicuous

- strata on either side are essentially parallel

Question 33

nonconformity

Answer 33

-separates older metamorphic or intrusive igneous rocks from younger sedimentary strata

Question 34

correlation

Answer 34

the process of linking rock units over distances in which they are unseen

Question 35

2 types of correlation

Answer 35

physical and temporal

Question 36

physical correlation

Answer 36

same type of rocks/minerals

Question 37

temporal correlation

Answer 37

same age in time

Question 38

Correlation over short distances is often achieved by noting

Answer 38

the position of a rock layer in a sequence of strata

Question 39

fossil

Answer 39

any evidence of past life in the geologic record

Question 40

paleontology

Answer 40

the scientific study of fossils that blends geology and biology

Question 41

body fossils

Answer 41

hard parts of an organism

Question 42

petrified

Answer 42

when silica invades cavities and pores of the original structure

Question 43

mold

Answer 43

when a structure is buried in sediment and then dissolved by underground water

Question 44

replacement

Answer 44

cell walls are removed and replaced with mineral matter

Question 45

casts

Answer 45

when hollow spaces are filled with mineral matter

Question 46

carbonization

Answer 46

when fine sediment encases the remains of an organism and leaves a residue of carbon

Question 47

impression

Answer 47

a replica of the surface

Question 48

principle of fossil succession

Answer 48

fossil organism succeed one another in a definite and determinable order, and any time period can be recognized by its fossil content

Question 49

index fossils

Answer 49

widespread geographically and are limited to a short span of geologic time

Question 50

fossil assemblages

Answer 50

groups of fossils that determine the age of a bed

Question 51

fossil types

Answer 51

• petrification
• tracks/trails
• imprints/casts/molds
• amber