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Earth & Life Through Time > Exam II > Flashcards

Exam II Flashcards

1
Q

What is a facies?

A

characteristics that distinguish a sedimentary rock from others nearby (grain size, lithology, structures)

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2
Q

What influences sediment color?

A

mineral composition, oxidation, reduction (lack of oxygen), incorporation of organic material

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3
Q

What does grain size indicate about the strength of the current?

A

large particles - strong current

small particles - weak current

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4
Q

What does grain shape indicate about distance transported?

A

Angular: recently weathered, close to source
Rounded: long transport distance

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5
Q

What is sorting?

A

uniformity of particle size

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6
Q

What is the difference between clastic conglomerate, sandstone, and mudstone/shale?

A

conglomerate: form close to source areas, mountains, fast moving currents, poorly sorted
sandstone: close to/far from source, desert dunes and rivers and beaches, intermediate currents, well sorted

mudstone/shale: far from source, deep marine basins and lakes and floodplains, slow currents

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7
Q

What is the difference between chemical evaporite, carbonate limestones, and organic coal? What environments do they represent?

A

evaporites: form in water by evaporation/chem reactions, lakes/oceans in arid setting

carbonate limestones: w/ or w/o fossils, chalk, low sediment + photosynthesis, deep marine and continental shelves and reefs

organic coal: compressed remains of plants, swamps and deltas and lagoons

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8
Q

How are sedimentary structures formed? Mud cracks, cross bedding, ripples, graded bedding, trace fossils

A

Mud cracks: Fractures that form in clay sediment upon drying

cross bedding: a. Layers form at an angle due to the avalanche of sand down the face of a dune (orientation shows current direction)

ripples: Wavy forms in sand that form from currents in water or winds

graded bedding: Grain size changes systematically upward within a single bed, density settling of sediment in water as current energy decreases

trace fossils: a. Structures in sediment made by an organism (not the organism itself but evidence of it)

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9
Q

How are sedimentary rocks used to interpret key environments?

A

you can apply uniformitarianism to the sedim rocks to interpret past environments and change

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10
Q

Compare alluvial fans, rivers (meandering vs braided), lakes, swamps, desert dunes, loess, glaciers, near shore and continental shelf, and deep water

A

alluvial fans: angular to rounded poorly sorted gravel and sand, close to source

meandering: finer grained, cross beds, mud cracks, trace fossils
braided: coarser grained (angular to rounded), low vegetation, cross beds
lakes: low energy, filled with mudstones (evaporites if arid), can contain beds, ripples, mud cracks, fossils
swamps: coal, mudstones, shales, low energy

desert dunes: cross bedded sandstone, well sorted, well rounded sand grains

loess: which beds of wind-blown silt (mudstone), associated with glaciers and deserts

Glaciers: poorly sorted sediment and til, glacial outwash (braided rivers)

beaches and continental shelf: well sorted with ripples and cross beds, fossils/shells, sandstone to shale to limestone

deep marine: beds of clays and organisms, low energy, shale and chert

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11
Q

What is stratigraphy?

A

the study of layers in rocks

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12
Q

What is a basin and how to they form?

A

Basins are depressions where sediment can accumulate, formed by tectonic processes– faulting and folding of crust

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13
Q

How do facies change vertical and laterally and with changes in sea level?

A

vertical: through principles of superposition, inclusions
lateral: lateral continuity (also pinch outs and grading into different rock types)

sea level: transgressions and regressions, changing laterally and vertically

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14
Q

What are transgressions and regressions?

A

transgressions: sea level rise, sandstone on bottom, shale, limestone
regressions: sea level lowers, sandstone on top, shale, limestone

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15
Q

What produces fining up or coarsening up sequences?

A

Coarsening up: regression

fining up: transgression

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16
Q

What causes global scale changes in sea level?

A

1) water volume expands when heated
2) ice sheet growth and retreat
3) sea floor spreading

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17
Q

What are the types of stratigraphic correlation?

A

Lithostratigraphy
Biostratigraphy
Chronostratigraphy

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18
Q

What is a formation?

A

basic rock unit with distinct upper and lower boundaries that can be mapped

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19
Q

What is the principle of faunal succession?

A

There is a unique non-repeating pattern of fossils through time

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20
Q

What is the range zone vs overlapping range zone of fossils? How are they used in correlation?

A

range zone: rock body that represents the total life span of a fossil

concurrent range zone: overlapping ranges of 2 or more species

allows recognition of smaller increments of time, making for more accurate time matching

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21
Q

What are some examples of chronostratigraphy?

A

numerical ages
volcanic ash
asteroid impacts
rates of deposition

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22
Q

What conditions are best for fossil preservation?

A

quick burial
hard parts (lol ur dad)
sediment
low oxygen

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23
Q

Which rock type are most fossils preserved in?

A

sedimentary

24
Q

What is an articulated vs disarticulated fossils and which is most common to find?

A

articulated: all bones still attached
disarticulated: bones separated (scavenging, erosion), more common?

25
Q

What is the difference between permineralization, replacement, carbonization, and molds and casts?

A

per-mineralization: water + minerals build up in openings, reinforcing original remains

replacement: exchange of original substance with a new mineral
carbonization: soft tissues preserved as thin films of carbon in an impression
molds: imprints left behind by fossil
cast: when molds become filled with sediment

26
Q

What are some key trends in fossils through time?

A
  1. Organisms began primitive and became more complex over time
  2. Early fossil record contains rare soft bodied organisms
  3. Fossils hard parts originated as shells, and eventually bones
  4. Early animal fossils are dominated by marine invertebrates
  5. Phanerozoic Eon contains unique groups of organisms (and fossils) due to a combination of evolution and mass extinction events
27
Q

What are pelagic vs benthic organisms?

A

Pelagic: anywhere in the water column

benthic: on the sea floor

28
Q

What are key differences between the phyla: Porifera, Mollusca, Brachiopoda, Echinodermata, Arthopoda, Cnideria, Bryozoa, Chordata?

A

Porifera: porous, anchored in reefs

mollusca: mollusks
brachiopoda: must abundant/diverse, 2 valves, symmetrical within shell

Echinodermata: starfish, sea urchins (spiny)

arthropoda: insects, spiders, lobsters, trilobites, eurypterids, segmented bodies
cnideria: corals, jelly fish, sea anemones
bryozoa: moss animals, twig like
chordata: contains notochord (nerve chord) fish, mammals

29
Q

Linnaeus taxonomic hierarchy: know kingdom and phylum vs. genus and species.

A

kingdom phylum class order family genus species

30
Q

What is Lamarckian evolution (in regards to acquired traits). How is that different from natural selection?

A

Lamarckian: new features come from “inner want” and can be passed down

natural selection: variation in offspring is what leads to passing of traits

31
Q

What are the key components of natural selection?

A

1) Always variation among offspring
2) Offspring with the most favorable traits have the competitive edge for food, shelter, sexual partners
3) Those with favorable traits are more likely to survive and pass those traits on to offspring

32
Q

What is adaptive radiation in Darwin’s tortoises and finches?

A

descendent adapts to a particular environment, adaptation in particular environments leads to diversification

33
Q

what is a genotype, phenotype?

A

genotype: genetic makeup
phenotype: genotype + effects of the environment

34
Q

What is DNA and how does cell division occur (sexual vs asexual)

A

DNA: container of genetic code

sexual division: meiosis (1/2 chromosomes from each parent)

asexual: mitosis, exact replica

35
Q

What is mutation?

A

Change of genes spawned by UV light, cosmic rays, chemical changes

36
Q

What produces genetic variability?

A

sexual reproduction

37
Q

What is microevolution versus macroevolution and what are some examples?

A

Micro: changes in gene frequency on a small scale
(observed in modern bacteria, evolution of resistance)

macro: fossil record shows how species have evolved over time, physical features and behaviors (origin and evolution of types of mammals, variability in different arthropods)

38
Q

What is a Hox gene?

A

regulatory genes that control the early development of certain body regions (turned on/off during development)

39
Q

What is a species and what causes speciation?

A

species: a group of organisms that have structural, functional, and developmental similarities that can interbreed
speciation: origin of a new species, can be caused when populations are geographically isolated for generations (allopatric speciation)

40
Q

What roles do mutation and geographic isolation play?

A

favorable mutations can be spread by interbreeding and geologic isolation can limit the spread of the mutation

41
Q

What is the difference between phyletic gradualism and punctuated equilibrium?

A

phyletic gradualism: gradual progressive change

punctuated equilibrium: evolution by sudden advances that punctuate long intervals of little change (stasis)

42
Q

What is a transitional fossil?

A

fossils that exhibit traits similar to both a fossil ancestor and its descendants

43
Q

What are homologous, analogous, and vestigal structures?

A

homologous: common ancestry but evolved for different functions (divergent evolution, ex: mammal limbs)
analogous: similar function, different ancestry (convergent evolution, ex: wings on insects vs birds)
vestigal: remains of body parts from earlier ancestral forms

44
Q

What are divergent evolution and convergent evolution?

A

divergent: common ancestry, different functions
convergent: different ancestry, similar functions

45
Q

Why are mass extinctions important in evolution and increasing biodiversity?

A

it creates evolutionary opportunities because habitats become open and new species can fill the niches of previous species

46
Q

What are some of the characteristics of the Big 5 mass extinctions?

A

Ordovician: 439 Ma, glaciation

Devonian: 364 Ma, evolution of land plants and changes in ocean chemistry

Permian: 251 Ma, largest (the Great Dying), volcanism

Triassic: 200 Ma, volcanic eruptions from rifting of Pangea

Cretaceous: 65 ma, meteorite

47
Q

What is the Big Bang?

A

the theory that the universe began as an infinitely dense primeval atom (a singularity)

48
Q

What does it mean if galaxies are red-shifted?

A

they are moving away at an increasingly faster rate (meaning the universe is expanding)

49
Q

What is the solar nebula theory? How does it explain the distribution and type of planets in the solar system?

A

The theory that our solar system started as a disk of gases and matter, rotating around a common central mass (Sun)

the solar winds separated denser particles from low density gas (blew light elements outwards)

50
Q

What is the difference between accretion and differentiation?

A

accretion: gravity attracting particles
differentiation: density drives the separation of materials

51
Q

How do we know the Earth has layers? How do we know the core is iron?

A

Layers: earthquake seismic waves indicate thickness/density of layers

core is iron/nickel: density matches up with seismic readings and it’s more common than gold

52
Q

What are the different types of meteorites?

A

Ordinary chondrites: spherical particles of molten droplets

Carbonaceous chondrites: 5% organic compounds

Iron: iron and nickel, from asteroids that have metallic cores

stony iron: least abundant, contains silicate minerals

53
Q

What is the primary hypothesis of how the moon formed?

A

Giant impact hypothesis

other theories: fission, simultaneous accretion, capture

54
Q

What roles do meteorites and volcanoes play in the origin of water?

A

Carbonaceous chondrites brought in water

volcanic eruptions emit water vapor

55
Q

Know all the eons, eras, and periods

A

Eons: HAPPH
Eras: PMC
Periods: COSDC(MP)P, TJC, P(T)N(Q)

56
Q

What are trace fossils?

A

a fossil that records an organism’s activity but not the organism itself

Earth & Life Through Time (4 decks)

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