exam 1

Question 1

young earth theory

Answer 1

Young Earth theory—the idea that the Earth is about 6,000 years old.

Question 2

fossils

Answer 2

or physical remains of once-living organisms, whether bones, teeth, or impressions that have become mineralized by the replacement of organic with inorganic materials.

Question 3

catastrophism

Answer 3

idea that Earth has gone through these major, cataclysmic shifts over and over again throughout its history. Has led to the extinction of species a number of times. And then new species spring up (inexplicably) in their place

Question 4

uniforimty of law

Answer 4

(natural laws remain constant across space and through time)

Question 5

uniformity of process

Answer 5

(when possible, past phenomena should be explained as the result of the same processes now in operation)

Question 6

Uniformity of rate

Answer 6

(change occurs slowly and steadily, at the same pace through time)

Question 7

Uniformity of state

Answer 7

(change has no direction or intention)

Question 8

archaeology

Answer 8

the study of past human societies based on their material culture

Question 9

Scientific method

Answer 9

observations, hypothesis, predictions, test

Question 10

Steno’s law of superposition

Answer 10

The lower the stratum or layer the older its age.

Question 11

Digging Stratigraphically

Answer 11

Work to remove layers in the reverse order of when they were deposited.

Question 12

harris matrix

Answer 12

matrix showing the relationship between the stratified deposits

Question 13

Written Record

Answer 13

Highly Accurate,Often Precise

CONS
Limited Application (onlyfor certain materials,created after the invention ofwriting)

Question 14

Dendrochronology

Answer 14

dating wood based on the amount of rings the wood has

PROS
Highly Accurate and Precise (within 1 year)
Can date back to ~8500BCE in some areas.

CONS
Not worldwide (only works for some species, and only in regions where a master sequence has been developed.)
Only tells when the tree was felled (if outermost bark is present), not when the wood was used.

Question 15

Radiocarbon Dating

Answer 15

dating fossils/things based on the concentration of carbon 14 remaining

PROS;
Can be used in any setting worldwide, on a range of materials
Pretty Accurate (within50-100 years)
Can date materials that are 200-50,000 years old.

CONS;
Carbon samples can be easily contaminated.
Materials like wood or bone could have been reused for a long time after an organism’s death.

Question 16

Radiopotassium Dating

Answer 16

a radiometric dating method used to determine the age of rocks and minerals.
PROS;
Can be used on extremely old deposits (older than 80,000 years before present)

CONS;
Not very precise (+/- 10%)
Can only be used on sites sandwiched by volcanic rock.
Cannot be used on more recent materials (not enough Argon has built up)

Question 17

Thermoluminescence

Answer 17

the initial heating of a mineral can be used to measure the subsequent trapping of energy it produces
PROS;
Can be used on many different materials.
Can date back to ~500,000 years before present.

CONS
Not very precise (+/- 25%), partly because background radiation varies from site to site.

Question 18

relative dating

Answer 18

A technique for dating an archaeological site that only places deposits, artifacts, or sites in order—but does not assign a calendrical date—is known as:

Question 19

absolute dating

Answer 19

determine the specific calendar year or age of an object, site, or material. It provides a numerical age or date range