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Paleontology 200 > Stratigraphy and Geologic Time > Flashcards

Stratigraphy and Geologic Time Flashcards

1
Q

What is the principle of superposition?

A

The theory that older rocks are deposited deeper in the earth and that newer rocks are deposited on top.

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2
Q

What type of rock can cut vertically through the other layers?

A

Igneous Rock

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3
Q

What is stratigraphy?

A

The science of using the arrangement and composition of rock layers to interpret geological history

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4
Q

What is a formation in geological terms?

A

A large uninterrupted sequence of rock, made of multiple layers that all share similar properties

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5
Q

What technique is used to date rocks in absolute terms?

A

Radiometric dating

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6
Q

What is an isotope?

A

A variant chemical element that has an unusual number of neutrons

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7
Q

How is radiometric dating conducted?

A

Scientists can measure how many radioactive isotopes are in a rock to determine how old that rock is.

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8
Q

What tool is used during radiometric dating?

A

Mass spectrometer

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9
Q

What type of rock cannot be radiometrically dated due to its nature?

A

Sedimentary Rock

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10
Q

What type of fossil deposit is easy to determine the age of?

A

Volcanic ash fossils

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11
Q

What is the geological time scale?

A

Standardized series of chronological divisions that parse the Earth’s history into discrete named units.

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12
Q

What is the list largest to smallest of time periods?

A

Eons, Eras, Periods, Epochs

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13
Q

What is the order of Eons from oldest to newest?

A

Hadeon Eon, Archean Eon, Proterozoic Eon, and Phanerozoic Eon

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14
Q

What are the eras of the Phanerozoic Eon from oldest to Newest?

A

The Paleozoic, The Mesozoic, and The Cenozoic

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15
Q

What are the periods of the paleozoic?

A

The Cambrian period, The Ordovician, the Silurian, the Devonian, the Carboniferous, The Permian

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16
Q

What are the periods of the mesozoic era?

A

The Triassic, The Jurassic, The Cretaceous

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17
Q

What are the periods of the Cenozoic era?

A

The Palogene Period, The Neogene Period, The Quarternary Period

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18
Q

Which Era is known as the era of Dinosaurs?

A

The Mesozoic Era

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19
Q

What was the cause of the permian-triassic mass extinction?

A

Large number of Volcanic Eruptions in a region that is now Siberia

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20
Q

What was the first group of vertebrates to fly?

A

Pterosaurs, they aren’t dinosaurs

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21
Q

What was happening geologically during the Triassic?

A

Pangea was beginning the break apart

22
Q

During which period did the first ichthyosaurs evolve?

A

The triassic

23
Q

What does the name ichthyosaur mean, what were they really?

A

Fish Lizard, they are reptiles that adapted to live in the water secondarily, consequently they didn’t have gills, but they did have long snouts and conical teeth

24
Q

What is similar between the plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs are they related?

A

They are not related - they are two separate lineages of reptiles that returned to the water to fill those ecological niches

25
Q

During which period did plesiosaurs evolve?

A

The late Triassic

26
Q

What was a pterosaur wing like?

A

membranous section of skin supported by one elongated finger

27
Q

What was the group that pterosaurs belonged to called and at which period in time were they common?

A

They belonged to the group rhamphorynchoids and were common throughout the Late Triassic and Jurassic

28
Q

What was a common trait of all the first dinosaurs?

A

They were small and bipedal

29
Q

What were the most dominant terrestrial herbivores during the Jurassic?

A

Sauropods

30
Q

What were the dominant Terrestrial Carnivore in the Jurassic?

A

Non-coelurosaurian theropods - like allosaurus

31
Q

Among the Ornithiscians which first appeared within the Jurassic?

A

First ankylosaurs, ornithopods, ceratopsians, and stegosaurs

32
Q

Which group of ornithiscians was basically restricted to the jurassic period?

A

The stegosaurs

33
Q

During which period did Archeopteryx evolve?

A

The Jurassic

34
Q

Which are the best known formations from the Jurassic Period?

A

The Morrison Formation and the Solnhofen limestone

35
Q

Which flying reptiles dominated the skies in the Jurassic?

A

The rhamphorhynchoid lineage called Pterodactyloids

36
Q

During which period did the first flowering plants begin to evolve?

A

The early Cretaceous

37
Q

Which new theropods evolved during the early cretaceous?

A

spinosaurids and carcharodontosaurids

38
Q

Which are the most important early cretaceous formations?

A

The Yixian formation (China), the Wealden Supergroup (England), Cedar Mountain formation (Utah)

39
Q

Which third secondarily aquatic reptile evolved during the cretaceous?

A

Mosasaurs

40
Q

Which time period is considered to be the apex of non-avian dinosaurs?

A

The late cretaceous

41
Q

Which coelurosaurian theropods were abundant in the late cretaceous?

A

tyrannosaurs, ornithomids, therizinosaurs, oviraptosaurs, dromaeosaurids, and troondontids

42
Q

During which period did the ankylosaurs split into two separate groups?

A

The late cretaceous

43
Q

Which were the major dominant herbivores during the late cretaceous?

A

Ceratopsians and hadrosaurs (northern hemisphere), Titanosaurid sauropods (Southern Hemisphere)

44
Q

Which is the only period that pachycephalosaurs are known?

A

The late cretaceous

45
Q

What was the cause of the end cretaceous mass extinction?

A

A giant meteor that crashed onto the earth

46
Q

During which Eon did life first evolve?

A

The archean eon

47
Q

During which period did larger life forms evolve?

A

The Edicarian

48
Q

What was the period which marked a large evolutionary expansion of marine life?

A

The Cambrian expansion during the Cambrian Period

49
Q

From which period does all the major carbon deposites arise from?

A

The carboniferous period - remember carbon in the name

50
Q

During which period did humans evolve?

A

The current period the Quarternary period

Paleontology 200 (12 decks)

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