True/False
Indicate whether the
statement is true or false.
|
|
|
1.
|
Fossils most often form when a dead organism is buried in sediments.
|
|
|
2.
|
Carbon films are formed when a thin film of carbon is left, forming a silhouette
of the original organism.
|
|
|
3.
|
Dinosaur footprints are original remains.
|
|
|
4.
|
To be a useful index fossil, a species must have been rare.
|
|
|
5.
|
Nonconformities occur when sedimentary rocks are deposited on top of uplifted
and eroded metamorphic or igneous rocks.
|
|
|
6.
|
Radiocarbon dating would be useful in dating the age of Earth.
|
|
|
7.
|
Index fossils are the remains of species that existed on Earth for relatively
short periods of time.
|
|
|
8.
|
Absolute age examines the position of rocks in a sequence.
|
Multiple Choice
Identify the
choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
|
|
|
9.
|
All of the following conditions help preserve organisms as fossils EXCEPT
____.
a. | quick burial by sediments | c. | protection from
scavengers | b. | hard parts | d. | activities of microorganisms |
|
|
|
10.
|
If the same types of fossils are found in two separate rock layers, it's
likely that the two rock layers ____.
a. | formed at different times | c. | formed under different
conditions | b. | are part of one continuous deposit | d. | none of the
above |
|
|
|
11.
|
Determining the order of events and the relative age of rocks by examining the
position of rocks in a sequence is called ____.
a. | absolute dating | c. | relative dating | b. | radiometric dating | d. | radiocarbon
dating |
|
|
|
12.
|
Gaps in rock layers are called ____.
a. | unconformities | c. | half-lives | b. | index fossils | d. | none of the
above |
|
|
|
13.
|
If the same sequence of rock layers is observed over a large area, ____.
a. | they are probably not related | b. | a large deposit of rock formed over a large
area | c. | conditions of formation were probably very different | d. | it is just a
coincidence |
|
|
|
14.
|
A limestone bed containing fossils that are 550 million years old is ____ a bed
of sandstone containing fossils that are 400 million years old.
a. | younger than | c. | older than | b. | the same age as | d. | not related to |
|
|
|
15.
|
In a series of undisturbed rock layers where shale lies between sandstone below
and limestone above, the ____.
a. | limestone is youngest | c. | sandstone is youngest | b. | shale is
youngest | d. | beds are all the
same age |
|
|
|
16.
|
____ dating uses the properties of atoms in rocks and other objects to find
their ages.
a. | Comparative | c. | Approximate | b. | Absolute | d. | Relative |
|
|
|
17.
|
Rock layers are correlated if they both contain the same ____.
a. | elements | c. | fossils | b. | shapes | d. | type of rock |
|
|
|
18.
|
If a layer of sandstone lies on top of a layer of limestone in which a
300-million-year-old fossil is found, and there are no unconformities, the layer of sandstone must be
____.
a. | older than 300 million years | c. | about 300 million years
old | b. | younger than 300 million years | d. | older than 600 million
years |
|
|
|
19.
|
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.
a. | absolute, relative | c. | true, absolute | b. | relative, absolute | d. | relative,
approximate |
|
Matching
|
|
|
Match each item with the correct statement below. a. | remains | e. | missing layer | b. | fossil | f. | trace | c. | mold | g. | radioactive decay | d. | hard | h. | carbon-14 |
|
|
|
20.
|
A ______ may tell a geologist when, where, and how an organism lived.
|
|
|
21.
|
A ______ is the cavity left behind in the rock after an organism's hard
part has dissolved.
|
|
|
22.
|
Fossils up to 75,000 years old can be dated with ______.
|
|
|
23.
|
The ______ parts of organisms are most likely to become fossils.
|
|
|
24.
|
Fossils are the ______, imprints, or traces of once-living organisms preserved
in rock.
|
|
|
25.
|
An unconformity is a ______ of rock.
|
|
|
26.
|
Preserved animal tracks are called ______ fossils.
|
|
|
27.
|
is measured in half-lives
|
|
|
Match each item with the correct statement below. a. | carbonaceous film | g. | index fossils | b. | cast | h. | mold | c. | principle of
superposition | i. | uniformitarianism | d. | radiometric dating | j. | radioactive decay | e. | beta
decay | k. | relative
dating | f. | half-life | l. | unconformities |
|
|
|
28.
|
the process in which one of an isotope's neutrons breaks down into a
proton and an electron and the electron leaves the atom as a beta particle [beta
decay]
|
|
|
29.
|
fossil formed when an outline of the original organism is formed from left-over
carbon
|
|
|
30.
|
made when sediments fill in a cavity made when an object decayed and the
sediments harden into rock
|
|
|
31.
|
the time it takes for half of the atoms in an isotope to decay
|
|
|
32.
|
fossils of species that lived on Earth for short periods of time and were
abundant and were widespread geographically
|
|
|
33.
|
states that for undisturbed rocks, the oldest rocks are on the bottom and the
rocks become younger and younger toward the top
|
|
|
34.
|
hollow place in rock made when an organism died and was buried and holes in the
rock let air or water reach it and dissolve the organism
|
|
|
35.
|
the process of calculating the absolute age of a rock by measuring the amounts
of parent and daughter materials in a rock and by knowing the half-life of the parent
|
|
|
36.
|
a process that uses the properties of atoms in rocks and other objects to find
their ages
|
|
|
37.
|
the order of events and the relative age of rocks is determined by examining
the position of rocks in a sequence
|
|
|
38.
|
gaps in rock layers that develop when agents of erosion remove existing rock
layers
|
|
|
39.
|
states that Earth processes today are similar to those that took place in the
past
|
Short Answer
|
|
|
40.
|
If horizontal layers of sedimentary rock have a vertical fault running through
them, how might a geologist use relative dating to determine when the fault occurred?
|
|
|
41.
|
Do all rocks contain fossils? Describe the conditions necessary for fossils to
form.
|
|
|
42.
|
Explain what is meant by correlating rock layers.
|
|
|
43.
|
Explain what the term half-life means and how knowing the half-life of an
element can help a geologist establish the age of a rock or fossil.
|
Problem
|
|
|
44.
|
A sample of a radioactive element has a mass of 80 g. How much parent and
daughter materials are in the sample after two half-lives?
|