Leture Quiz 3 Flashcards
mummification is the result of
drying out the body tissue
the lowermost and dense layer of the atmosphere where weather takes place is
troposphere
examples of exceptional preservation in fossils are valuable because
soft parts and tissues are commonly preserved, they reveal so much more than typical fossils
geological phenomena like natural disasters (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, meteorite impacts) seem to follow a similar frequency pattern
the smaller events are more frequent, and the larger ones less frequent
even though they went extinct, dinosaurs are considered to be
one of the most successful groups of organisms
the seasons in the northern and southern hemisphere are the result of
the tilt of the earth’s axis
the factors which influence the temperature on earth
latitude, proximity to water, topography
the feature that distinguishes the dinosaurs from the rest of the reptiles
stance
geologists have been able to determine how fast dinosaurs could run by studying
dinosaur tracks
an organism that dies is more likely to become a fossil if
it is buried rapidly, scavengers do not find the corpse, it has a shell of skeleton
the moon originated from
a Mars size object impacting Earth
the primary difference between the two major groups of dinosaurs
the arrangement of the bones in the hip
the earth is layered internally (crust, mantle, core) because of
gravity, density differentiation, it was molten early in its history
the energy in living communities ultimately comes from
the sun
the composition of the atmosphere has charged over time (progressively more oxygen) because of
planets
geologists can interpret past environments from rocks by looking at the
texture, fabric, composition
teeth are the most common fossils of vertebrate animals because
teeth are already mineralized
the source of the sun’s heat is
nuclear fusion, hydrogen atoms combining to form helium
dinosaurs became extinct because of the aftermath of
a meteorite impact
greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide and methane contribute to global warming by
trapping IR heat in the lower atmosphere
the planets all revolve around the sun in the same orbital plane, which is evidence for
a common origin for all the planets, the nebular disk hypothesis
wood and bone are porous are commonly preserved by
permineralization/petrification
the material that paleontologists can examine to determine the diet of a dinosaur or other ancient organism
coprolites
the most convincing evidence for the “big bang” is
the universe is expanding which is illustrated by the “red shift”
the type of fossil that is likely to record an organisms behavior (what it was doing) is
trace fossil
the dinosaur include
the terrestrial reptiles
the “red shift” tells us that the universe is expanding because of
the doppler effect
our knowledge of dinosaurs has advanced dramtically in the last 15 years because
medical technology, computer technology
water is an amazing compound and has a number of interesting properties because
of its molecular structure
the inner planets in our solar system are rocky whereas the outer ones are gaseous because
when the fusion reaction began the gasses were blown out
what is the major difference between the 4 layers of the atmosphere
troposhere- most dense, temp down, we come in contact with it. Stratosphere- ozone layer, heats up, UV. mesosphere- middle, temp down, thermosphere- upper atmosphere, heating up.
why is the stratosphere such an important layer?
it protects us from the UV rays
why does temperature go up in the stratosphere with increasing elevation?
the ozone layer there absorbs the UV rays from the sun
describe the process of fossilization depicted in the above diagram
dies, decays, buried, sediment covers, rock, erosion
what are the basic requirements for fossil prevervation?
hard parts, rapid burial
why are there seasons in the Northern Hemisphere?
there is seasons because we are not by the equator
what is the major difference between winter and summer?
winter earth is tilted away from sun. summer earth is tilted towards
what is a dinosaur?
terrestrial reptial, live on land 2-4 feet walking on
what distinguishes dinosaurs for the rest of the reptiles?
stance
how do we know what the dinosaurs ate?
by the size of their teeth, and what was in their poop
what is a fossil?
trace of past life
why is it so rare for organisms to become fossils?
not everything gets buried
what is the Big Bang, and what is the evidence for it?
began during a cataclysmic release of energy from a point source of infinite mass. Evidence: expanding universe- everything is getting bigger, the red shift
what factors control temperature on earth?
latitude, proximity to water, topography
why is water so important for weather and climate?
water is important because without water you have no weather or climate. there isn’t any evaporition happening
