Unit E Review

The earliest part of Earth’s history is called the

• Cenozoic

• Cambrian

• Holocene

• Precambrian

Radioactive dating is used to find

• the locations of index fossils

• the identities of index fossils

• the absolute ages of rocks and fossils

• the relative ages of rocks and fossils

Which division of the geologic time scale is the longest?

• eon

• period

• era

• epoch

Which of these groups of animals appeared on Earth most recently?

• reptiles

• amphibians

• mammals

• fish

All of the following conditions help preserve organisms as fossils EXCEPT __________.

• quick burial by sediments

• protection from scavengers

• hard parts

• activities of microorganisms

Determining the order of events and the relative age of rocks by examining the position of rocks in a sequence is called __________.

• absolute dating

• relative dating

• radiometric dating

• carbon dating

Geologic time is divided best into units based on ________.

• geologic changes

• fossils and rocks

• types of life-forms living during certain periods

• types of trilobites

With ________ dating, a rock’s exact age can be determined, whereas with ________ dating, a rock’s age is compared to the ages of other rocks.

• absolute, relative

• relative, absolute

• true, absolute

• relative, approximate

Trilobites can be used to study the passage of geologic time because __________.

• they burrow into sediments

• they lived in the oceans

• they lived throughout the Paleozoic Era

• their physical features changed through time

The type of Earth material most likely to contain fossils is ____________.

• igneous rock

• metamorphic rock

• sedimentary rock

• native material