Geology

The study of the spatial and temporal relationships between bodies of rock is called
____________________.

The geological time scale is the ____________ framework in which geologists view Earth
history.

Both _________________ and absolute scales are included in the geological time scale.

Beds represent a depositional event. They are _________ 1 cm in thickness.

Laminations are similar to beds but are ___________ 1 cm in thickness.

The idea that most beds are laid down horizontally or nearly so is called the

The idea that beds extend laterally in three dimensions until they thin to zero thickness is called
the

The idea that younger beds are deposited on top of older beds is called the

The idea that a dike transecting bedding must be younger than the bedding it crosses is called
the

The idea that fossil content will change upward within a formation is called the

An unconformity represents an absence of ________________ due to erosion or nondeposition.

What does surface AB represent in the following illustration?

What does surface ABC represent in the following illustration?

What does surface ABC represent in the following illustration?

A unit that displays a different lithological aspect relative to rocks above and below is called a
__________________________________ unit.

The most common rock-stratigraphic unit is the _________________.

Formations can be subdivided into ___________________.

Members can be subdivided into ___________________.

Two or more formations compose a ___________________.

All rocks around the globe that formed during the same interval of time form a
_________________________________ unit.

Which of the following is not a time-stratigraphic unit?

The primary time-stratigraphic unit is the ___________________.

A system is subdivided into ___________________.

The stage is the ________________ subdivision of time-stratigraphic units.

The eonothem is the ________________ subdivision of time-stratigraphic units is the

Paleontologists have traced the lineage of Homo back to Australopithecus afarenses. This now
extinct ancestor of Homo lived in the Paleocene between about _______ and _______ million
years ago.

Geological time units correspond to the time that a specified _____________________ was
deposited.

The geologic-time unit representing the longest interval of time is the __________.

The geologic-time unit representing the smallest interval of time is the ____________.

The geologic-time unit corresponding to the time that a system was deposited is the
___________.

The geologic-time unit corresponding to the time that a series was deposited is the __________.

The geologic-time unit corresponding to the time that an erathem was deposited is the
___________.

The geologic-time unit corresponding to the time that an eonothem was deposited is the
___________.

Geologists use both ____________ and ____________ criteria to correlate strata.

What is the oldest age obtained from a mineral or rock on our planet?

How old is the Acasta gneiss and why is it significant?

Why is the evolution of the cyanobacteria important to the evolution of an oxygen-rich
atmosphere on planet Earth?

_{During the Proterozoic, between about ________ billion years and _________ million years
ago, the development of multicellular organisms with nuclei developed. These organisms
eventually led to the development of the plants, spiders, fungi, and protists, and are called}

_{The first life forms on planet Earth occur during the Archean between about _______ and
_______ billion years ago, and are called}

_{What is the age of the Earth?}

_{The first animals with preservable hard parts first appear in the _______________?}

_{Why is Cooksonia significant, and in what approximate time range did it evolve?}

_{In what system is Cooksonia first found?}

_{During ____________________ there were there vast swamps and peat bogs in the eastern and
mid-western US. This period lasted from _________ to __________ million years ago.}

_{What is Rodinia?}

_{When did Rodinia form?}

_{The dinosaurs evolved and become dominant during the _____________, between about
________ and __________ million years ago?}

The Great Dying occurred about _________ million years ago at the close of the

What is the age of the meteorite impact at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary?

_{Giant glaciers occupy the central portion of North America during the Pleistocene about
_______ million years to ____________ years ago?}

_{A world-wide drop in _____________ may have contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs
by destroying their ____________ habitats.}

_{An increase in ___________activity in western India, along with a drop in sea level, and a
meteorite impact led to extinctions of many of the ________________, ~65 m.y. ago.}

_{When did the Earth first develop an atmosphere and oceans?}

_{What epoch do we live in?}

_{In what period do primates first appear?}

_{What is Pangaea and when did it form?}

_{The Earth formed from a cloud of gas and dust orbiting the Sun. During its formation and early
history it was bombarded by comets and asteroids, and its surface was probably}

_{List below at least one creature the lived during the Pleistocene.}

_{Which of the following are possible contributors to the great extinctions that occurred at the
close of the Permian?
(a) A bolide impact at Bedout High along the NW margin of Australia
(b) Eruption and formation of the Siberian Traps, and the resulting elevation of the global
temperature by 5oC
(c) Release of methane stored under the worlds oceans
(d) Death of the dinosaurs
(e) None of the above}

Did man evolved before or after the dinosaurs?