Quiz about NC Earth History

Question 1

Which best describes a fossil that helps determine the relative age of a rock layer?

Accepted Answer

index fossil

Answer

trace fossil

Answer

radioactive fossil

Answer

unconformity fossil

Question 2

By which method have scientists determined that the Earth is about 4.5 billion years old?

Accepted Answer

radioactive dating

Answer

plate tectonics

Answer

relative dating

Answer

law of superposition

Question 3

Which characteristic of carbon-14 dating helps scientists determine the approximate time a species became extinct?

Accepted Answer

Carbon-14 decreases at a constant rate over time

Answer

Carbon-14 is not present in more recent fossils

Answer

Carbon-14 increases at a constant rate over time

Answer

Carbon-14 can only be found in fossils of a certain period

Question 4

The index fossil of a type of trilobite is discovered in layer A of a set of rock layers found at three different sites of a field investigation. Which conclusion can be made about the rocks in layer A at all three sites?

Accepted Answer

The rocks are all about the same age

Answer

The rocks are all different ages

Answer

The rocks were formed from melting magma

Answer

The rocks were formed during a catastrophic event

Question 5

Which type of rock replaces bone and other hard organic materials to create rock molds of fossils?

Accepted Answer

sedimentary

Answer

metamorphic

Answer

extrusive igneous

Question 6

Which statement best describes the Law of Superposition?

Accepted Answer

In undisturbed layers of sedimentary rock, the lowest layers contain the older rocks.

Answer

Each sedimentary layer of rock represents 1,000 years of Earth's age, much like the rings of a tree.

Answer

In undisturbed layers of sedimentary rocks, the upper rock layers are older than the lower rock layers.

Answer

Rocks that form near volcanoes are older than surrounding rock.

Question 7

Where can the oldest layer be found?

Accepted Answer

The bottom layer

Answer

The top layer

Answer

The middle layer

Answer

They are all the same age

Question 8

Which layer is the oldest?

Accepted Answer

5

Answer

3

Answer

4

Answer

1

Question 9

The longest Era was...

Accepted Answer

Precambrian

Answer

Paleozoic

Answer

Mesozoic

Answer

Cenozoic

Question 10

The Precambrian is the ___________ time span in Earth's history.

Accepted Answer

earliest

Answer

youngest

Answer

latest

Answer

middle

Question 11

Current scientific evidence shows that the Earth is estimated to be:

Accepted Answer

More than 4 billions years old

Answer

Less than 1 millions years old

Answer

Between 3 and 4 billion years old

Answer

Less than 2 billion years old

Question 12

Which of the following correctly lists the layers in order from oldest to youngest?

Accepted Answer

E, B, C, D, A

Answer

A, B, C, D, E

Answer

E, D, C, B, A

Answer

C, B, A, D, E

Question 13

__________________is the time it takes for half of the radioactive atoms in an element to decay.

Accepted Answer

half life

Answer

dating range

Question 14

The age of a rock compared to the ages of other rocks is the rock's

Accepted Answer

relative age

Answer

absolute age

Answer

geologic age

Answer

sedimentary age

Question 15

The Mesozoic Era was known as . . .

Accepted Answer

the age of reptiles

Answer

the age of mammals

Answer

the age of plants

Answer

the age of birds

Question 16

What PERIOD (not Era) are WE living in right now?

Accepted Answer

Quaternary Period

Answer

Jurassic Period

Answer

Mesozoic Era

Answer

Cambrian Period

Question 17

Quaternary and Tertiary Periods both occurred during the . . .

Accepted Answer

Cenozoic Era

Answer

Precambrian Time

Answer

Paleozoic Era

Answer

Mosozoic Era

Question 18

Which Periods occurred during the Mesozoic Era?

Accepted Answer

Cretaceous, Jurassic, and Triassic

Answer

Quaternary and Tertiary

Answer

Carboniferous, Triassic, Cambrian, and Silurian

Answer

Devonian, Ordovician, Permian, and Carboniferous

Question 19

Time on earth from the most recent to the oldest, in order, are . . .

Accepted Answer

Cenozoic Era, Mesozoic Era, Paleozoic Era, and Precambrian Time

Answer

Precambrian Time, Paleozoic Era, Mesozoic Era, and Cenozoic Era

Answer

Cenozoic Era, Paleozoic Era, Mesozoic Era, and Precambrian Time

Answer

Cretaceous Period, Jurassic Period, Cambrian Period, and Tertiary Period

Question 20

Which time frame, below, is known as the Age of Invertebrates?

Accepted Answer

Paleozoic Era

Answer

Ceonzoic Era

Answer

Mesozoic Era

Answer

Precambrian Time

Question 21

Modern mammals was during this era:

Accepted Answer

Cenozoic

Answer

Mesozoic

Answer

Paleozoic

Question 22

Age of fish was during this era:

Accepted Answer

Paleozoic

Answer

Cenozoic

Answer

Mesozoic

Question 23

______ lived through most of the Mesozoic era:

Accepted Answer

Dinosaurs

Answer

Fish

Answer

Mammals

Question 24

The earliest part of Earth's history is called the:

Accepted Answer

Precambrian

Answer

Cenozoic

Answer

Cambrian

Answer

Holocene

Question 25

_________ is a cavity or impression left behind in rock when an organism's buried remains are dissolved. The shape of the organism's exterior can be seen in the walls and floor of the cavity.

Accepted Answer

Mold

Answer

Cast

Answer

Trace

Answer

Index

Question 26

________ is a mold that has been filled in with sediments which hardened and took the shape of the cavity.

Accepted Answer

Cast

Answer

Mold

Answer

Trace

Answer

Carbon film

Question 27

When permineralization and replacement both occur in a fossil, the fossil is said to be

Accepted Answer

Petrified

Answer

Cast

Answer

Mold

Answer

Preserved

Question 28

Each of the three eras can be divided into ____

Accepted Answer

Periods

Answer

Eons

Question 29

Millions of years ago when the world's landmasses were fused together at the beginning of the Mesozoic it was called

Accepted Answer

Pangaea

Answer

Rhodinia

Answer

Laurencia

Answer

Nebraska

Question 30

How long ago did the Cenozoic Era start ?

Accepted Answer

65 million years ago

Answer

45 million years ago

Answer

34 million years ago

Answer

75 million years ago

Question 31

Principle that states in a sequence of undisturbed rocks, the oldest rocks are on the bottom and the rocks become progressively younger toward the top

Accepted Answer

superposition

Answer

uniformitarianism

Answer

half-life

Question 32

Gaps in rock records made when agents of erosion remove existing rock layers

Accepted Answer

unconformities

Answer

fossils

Answer

permineralized remains

Question 33

Fossil of thin layer of carbon atoms and molecules

Accepted Answer

carbon film

Answer

petrified

Answer

trace fossil

Answer

preserved remains

Question 34

Formed when original material in skeletal remains are replaced by minerals

Accepted Answer

petrified fossils

Answer

preserved remains

Answer

Trace Fossils

Answer

mold

Question 35

Remains, imprints or traces of once-living organisms

Accepted Answer

fossils

Answer

water

Answer

superposition

Question 36

Fossils of species that existed for short periods and were widespread

Accepted Answer

index fossils

Answer

trace fossils

Answer

original remains

Question 37

Scientist who studies fossils

Accepted Answer

Paleontologist

Answer

Botonist

Answer

Geologist

Answer

Seismologist

Question 38

Dying out of many species on Earth within a short period of time

Accepted Answer

mass extinction

Answer

Petrified

Answer

catastrophism

Answer

uncomformity

Question 39

Surface where rock has eroded away, producing a break in the rock record

Accepted Answer

unconformity

Answer

correlation

Answer

inclusion

Answer

superposition

Question 40

How does the law of crosscutting explain the age of a fault?

Accepted Answer

The fault is younger than the rocks it cuts through.

Answer

The fault is younger than the rocks above it.

Answer

The fault is older than the rocks above it.

Answer

The fault is older than the rocks it cuts through.

Question 41

Which of the following terms identifies a species that has disappeared from Earth?

Accepted Answer

Extinct

Answer

Endangered

Answer

Limited

Answer

Threatned

Question 42

If a rock layer has an intrusion, what does the Cross-Cutting law state about the intrusion?

Accepted Answer

the intrusion is younger than the surrounding rock layers

Answer

the intrusion is older than the surround rock layers

Question 43

What type of disturbed rock layer is show in the picture?

Accepted Answer

instrusion

Answer

tilting

Answer

folding

Answer

fault

Question 44

Which part of an organism is least likely to be fossilized?

Accepted Answer

soft tissue

Answer

shell

Answer

bones

Answer

hard wood

Question 45

What is lava that hardens on the surface called?

Accepted Answer

extrusion

Answer

intrusion

Answer

pipe

Answer

magma chamber

Question 46

What forms when magma cools and hardens inside igneous rock?

Accepted Answer

intrusion

Answer

extrusion

Answer

vent

Answer

lava flow

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