Impacts Flashcards
The biosphere is the global ecosystem composed of living organisms. True or False.
False. It is the global ecosystem composed of living organisms and the abiotic factors from which they derive energy and nutrients.
How has the biosphere evolved over time?
Evolves through evolution of creatures sand interactions between them and the environment.
Which one of these is not one of the four principles by Nicolas Steno and what is it?
(a) The Law of Superposition
(b) The Principle of Original Horizontality
(c) The Principle of Lateral Continuity
(d) The Principle of Uniformity
(e) The principle of cross-cutting relationships
(d) The principle of uniformity.
Uniformitarianism came from James Hutton and it describes how current natural laws and processes have always operated everywhere in the universe.
Who is the father of modern geology and why?
James Hutton
Came up with uniformitarianism –> these processes take a long time, so realised the Earth is much older than what was thought at first (6000 years old).
What was the significance of the concept of faunal succession?
It (along with Steno’s principles) allowed th ecreeation of relative chronology of earth’s history = geological time scale.
Was the concept of faunal succession alone sufficient in producing the geological time scale? If not, what else was necesssary?
No. Steno’s principles were also used.
What is the main problem with faunal succession in practice?
Cannot find useful fossils on both sides.
Which of these qualities do the most ideal species for faunal succession have?
(a) Long Fossil Range
(b) Short Fossil Range
(c) Rare
(d) Common
(e) Lived in glacial environments
(f) lived in deep marine enviornments only
(g) lived in sedimented environments
(h) could be found in shallow and deep marine.
Short Fossil Range.
Common.
Lived in sedimented environments (i.e., where fossilizationo is likely to occur)
Could be found in shallow an deep marine (i.e., present in many different environments).
Why are glacial environments not an ideal location to study faunal succession?
Sedimentation is limited (everything is ice or rocks), so fossilization was unlikely to have occurred.
An organism that has been present for many years in earth’s history will be better for faunal succession. Why or why not?
No, because if it evolved slowly, we cannot mark the time period very well, compared to if it evolved quickly (can see distinct stages and time frames)_. Additionally, geological time scales are bassed on the emergence of new species (i.e. due to extinctions), so a long-lived species would be unhelpfu. in figuring out if there was an extinction event.
James Usher gave the first accurate age of the Earth. True or False.
False. He said the earth hwas 6000 years old, based on dates in the bible.
What did George Cuvier discover/figure out?
He figured out that african elephants, indian elephants and mammoths were distinct species, and that mammots were once living that became extinct. This proved extinction of species had occurred.
Following a mass extinction, would it be easier or harder for new life to develop and why?
Easier. Mass extinctions open up resources and new niches to allow for evolution and rapid diversification of new species.
Why is the phanerozoic eon more subdivided than the precambrian?
Because fossilization occurred more rapidly during the phanerozoic.
Is the phanerozoic longer than the precambrian?
No. Precambrian represents baout 87% of earth’s history.
