Physical Geology 14th Edition Plummer Test Bank

Physical Geology 14th Edition Plummer
Test Bank
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Chapter 08 - Time and Geology
Chapter 08
Time and Geology
True / False Questions
1. Relative time refers to the time sequence in which events take place rather than the number
of years involved.
TRUE
Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Topic: Geologic Time
2. Uniformitarianism reflects the belief among geologists that the Earth remains uniform and
unchanging through time.
FALSE

3. The principle of superposition states that within a sequence of undisturbed sedimentary

rocks, the layers get younger going from bottom to top.
TRUE

4. The principle of crosscutting relationships states that a disrupted pattern is older than the
cause of disruption.
TRUE

8-1
5. The principle of original horizontality states that beds of sediment are nearly always
deposited as nearly horizontal layers.
TRUE

6. In an unconformity the contact represents a gap in the geologic record.

TRUE
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand

7. Under some circumstances, correlation between two regions can be made by assuming that
similar rock types in the two regions formed at the same time.
TRUE

8. An index fossil is a fossil from a very short-lived, geographically widespread species

known to exist during a specific interval of geologic time.
TRUE

9. Earth is between 1 and 2 billion years old.

FALSE

8-2
10. Geologists use fossils in sedimentary rocks to assign their correct place in geologic
history.
TRUE

11. The Mesozoic Era precedes (is older than) the Paleozoic Era.
FALSE

12. So far, the oldest mineral found on Earth is approximately 4.4 billion years old.
TRUE

13. A formation is the process by which sedimentary rocks come into existence.
FALSE

14. Isotopes of the same element have different numbers of neutrons.

TRUE

8-3
15. The proportional amount of atoms that decay with time is only influenced by pressure and
temperature.
FALSE

16. Half life is the time it takes for a given amount of a radioactive isotope to decay to half its
original amount.
TRUE

17. Radon is an intermediate product of uranium-238 decay.

TRUE

18. Isotopic dates from volcanic ash or lava flows layered between fossiliferous sedimentary
rocks have been used to assign numerical ages to the geologic time scale.
TRUE

19. Another term for cosmogenic isotope dating is surface exposure dating.
TRUE

8-4
20. An angular unconformity is an erosion surface that is tilted from the horizontal.
FALSE

Multiple Choice Questions
21. The Earth is approximately _____ years old.

A. 4,500 to 4600
B. 450,000 to 460,000
C. 4,500,000 to 4,600,00
D. 4,500,000,000 to 4,600,000,000
E. 4,500,000,000,000 to 4,600,000,000,000

22. Our ability to assign an age to geological and archaeological materials is based on our
ability to measure the relative abundance of radioactive ___ and their stable decay products.
A. ions
B. protons
C. isotopes
D. neutrons
E. fallout

8-5
23. In geology, _____ usually means determining time equivalency of rock units.
A. physical continuity
B. unconformity
C. lateral continuity
D. correlation
E. superposition

24. The ___ of a radioactive material is the time it takes for a given amount of radioactive
isotope to be reduced by half.
A. atomic life
B. atomic mass life
C. atomic spin life
D. nuclear magnetic life
E. half life

25. The _____ is the principle says that the same processes and natural laws that operated in
the past are those we can actually observe or infer from observation as operating at present.
A. Uniformitarianism
B. Numericalism
C. Relativism age
D. Actualism
E. Absolutism

8-6
26. _____ are subdivisions of eras.

A. Ages
B. Intervals
C. Periods
D. Formations
E. Eons

27. When the ____ came to a close, dinosaurs became extinct.

A. Holocene Epoch
B. Cenozoic Era
C. Mesozoic Era
D. Precambrian
E. Paleozoic Era

28. Alvarez and others proposed a hypothesis that dinosaur extinction occurred because __.
A. they sickened and died because of a cross-species epidemic
B. the continents were flooded with seawater and they drowned
C. all their eggs were eaten by birds and mammals
D. the climate changed as the Ice Age began
E. one or more asteroids impacted Earth, resulting in environmental change

8-7
29. The principle of ___ states that an original sedimentary layer extends laterally until it
tapers or thins at is edges.
A. superposition
B. lateral continuity
C. cross-cutting relationships
D. original horizontality
E. actualism

30. ______ first pointed out that fossil species succeed one another through successive layers
of sediment in a predictable order.
A. D. McGeary
B. W.S. Smith
C. N. Copernicus
D. N. Steno
E. I. Newton

31. ______ denotes the vast amount of time that precedes the Paleozoic Era.
A. Mesozoic
B. Paleozoic
C. Quaternary
D. Precambrian
E. Cenozoic

8-8
32. Isotopic dating has shown that the Precambrian took up ______% of all geologic time.
A. 15
B. 46
C. 87
D. 95
E. 62

33. The ___ Era began with the appearance of complex life, as indicated by fossils like
trilobites.
A. Quaternary
B. Cenozoic
C. Mesozoic
D. Paleozoic
E. Precambrian

34. The _______ Era is the Age of Mammals.

A. Archean
B. Cenozoic
C. Mesozoic
D. Paleozoic
E. Precambrian

8-9
35. The _____ ended with the greatest mass extinction ever to occur on Earth.
A. Tertiary Period
B. Jurassic Period
C. Paleozoic Era
D. Precambrian interval
E. Cenozoic Era

36. The ____ is based upon the observation that fossil species succeed one another through
layers in a predictable order.
A. principle of lateral continuity
B. principle of faunal succession
C. principle of original horizontality
D. principle of unconformities
E. principle of radioactivity

37. The relative-dating principle of __ states that fragments included in a host rock are older
than the host rock.
A. inclusion
B. exclusion
C. intuition
D. supposition
E. superposition

8-10
38. The half-life of the carbon 14 isotope is 5730 years. If there were 4 billion atoms of C-14
in a particular organism at the time it died, how many atoms of C-14 would there be in the
remains of that organism 11,460 years after it died?
A. 1 billion
B. 2 billion
C. 3 billion
D. 4 billion
E. 8 billion
Bloom's Level: 3. Apply

39. The Earth's largest mass extinction coincides with _____ in Siberia.
A. a massive meteorite impact
B. massive volcanism
C. a significant climate change
D. flooding of continental areas
E. expansion of glaciers

40. When marine geologists collects a core of undeformed ocean-floor sediment, they know
that the youngest layer is on the top of the core and the oldest is at the bottom because of the
principle of __.
A. supposition
B. suspension
C. superposition
D. inclusion
E. cross-cutting relationships

8-11
41. By the principle of __, the surface feature known as the Grand Canyon is ___ than the
sedimentary formations that are exposed in the side walls of the Grand Canyon.
A. superposition; younger
B. inclusion; older
C. superposition; older
D. cross-cutting relationships; younger
E. cross-cutting relationships; older

42. The truncation of bedding where sedimentary rock layers abut a granite pluton suggests
a(n) ______.
A. angular unconformity
B. intrusive contact
C. erosional surface
D. fault
E. metamorphic aureole

43. The principle of ______ states that fragments included in a host rock must be _______
than the host rock.
A. intrusion; older than
B. inclusion; older than
C. intrusion; younger than
D. inclusion; younger than
E. inclusion; the same age as

8-12
44. _______ is the spontaneous nuclear change of isotopes with unstable nuclei.
A. Structural geology
B. Petrology
C. Radioactive decay
D. Fission
E. Isotopic dating

45. In radioactive decay a(n) _______ emission is the emission of two neutrons and two
protons from a nucleus.
A. beta
B. gamma
C. omega
D. alpha
E. psi

46. In the radioactive decay process of __ decay, an electron is emitted from the nucleus of
the parent isotope.
A. omega
B. gamma
C. beta
D. alpha
E. delta

8-13
47. In the radioactive decay process of electron capture a(n) ___ in the nucleus captures an
orbiting electron.
A. neutrino
B. neutron
C. alpha particle
D. proton
E. positron

48. The proportional amount of atoms that decay with time _____ by the high pressures and
temperature of Earth's interior.
A. can be slightly accelerated
B. can be slightly decelerated
C. can be greatly accelerated
D. can be greatly decelerated
E. is not changed at all

49. Radiocarbon dating is useful in dating an event that occurred in the past ________ years.
A. 4 thousand
B. 40 thousand
C. 400 thousand
D. 4 million
E. 40 million

8-14
50. The carbon-14 isotope disintegrates radioactively with a half-life of ______ years.
A. 4.5 billion
B. 710 million
C. 15 billion
D. 24,000
E. 5730
Bloom's Level: 3. Apply

51. Carbon-14 is created in the atmosphere by the nuclear reaction of neutron from the cosmic
rays and _______ in the atmosphere.
A. hydrogen
B. water vapor
C. nitrogen
D. oxygen
E. dust

52. Uranium-238 ultimately decays to _____ -206.

A. lead
B. argon
C. potassium
D. uranium
E. carbon

8-15
53. ____ dating uses the effect of neutron radiation coming from deep space to date material
at Earth's surface.
A. Cosmogenic
B. Electron spin resonance
C. Amino acid racemization
D. Fission track
E. Potassium-argon

54. The _____ includes most of geologic time (87%).

A. Quaternary Period
B. Cenozoic Era
C. Mesozoic Era
D. Paleozoic Era
E. Precambrian

55. A(n) _______ is an erosional surface that represents a gap in the geologic record.
A. basal conglomerate
B. unconformity
C. boundary layer
D. lamination
E. marker horizon

8-16
56. A(n) _________ is a contact in which an erosional surface on a pluton or metamorphic

rock has been covered by sedimentary (or volcanic) rock.
A. disconformity
B. basal conglomerate
C. nonconformity
D. boundary layer
E. angular unconformity

57. In a(n) __________ the erosional contact represents missing rock strata and separates
sedimentary beds that are parallel.
A. disconformity
B. basal conglomerate
C. nonconformity
D. boundary layer
E. angular unconformity

58. Fossils are common in __.

A. all rock types
B. plutonic rocks
C. sedimentary rocks
D. metamorphic rocks
E. volcanic rocks

8-17
59. The principle of _____ allows rock layers in different places to be correlated on the basis
of their fossils.
A. lateral continuity
B. faunal succession
C. radioactive decay
D. original horizontality
E. magnetostratigraphy

60. A(n) _______ fossil is a fossil from a very short-lived, geographically widespread species
that existed during a specific interval of geologic time.
A. assemblage
B. range
C. age
D. interval
E. index

8-18

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Physical Geology 14th Edition Plummer

True / False Questions

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

3. The principle of superposition states that within a sequence of undisturbed sedimentary

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

6. In an unconformity the contact represents a gap in the geologic record.

Bloom's Level: 2. Understand

Bloom's Level: 2. Understand

8. An index fossil is a fossil from a very short-lived, geographically widespread species

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

9. Earth is between 1 and 2 billion years old.

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Bloom's Level: 2. Understand

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

14. Isotopes of the same element have different numbers of neutrons.

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Bloom's Level: 2. Understand

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

17. Radon is an intermediate product of uranium-238 decay.

Bloom's Level: 2. Understand

Bloom's Level: 2. Understand

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Multiple Choice Questions

21. The Earth is approximately _____ years old.

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Bloom's Level: 2. Understand

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

26. _____ are subdivisions of eras.

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

27. When the ____ came to a close, dinosaurs became extinct.

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Bloom's Level: 2. Understand

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Bloom's Level: 2. Understand

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

34. The _______ Era is the Age of Mammals.

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Bloom's Level: 3. Apply

Bloom's Level: 2. Understand

Bloom's Level: 2. Understand

Bloom's Level: 2. Understand

Bloom's Level: 2. Understand

Bloom's Level: 2. Understand

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember

Bloom's Level: 2. Understand

Bloom's Level: 1. Remember