Chapter 12 Earth Science

Which of the following gases was NOT part of Earth’s original atmosphere?
A) water vapor
B) carbon dioxide
C) nitrogen
D) oxygen
E) both A and C

: D

:The most common Precambrian fossils are ________, layered mounds of calcium carbonate.
A) prokaryotes
B) chert
C) trilobites
D) stromatolites
E) none of these

D

The ________ era is known as the "age of flowering plants."
A)Precambrian
B) Paleozoic
C) Cenozoic
D) Devonian
E) Silurian

C

________ are among the most widespread Paleozoic fossils.
A) Stromatolites
B) Birds
C) Dinosaurs
D) Salamanders
E) Brachiopods

E

As the solar system began forming, the first materials to condense into small particles were ________ and nickel.
A) oxygen
B) silicon
C) nitrogen
D) carbon
E) none of these

E

Which one of the following represents the greatest expanse of geological time?
A) Mesozoic
B) Cenozoic
C) Precambrian
D) Paleozoic

C

During the early Paleozoic era, South America, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, India, and perhaps China comprised the vast southern continent of ________.
A) Europe
B) Laurasia
C) Gondwanaland
D) Antindia
E) Pangaea

C

Which type of bacteria thrive in environments that lack free oxygen?
A) aerobic
B) placental
C) anaerobic
D) foraminifera
E) photosynthetic

C

Which era of geologic time spans about 88 percent of Earth’s history?
A) Precambrian
B) Paleozoic
C) Mesozoic
D) Cenozoic
E) none of above

A

The ________ means "the Sun in the making."
A) solar disk
B) presun
C) nebular Sun
D) sol
E) protosun

E

Mammals became the dominant land animals during the ________ era
A) Pleistocene
B) Cenozoic
C) Cretaceous
D) Mesozoic
E) Paleozoic

B

The ________ period was a time of major extinctions, including 75 percent of amphibian families.
A) Jurassic
B) Mississippian
C) Permian
D) Pennsylvanian
E) Devonian

C

The beginning of the Cambrian period marks an important event in animal evolution — the appearance of organisms with ________.
A) wings
B) cells
C) hard parts
D) vertebrae
E) none of the above

C

The era of "ancient life" is the ________ era.
A) Cenozoic
B)Precambrian
C) Neolithic
D) Mesozoic
E) none of these

E

Due to a virtual absence of land plants and certain animals, fossil fuels are notably absent in ________ rocks.
A) Precambrian
B) Paleozoic
C) Mesozoic
D) Cenozoic
E) Paleozoic and Mesozoic

A

The major source of free oxygen in the atmosphere is from ________.
A) molten rock
B) water
C) green plants
D) silicate minerals
E) glaciers

C

The age of Earth is about ________.
A) 2 billion years
B) 4.6 million years
C) 16 million years
D) 4.5 billion years
E) 195 million years

D

The Precambrian rock record indicates that much of Earth’s first free oxygen combined with ________ dissolved in water.
A) potassium
B) silicon
C) iron
D) carbon
E) none of these

C

Which one of the following does NOT characterize the early development and specialization of the primitive mammals?
A) increase in size
B) increase in stomach capacity
C) increase in brain capacity
D) specialization of limbs
E) specialization of teeth

B

As they formed, due to their high temperatures and comparatively weak gravitational fields, which planets were unable to retain appreciable amounts of hydrogen, helium, and ammonia?
A) Jupiter and Neptune
B) Mercury and Earth
C) Uranus and Pluto
D) Jupiter and Uranus
E) Neptune and Uranus

B

Abundant fossil evidence did not appear in the geologic record until about ________.
A) 5 billion years ago
B) 6 million years ago
C) 540 million years ago
D)300 million years ago
E) 3 billion years ago

C

During the late Paleozoic, the present-day North America, Europe, western Asia, Siberia, and perhaps China formed the northern continent of ________.
A) Gondwanaland
B) Laurasia
C) Greenland
D) Africa
E) none of the above

B

Most ________ rocks are devoid of fossils, which hinders correlation of rocks.
A) Precambrian
B) Paleozoic
C) Mesozoic
D) Cenozoic
E)Mesozoic and Cenozoic

A

The ________ period is sometimes called the "golden age of trilobites."
A) Cambrian
B) Silurian
C) Pennsylvanian
D) Devonian
E) Triassic

A

________ means "planets in the making."
A) Jovian
B) Asteroids
C) Terrestrial
D) Protoplanets

D

The process in which plants use light energy to synthesize food sugars from carbon dioxide is called ________.
A) photosynthesis
B) hydration
C) oxidation
D) fusion
E) none of these

A

The beginning of the ________ era is marked by the appearance of the first life forms with hard parts.
A) Precambrian
B) Paleozoic
C) Mesozoic
D) Cenozoic

B

Each continent contains large "core areas" of Precambrian rocks referred to as ________.
A) rifts
B) plates
C) plateaus
D) shields
E) none of these

D

By the close of the Paleozoic, all the continents had fused into the single super continent of ________.
A) Laurasia
B) Pangaea
C) Appalachia
D) Gondwanaland
E) Europa

B

Earth’s primitive atmosphere evolved from gases ________.
A) produced by radioactive decay
B) collected from the nebula
C) escaping from water
D) from the Sun
E) expelled from within

E

The most economically important resource in Cenozoic strata of the Gulf Coast is ________.
A) petroleum
B) carbon
C) coal
D) fresh water
E) iron

A

The waste gas released by plants as they synthesize food sugars from carbon dioxide and water is ________.
A) oxygen
B) methane
C) nitrogen
D) carbon dioxide

A

Most of Earth’s iron ore occurs in middle ________ rocks.
A) Precambrian
B) Paleozoic
C) Mesozoic
D) Cenozoic

A

The first true terrestrial animals were the ________.
A) mammals
B) reptiles
C) lobe-finned fish
D) trilobites
E) marsupials

B

This least understood era of Earth’s history has not been subdivided into briefer time units.
A) Precambrian
B) Paleozoic
C) Mesozoic
D) Cenozoic

A

During the ________ period, large evaporite deposits of rock salt and gypsum formed in North America.
A) Cambrian
B) Silurian
C) Pennsylvanian
D) Jurassic
E) Tertiary

B

The supercontinent of Pangaea began to break up during the ________ era.
A) Precambria
B) Paleozoic
C) Mesozoic
D) Cenozoic

C

Which era is sometimes called the "age of dinosaurs?"
A) Pleistocene
B) Cenozoic
C) Cretaceous
D) Mesozoic
E) none of the above

D

During the ________ era, the westward-moving North American plate began to override the Pacific plate, eventually causing the tectonic activity that ultimately formed the mountains of western North America.
A) Precambrian
B) Paleozoic
C) Mesozoic
D) Cenozoic
E) none of the above

C

By the ________ period, large tropical swamps extended across North America, eventually becoming the vast coal deposits of today.
A) Cambrian
B) Silurian
C) Pennsylvanian
D) Devonian
E) Triassic

C

One group of reptiles, exemplified by the fossil Archaeopteryx, led to the evolution of ________.
A) dinosaurs
B) mammals
C)cephalopods
D) birds
E) horses

D

Which period is known as the "age of fishes"?
A) Jurassic
B) Mississippian
C) Permian
D) Pennsylvanian
E) Devonian

E

During the Cenozoic, plate interactions gave rise to many events of mountain building, volcanism, and earthquakes in ________ North America.
A) western
B) central
C) eastern
D) southern
E) northern

A

The cells of these primitive organisms lack organized nuclei and they reproduce asexually.
A) trilobites
B) eukaryotes
C) prokaryotes
D) brachiopods
E) none of these

C

Following the reptilian extinctions at the close of the Mesozoic, two groups of mammals, the marsupials and ________, evolved.
A) eukaryotes
B) cephalopods
C) trilobites
D) placentals
E) stromatolites

D

The decay of radioactive atoms, coupled with heat released by colliding particles, produced at least some melting of Earth’s early interior.

: TRUE

We are now living in the Mesozoic era.

FALSE

Most Mesozoic rocks are devoid of fossils; consequently this is the least understood span of Earth’s history.

FALSE

Probably the single most characteristic feature of the Precambrian is its great abundance of fossil evidence.

FALSE

Due to differentiation, the lighter, gaseous materials escaped Earth’s interior and became the primitive atmosphere.

true

During the early Paleozoic era, the continent of Gondwanaland included North and South America.

FALSE

The bodies of our solar system began forming about 5 billion years ago from an enormous cloud of minute rocky fragments and gases.

TRUE

The first true terrestrial land animals were the mammals.

FALSE

Earth’s original atmosphere, several billion years ago, was similar to the present atmosphere.

FALSE

The Cenozoic era is the age of mammals.

TRUE

The major source of oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere is from the decay of plants.

FALSE

The supercontinent of Pangaea formed during the late Mesozoic era.

FALSE

Much of the original free oxygen in the atmosphere combined with iron dissolved in water to become iron oxide.

TRUE

During the Cenozoic era, the eastern and western margins of North America experienced similar geologic events.

FALSE

The large outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) contain huge amounts of hydrogen and other light materials as part of their composition.

TRUE

Fossil fuels are abundant in Precambrian rocks.

FALSE

A major event of the Mesozoic era was the breakup of the supercontinent called Pangaea.

FALSE

The fault-block mountains of Nevada and Mexico formed during the Cenozoic era.

TRUE

When Earth’s primitive surface cooled below water’s boiling point, torrential rains slowly filled low areas, forming oceans.

TRUE

Volcanic activity was common in western North America during much of Cenozoic time.

TRUE

The earliest land plants had large, broad leafs to efficiently intercept sunlight.

FALSE

Mammals replaced reptiles as the dominant land animals in the Cenozoic era.

TRUE

Well preserved remains of many tiny organisms extend the record of life back beyond 5 billion years.

FALSE

A wave of late Pleistocene extinctions rapidly eliminated many large mammals.

TRUE

The beginning of the Precambrian era is marked appearance of the first life forms with hard parts.

FALSE

Many reptile groups became extinct at the close of the Cenozoic era.

FALSE

During the Cenozoic era, a great wedge of sediments from the eroding Rockies created the Great Plains.

TRUE

Bacteria that thrive in oxygen free environments are called ________ bacteria.

anaerobic

The theory for the formation of the solar system is known as the ________.

nebular hypothesis

During the early Paleozoic era, the ________ orogeny affected eastern North America from the present-day central Appalachians to Newfoundland.

Taconic

What were the three gases that made up Earth’s original atmosphere?

water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrogen

The rock formations of the ________ era are more widespread and less disturbed than those of any other time.

Cenozoic

: 1

81)

During the process of ________, plants release the gas ________.

photosynthesis, oxygen

By the late ________ period, true air-breathing amphibians with fish-like heads and tails had evolved.

Devonian

The ________ era spans about 88 percent of Earth’s history.

Precambrian

The most economically important resource in Cenozoic strata of the Gulf Coast is ________.

petroleum (natural gas)

Planets in the making are referred to as ________.

protoplanets

The most common Precambrian rock type is ________ rock.

metamorphic

The Cenozoic era is often called the "age of ________."

mammals

On each continent, large "core areas" of Precambrian rocks, called ________, dominate the surface.

shields

The ________ period was the "golden age of trilobites."

Cambrian

The time of the great extinction that took place at the end of the Mesozoic era is called the ________ or KT boundary.

Cretaceous-Tertiary

The Sun in the making is known as the ________.

protosun

Extensive deposits of ________ ore are found worldwide in Precambrian rocks.

iron

Human evolution takes place during the ________ period of the ________ era.

Quaternary; Cenozoic

Fossils that are not of the animals themselves, but of their activities, such as trails and wormholes, are referred to as ________ fossils.

trace

Following the reptilian extinctions at the close of the Mesozoic era, two groups of mammals, the marsupials and ________, evolved and expanded.

placentals

Many of the most ancient fossils are found in a hard, dense, chemical rock called ________.

chert

The late ________ era extinction was the greatest of at least five mass extinctions to occur over the past 540 million years.

: Paleozoic

________ are the dominant land plants of the Cenozoic era.

Angiosperms

Primitive organisms, called ________, reproduce asexually and contain cells that lack organized nuclei.

prokaryotes

One hypothesis for the extinction that took place at the end of the Mesozoic is that a large ________ collided with Earth.

asteroid (or comet)