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EOSC 114 > Impacts 1 > Flashcards

Impacts 1 Flashcards

1
Q

List the major subdivisions of the geological time scale

A

Paleogene - 65 Ma
Cretaceous
Triassic - 251 Ma
Permian
Devonian
Ordovician
Cambrian - 543 Ma

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2
Q

Relative time scale between the two eons

A

Precambrian - 4.5 Ga
Phanerozoic - 543 Ma

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3
Q

Describe the concept of a biosphere within the Earth System

A
  • Biosphere is parts of earth where life exists
  • allowed us to reconstruct components of the past thanks to fossils
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4
Q

Explain how the Biosphere has evolved over time

A
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5
Q

What are the four principles of stratigraphy?

A
  1. Law of Superposition
    - rocks on top are younger
  2. Principle of Original Horizontality
    - even if strata are tilted today, they were originally flat
  3. Principle of Lateral Continuity
    - layers of rock can often be traced out laterally ex/ Grand Canyon
  4. Principle of Cross-Cutting Relationships
    - a rock cutting through another must be younger
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6
Q

What is faunal succession?

A

The change of fossils over time, because of evolution.

-> this makes biostratigraphy possible

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7
Q

What are ideal fossils in biostratigraphy? Name the four criteria.

A

Index fossils

  1. common
  2. wide geographical distribution
  3. short fossil range (amount of time a species existed for)
  4. died in good preservation envo (i.e. not in the deep waters)
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8
Q

Name the historical figures in the development of stratigraphy and biostratigraphy

A
  1. Nicholas Steno
  2. Giovanni Arduino
  3. James Hutton
  4. George Cuvier
  5. William Smith
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9
Q

What are the five mass extinctions?

A

End Cretaceous - 66 Ma
End Triassic - 200 Ma
End Permian - 250 Ma
Late Devonian - 360 Ma
Late Ordovician - 450 Ma

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9
Q

How old is the Earth?

A

4.5 billion years

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10
Q

What makes up 87% of Earth’s history?

A

Precambrian

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11
Q

What was the Cambrian Explosion?

A
  • huge flourish of animals and plants that left fossils
  • no evidence of life prior to this
  • first life was the prokaryotes
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12
Q

What is stratigraphy and the different types?

A

The study of layers of rock by …

  • chrono = time
  • litho = rock type
  • bio = fossils
  • chemo = chemistry
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13
Q
  1. Nicholas Steno
A

deeper layers of rock are older

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14
Q
  1. Giovanni Arduino
A

started naming layers of rock in the Alps based on depth and composition

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15
Q
  1. James Hutton
A

proposed uniformitarianism

  • “the present is the key to the past”
  • The natural processes that operate today have always operated in the past
16
Q

Fossils can be used to define _______

A

Stratigraphic biozones

  • two rocks with similar fossil species are likely deposited at similar time
  • Biozones can be used to correlate rocks of similar age
  • idea was proposed before Darwin’s evolution theory
17
Q
  1. George Cuvier
A

Fossils were once living organisms that can become extinct

18
Q
  1. William Smith
A

fossils can be used to organize the age of rocks everywhere

-> same fossils = same time deposited, even if at a different place

19
Q

A huge amount of time was organized using ____. This was only possible because _____

A

fossils
species have evolved

20
Q

What are unconformities?

A

period of active erosion or movement that disrupts stratigraphy

21
Q

The first unconformity

A

Siccar Point, Scotland
discovered by James Hutton in 1788

22
Q

Faulting

A

layers of rocks disrupted/offset by earthquakes

23
Q

Example of Index Fossils

A

Ammonites
(251-66 Ma = during the age of the dinosaurs)

24
Q

What happens after a mass extinction?

A

Adaptive radiation
- rapid diversification of life into new forms and species

  • new ecological niches. envos, resources, etc
25
Q

What marks some of the key boundaries between geological time periods?

A

Mass extinctions

26
Q

Rate of background and mass extinctions

A

5-10% of species per million years
ex/ the last ice age

greater than 30% of species per million years

27
Q

Sixth Major Extinction

A

due to appearance of humans

  • 1% of mammals extinct in just 300 years
  • current extinction rate is 30k times faster than background rate
28
Q

What scale do we use to organize Earth’s history?

A

Geological Timescale

29
Q

Difference btwn stratigraphy and biostratigraphy

A
  • stratigraphy is the study and organization of layers of rocks
  • biostratigraphy is an important part of stratigraphy
    -> fossils are useful for correlating strata and placing them in age order
30
Q

what are strata

A

layers of rocks

EOSC 114 (30 decks)

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