Earth History

Question 1

What is angular nonconformity?

Answer 1

Indicates deposition of sediments, tectonic uplift, and deformation, erosion and deposition of new sediments

Question 2

What are Carbonaecous films?

Answer 2

Thin silhouettes of carbon. Result from high temp and press. as sediments deposit on top. Carbon of organism undergoes chemical change to produce thin carbon film

Question 3

What are climate proxy records?

Answer 3

Historical records of crop productivity and other phenomena that imply the nature of past climate. Ex: Tree rings

Question 4

Principle of Superposition

Answer 4

In any sequence of sedimentary strata the order in which the strata were deposited is from bottom to top
A.k.a Older rocks on bottom, younger rocks on top

Question 5

What are embedded fragments?

Answer 5

The law of included fragments is a method of relative dating in geology. Essentially, this law states that clasts in a rock are older than the rock itself. One example of this is a xenolith, which is a fragment of country rock that fell into passing magma as a result of stoping.

Question 6

How may volcanoes have helped to cause the relative warmth in the Cretaceous Period?

Answer 6

Increased volcanic activity, may have contributed to more climate warming and sea level rising

Question 7

How recent did Humans exist?

Answer 7

One hundred thousand years ago

Question 8

What are index fossils and what are their characteristics?

Answer 8

Fossilized organism remains and can can be used to correlate rock layer.
Must be abundant, widespread, unique and brief period existence

Question 9

In what period did dinosaurs become completely extinct?

Answer 9

Cretaceous period

Question 10

In what period did mammals first appear?

Answer 10

Jurassic Period

Question 11

In what period did reptiles first appear?

Answer 11

Carboniferous period

Question 12

In what period did the first amphibians appear?

Answer 12

Devonian Period

Question 13

In what period did the first flowering plants appear?

Answer 13

Cretaceous Period

Question 14

Principle of Cross-cutting relationships?

Answer 14

That the geologic feature which cuts another is the younger of the two features. It is a relative dating technique in geology.

Question 15

How does Radioactive dating work?

Answer 15

By measuring the amount of parent and daughter isotope within a rock or mineral and use the ratio of the two to find age of rock

Question 16

Where are the oldest known rocks on Earth?

Answer 16

Found in the Canadian Shield

Question 17

What is walking the outcrop?

Answer 17

Outcrop - A section of a rock layer that can be seen at Earth’s surface
Walking along the outcrop is used to find out if 2 rock layers are the same. Can be diff. in areas of thick soil or vegetation

Question 18

What are trace fossils?

Answer 18

Impressions such as bite marks, burrows, tracks and trails in stone. Indirect evidence

Question 19

What are four factors that could contribute to global warming?

Answer 19

Earth’s Motion, Plate Tectonics, Volcano eruptions and sunspots

Question 20

What are the divisions of the geologic timetable based upon?

Answer 20

A summary of major events from analyzing the rock record. Based on evidence particularly fossil evidence

Question 21

What are the ways that remains can be persevered as fossils?

Answer 21

Original Remains: Unchanged parts or complete parts of animals and plants. Woolly mammoths found in Alaska and Siberian in permafrost, woolly rhinos in Poland in asphalt. Occur in mud to shale or resin to amber
Replaced Remains: Water can remove soft parts and replace them with minerals
Molds and Casts: Molds are depression of organism in rock and cast are minerals filling mold and solidifying
Trace Fossils: Impressions such as bite marks, burrows, tracks. Indirect evidence
Carbonaceous Films: Thin silhouettes of carbon. Result from high temp and press. as sediments deposit on top. Carbon of organism undergoes chemical change to produce thin carbon film

Question 22

What are the orders of geological time?

Answer 22

Eons, Eras, Periods, Epochs

Question 23

What is Petrified wood?

Answer 23

Replaced Fossil. Silica replaces woody structure and preserves wood with rings in tact

Question 24

What are the two ways that volcano can affect climate?

Answer 24

1) Release sulphur dixoide into atmosphere which creates sulphurous acid
2) Mass releases of CO2

Question 25

What do fossils of tropical plants in Greenland provide evidence for?

Answer 25

Greenland was once closer to the equator. Proves plate tectonics as something causes climate change

Question 26

What is Relative dating?

Answer 26

An order of sequence of events as they occured. Can not identify actual dates

Question 27

What is the earliest known glacier?

Answer 27

Tillite is a rock created from deposits of till cementing together. Some are 2.3 billion years

Question 28

What gas is abundant now in the atmosphere but not very abundant in Earth’s primitive atmosphere?

Answer 28

Hydrogen and Helium, Water Vapour, Carbon Dioxide, Oxygen and Nitrogen

Question 29

What things would the change in the location of a continent affect?

Answer 29

Wind patterns
Ocean currents
Amount of solar radiation reflected back to space from land and water

Question 30

What can bipedal movement and brain size be used to distinguish?

Answer 30

Homo Sapiens Sapiens evolutionary process