TEST FORMAT
PART A: 21 questions each worth 2 points = 42 points
PART B: 6 questions each worth 6 points. You will select 3 out of the 6 questions for a total of 18 points
TOTAL = 60 possible points
The 21 questions will be in the form of multiple choice or definitions, or answers of one line. The 6-point questions will be more complex and may require drawings.
You will answer the questions on the test itself. You do not need a scantron or a blue book.
The test will cover the Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6
First, I have given you a selection of multiple choice questions used in previous tests. Answers to multiple choice are at the end of that section.
This does NOT mean that all the questions on the test are in this study guide. They are to help you study. Some of the questions - or similar questions - from this selection may be on the test.
CHOOSE THE BEST ANSWER
READ ALL THE QUESTIONS ON THE TEST CAREFULLY
ALSO, I have included some questions from the Review Questions in your text.
These are to help you study what I think are the main concepts. These - or similar questions - may also be on the test
SAMPLE MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1] 14C is an ____________ of carbon, has more __________ than 12C and can be used to indicate the ____________ of the material.
A] atom, iron, age
B] isotope, neutrons, age
C] isotope, protons, temperature
D] electron, protons, temperature
E] isotope, neutrons, temperature
2] Why is the color of a sedimentary rock important?
3] A rafter paddling down the Colorado River takes time off to observe the rocks. The guide tells him the base of the Cambrian sequence is the Tapeats sandstone which is overlain by the Bright Angel Shale overlain by the Muav Limestone. Remembering back to Geology 102 he then surprises the guide by stating that
A] over 300 million years ago the sea that covered this area was regressing
B] over 500 million years ago the sea that covered this area was dramatically deep.
C] over 500 million years ago the sea that covered this area was very cold
D] over 500 million years ago the sea that covered this area was transgressing
E] over 1000 million years ago the sea that covered this area was regressing
4] Name three features found in arid landscapes
5] The principle of _______________ states that the rock at the base of a sequence was laid down first.
A] original horizontality
B] correlation
C] faunal succession
D] superposition
E] uniformity.
6] Lord Kelvin argued that the age of the earth could be no older than 100 million years.
He was fundamentally in error because
A] fossil succession was not considered
B] radioactivity was not considered
C] the earth was assumed to be completely molten
D] parts of the sedimentary record are missing
E] both B and C
7] Potassium-Argon dating is often used in geology, however, Argon the daughter product is a gas and often moves out of the rock. This gives a false age. If we have less daughter in the rock, would the rock appear ___________ it really should be?
A] older than
B] younger than
C] the same as
8] A geologist finds an outcrop of mud cracks in gray shale. She infers this area was once:
A] deep under the ocean
B] a beach.
C] animals were abundant in this area
D] a desert area
E] a tidal flat
9] Draw a vertical column that represents a regression sequence
10] Black mudstone tells us
A] this was once a beach environment
B] oxygen levels reached those of the present day
C] there was quiet sedimentation in a stagnant environment
D] rivers were flowing swiftly over this area
E] the climate was tropical
11] There would be no point in ever looking for limestone of any age in Canada as the climate was always too cold.
A] true
B] false
12] Hutton invented geological time in 1760
A] true
B] false
13] The geological time scale is based on
A] absolute time and relevant time
B] relative time and obsolete time
C] absolute time and relative time
D] relative time and relative fossils
E] absolute time and deep time
14] All ocean-floor rocks are less than 200 million years old. They could be _________ in age
A] Archean
B] Cambrian
C] Cretaceous
D] Precambrian
E] Mississippian
15] The half-life of a radioactive element changes with time
A] true
B] false
16] The factor that is least useful for correlation is
A] absolute age
B] rock type
C] fossils
D] relative age
E] elevation above sea level
17] The Phanerozoic Era is _________ of the Earth's history .
A] 1/2
B] 3/4
C] 9/10
D] 1/10
E] all
18] North America was once on the equator. Evidence for this is
A] limestone in Minnesota
B] Volcanoes in the Cascades
C] sandstone in Kansas
D] red beds in Leesburg
E] Greenstones in the Blue Ridge
19] What is chronostratigraphy?
20] name three terrestrial environments
21) A geologist is looking for fossils for correlation. She looks at a geological map and sees 5 rock types. Which one should she choose with the best chance of finding fossils?
A) basalt
B) garnet schist
C shale
D) granite
E) pelagic ooze
22) The principle of Uniformitarianism includes
A) events that are sudden and catastrophic
B) geological events that occur slowly
C) ice ages and meteor impacts
D) modern processes
E) all the above
23] Name two environments where cross-bedding occurs.
24] What is Walther's law?
25] The Era with abundant life is the _______________
26] Alpha decay is
A] the loss of a proton and a neutron
B] the loss of a proton and capture of an electron
C] the loss of two protons and two neutrons
D] the loss of an electron from a neutron
E] the capture of an electron
27] A large ashflow would become an excellent rock for correlation.
A] true
B] false
C] cannot tell
28] The trilobite Isotelus is useful as an index fossil because
A] it is widespread, is very similar to other trilobites and lived a long time
B] it is rare, is easy to recognize and lived a long period of time
C] only two of them have ever been found
D] it requires a specialized environment, was rare and not widespread
E] it is widespread, is easy to recognize and existed for a short period of time
29] The Cenozoic era began _____ years ago
30] What is an ecological "niche"?
1) B 2) oxygen - know red / black and why 3) D 4) several answers including dunes, playa lakes, evaporites, alluvial fans, internal drainage patterns (p. 106-108). 5) D
6) B 7) B 8) E 9) limestone (bottom) the shale then sandstone (top) 10) C
11) B 12) B 13) C 14) C 15) B
16) E 17) D 18) A 19) correlation using time only 20) SEVERAL ANSWERS including desert, tropical rain forest, tundra, tiaga etc etc p 84-87
21) C 22) E 23) many including rivers, dunes, ripples, deltas, 24) for sedimentary rocks p. 110 and p. 534, 25) Phanerozoic
26) C 27) A 28) E 29) 65 million 30) p.78 and 572
QUESTIONS FROM CHAPTERS
Again, these are meant to help you study. They are not the only questions but let you know what I will emphasize in the test.
For some I have included only parts of the questions. For some I have added a little in BOLD
Chapter 1.
Questions:
2. In which of the three basic kinds of rocks do nearly all fossils occur? Why
7. Name three kinds of unconformity. How does each type occur?
8. Describe three kinds of relationships between two bodies of rock that indicate which of the two bodies is the younger one
9. How do sedimentary rocks relate to igneous and metamorphic rocks in the rock cycle?
Chapter 2.
Questions:
3. How does the orientation of a dike of igneous rock differ from the orientation of a sill?
5. Why do most sediments that form from weathering consists of silicate minerals?
8. Why do evaporite rocks weather quickly?
9. How do the following sedimentary structures form? (1) Graded beds (2) Ripples (3) Cross beds (4) Mudcracks. Which of these can be used to identify the "way-upwardness" of sedimentary rocks?
11. Describe the ways water acts as a medium for the production (weathering), transportation, deposition and lithification of sedimentary rocks
Chapter 4.
Questions:
1. Sometimes the species of a community are described as forming a food chain. Why is it usually more appropriate to speak of a food web?
2. Which terrestrial and marine environments typically have few species? Explain why each of these has low diversity
5. How does water depth in the ocean relate to the distribution of seafloor environments?
8. How do winds affect oceans on a large scale?
9. Rain forests are sometimes likened to coral reefs in that they both support communities with large numbers of species. Why are both communities restricted to the tropics? Why do they each have such an abundance of species?
Chapter 5.
Questions:
1. What kinds of nonmarine sedimentary deposits reflect arid environmental conditions?
2. What kinds of nonmarine sedimentary deposits reflect cold environmental conditions?
5. Contrast the patterns of occurrence of sediments and sedimentary structures in the following 3 kinds of depositional environments (1) meandering rivers (2) deltas (3) turbidity currents
7. What features typify sediments that accumulate in the center of lakes? Also, how would you know if this lake was in a cold (ice) environment?
8. How do stromatolites form?
12. What types of sediments and sedimentary structures reflect deposition on a deep-sea setting?
Q. What environment is needed for the precipitation of carbonates? (limestone)
Chapter 6.
Questions:
1. What kinds of stratigraphical correlation do geologists undertake?
2. What is the difference between the relative and absolute ages of rocks?
3. What is radiocarbon dating?
4. How are uranium isotopes useful for dating rocks?
5. Why does a geological formation not necessarily have an upper and lower boundary that is the same age everywhere?
9. Construct a diagram showing a transgression