Paleogeogprahy and Plate Tectonics Flashcards
what is the name of the super continent
Pangea
what did Wegener theorized
he noticed that the eastern coastline of South america and western coastline Africa looked like they were connected
-> he suggested these two continents, and others, were connected and then drifted apart
what was a flaw of Wegener’s theorization in the beginning
there was no convincing evidence for how land masses as big as they are were could move
true or false - below the earth’s surface, it is a uniform mass of rock
false - it is not uniform
what is the outermost layer of the earth
a) mantle
b) crust
c) surface
b
true or false - the mantle is the thinnest
false - the crust is
name the layer beneath the crust
mantle
true or false - the uppermost portion of the mantle is solid
true
what are the two layers of the mantle and describe each one
- lithosphere -> solid, composed of many discrete pieces
- asthenosphere -> viscous and slowly flowing , may be deformed due to the weight about
where is the core and what is it composed of
it is found below the mantle -> iron and nickel
define the main difference between the inner and outer core
outer core is molten liquid
inner core is a solid ball - temperature is about the same as the surface of the sun
explain the convection currents
these currents are created by the extreme heat in the inner layers
-> they affect the plates and cause them to move slowly
what happens if the cool crust is more dense than the below layers
causes the lithosphere plates to slowly sink and melt into the lower layers
the term used to describe the movement of the lithosphere is
plate tectonics
what has provided an explanation for drifting continents
plate tectonics
by the end of what period and start of what period formed Pangea
end of Permian and start of Triassic
what is Panthalassa
single super ocean
true or false during the late triassic and early jurassic, dinosaurs were alike… why or why not
true because Pangea was unbroken -> no barriers
what dinosaur group was found worldwide during Pangea
prosauropods
when did the first sauropods evolve
late in the triassic
select the correct features of a diplodocids (more than 1)
a) long necked
b) short necked
c) elongated skull
d) longer front legs
e) simple teeth
f) sharp teeth
g) teeth all over mouth
a,c,e
where are the teeth in diplodocids
only in the front of mouth
what are three examples of macronarians
brachiosaurus and giraffatitan and camarasaurus
true or false - macronarians did not have long necks
false - they did
what two dinosaurs were found side by side in the fossil quarry
camarasaurus and diplodocus
define the differences between camarasaurus and diplodocus
camamrasaurus - teeth in all of mouth, powerful mouth, spoon/robust teeth, not picky eaters -> macronarians
diplodocus - teeth only in front, picky eater, adapted to reach high, peg teeth -> sauropods
when two similar animals avoid direct competition for resources, this is called
niche partitioning
what was the well known thyreophorans and from what period were they from
jurassic period -> stegosaurus
the jurassic gazelle is referring to what group of dinosaurs
ornithopods - long legs for speed
camptosaurus is
a) iguanodont
b) tyrannosoid
c) therapod
a
in the late jurassic, a new group of big carnivorous dinosaurs evolved called ….
allosauroids
what made allosauroids significant for predators
spines were stiffer, long legs which meant fast running
what is the most successful predator in the late jurassic
allosauroids
the chicken sized therapod is
a) allosaurus
b) camptosaurus
c) compsognathus
c
true or false - compsagnethus is part of the allosauroids
false - it is part of the coelurosaur (therapods)
select the features of a coelurosaur
a) big hands
b) narrow hands
c) long sacral vertebrae
d) heavy tails
e) light tails
b,c,e
true or false - laurasia was composed of NA, europe and africa
false - NA, europe and Asia (NEA)
what are the continents in southern Gondwana
SA, australia, africa, antarctica, Madagascar and India
(SAAAMI)
what were the dominant species in africa
therapods -> spinosaurs and carcharodontosaurids
what were the dominant species in NA and europe
igunaodontians, anylosaurs and sauropods
in what continent did the first ceratopsians evolve
asia
what two continents were still connected until the end of Creataceous
antarctica and australia
sauropod dinosaurs thrived where
in Gondwana
