Environmental Geology An Earth Systems Approach 2nd Edition Merritts Test Bank

Environmental Geology An Earth
Systems Approach 2nd Edition Merritts

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Merritts Environmental Geology 2e
Chapter 6: Geological Time, Environmental Change, and Earth Systems Cycles
1. During which geologic epoch did metallurgy arise?

a. Miocene
b. Holocene
c. Eocene
d. Pleistocene
Answer: b
Section 1: Introduction
Bloom’s Taxonomy Level: Comprehension
Format: Multiple Choice
2. Which of the following can be inferred from an examination of the chemical composition
of seashells?
a. Superposition
b. Floral succession
c. Paleoclimate
d. Age of the universe
Answer: c
3. Which term is used to describe Earth processes that recur at defined intervals?
a. Circumferential
b. Arbitrary
c. Random
d. Cyclical
Answer: d
Section 2: Scales of Time and Earth System Cycles
Bloom’s Taxonomy Level: Knowledge
4. Which of the following has the slowest cycle? In other words, which process takes the
longest to complete a full cycle?
a. Rock cycle
b. Krebs cycle
c. Lunar cycle
d. Milankovitch cycle
Answer: a
Section 2: Scales of Time and Earth System Cycles
Bloom’s Taxonomy Level: Analysis
5. Which sequence most accurately describes the history of the Vishnu schist formation in
the Grand Canyon?
a. Sedimentation, metamorphism, igneous intrusion, burial, deformation, erosion,
and uplift
b. Sedimentation, burial, metamorphism, igneous intrusion, deformation, uplift, and
erosion
c. Metamorphism, burial, sedimentation, deformation, uplift, and igneous intrusion
d. Volcanic eruption, uplift, erosion, sedimentation, volcanic eruption
Answer: b
Section 3: Measuring Time: Relative and Absolute Dating
6. Which term describes a prolonged period during which no sediments were deposited,
erosion occurred, or both?
a. Uncontrollable
b. Unconformity
c. Unusual event
d. Unknown entity
Answer: b
7. Using the principle of relative age, which rock would be considered the oldest?
a. Limestone containing a trilobite
b. Mudstone with whale bones
c. Shale with dinosaur bones
d. Resin containing a fossilized fly
Answer: a
Bloom’s Taxonomy Level: Application
8. Which term describes two atoms of oxygen: one with eight protons and eight neutrons,
and the other with eight protons and ten neutrons?
a. Radioactive atoms
b. Isotopes of nitrogen
c. Isotopes of oxygen
d. Sister products
Answer: c
9. Which indicator is used to determine the absolute age of a geologic formation?

a. Stable isotopes
b. Sediment thickness
c. Fossils
d. Unstable isotopes
Answer: d
10. Which principle is used to infer the relative age of rocks based on their spatial
arrangement?
a. Radioactive decay
b. Superposition
c. Radiometric dating
d. Isotope analysis
Answer: b
11. Which principle allows geologists to determine order of deposition even if the rocks have
been folded, faulted, and tilted?
a. Natural selection
b. Previous verticality
c. Original horizontality
d. Inclement dip
Answer: c
12. Which goal of geologists was achieved by using fossils?

a. Correlation of rocks at different sites
b. Evidence for radiocarbon dating
c. Timing of recent interglacial cycles
d. Determination of absolute age
Answer: a
13. Which principle directly supports the theory of evolution?

a. Random dating
b. Original parallelism
c. Faunal and floral succession
d. Concept of space-time
Answer: c
14. Which of the following is common to geologic formations?

a. Similar geographic location
b. Specific depositional environment
c. Same elevation above sea level
d. Extreme differences in rock properties
Answer: b
Bloom’s Taxonomy Level: Evaluation
15. Which insight was necessary for geologists to assemble a worldwide geologic column?
a. Finding all the missing pieces of the geologic puzzle
b. Delineation of the volcanic flows in the Pacific Ring of Fire
c. Understanding the theory of radiocarbon dating
d. Knowing the relative chronological order of all known strata
Answer: d
16. Which variable is required for the process of natural selection to create new species?
a. Fixed climatic conditions
b. Episodic meteor showers
c. Immense spans of time
d. New material from space
Answer: c
17. Which of the following is needed to reconstruct geologic history?

a. Distinct fossil assemblages
b. Distinct rock types
c. Fissionable isotopes
d. Distinct formation color
Answer: a
18. Which event follows mass extinctions in the geologic record?

a. No change species arise
b. Resurrection of old species
c. Rise of new species
d. Meteorite impact
Answer: c
19. When the first geologic record was constructed, upon which techniques was it based?
a. Stratigraphy and fossils
b. Radiocarbon dating
c. Understanding of cyclic patterns
d. Isotopes and ions
Answer: a
20. Which time span had the simplest assemblage of organisms?

a. Phanerozoic
b. Proterozoic
c. Archean
d. Paleolithic
Answer: c
21. Which events were used to separate geologic eras?

a. Lunar cycles
b. Mass extinctions
c. Radiometric dating
d. Periodic changes in rock geometry
Answer: b
22. Which geologic period is considered the Age of Fishes?

a. Devonian
b. Permian
c. Cretaceous
d. Cambrian
Answer: a
23. When did Earth’s fifth major ice age take place?
a. Holocene
b. Paleocene
c. Archean
d. Triassic
Answer: a
24. Which term is used to describe atomic nuclei that naturally disintegrate and emit energy
or subatomic particles?
a. Radio-dating
b. Articulating
c. Radioactive
d. Relational
Answer: c
25. Which kind of dating is based on the rate of decay of unstable atoms?
a. Radio channelling
b. Radiometric
c. Archaic
d. Fundamental
Answer: b
26. Which is the daughter product of carbon-14?

a. Potassium-12
b. Carbon-13
c. Nitrogen-14
d. Carbon-6
Answer: c
27. Which kind of decay is common in isotopes that have excess neutrons in their nucleus?
a. Alpha
b. Beta
c. Deuterium
d. Omega
Answer: b
28. Which kind of decay is associated with the transformation of uranium-238 to lead-206?
a. Positron
b. Beta
c. Alpha
d. Omega
Answer: c
29. A log was discovered in a mud wall in a cliff dwelling inhabited by early Americans who
crossed the Aleutian land bridge before the start of the Holocene. If you wanted to
determine the age of the log as accurately as possible, which isotope would you use?
a. Uranium-238
b. Carbon-14
c. Radon-222
d. Potassium-50
Answer: b
30. A 150-Ma dike cuts a conglomerate containing fragments of granite. The granite
fragments have been dated at dated at 250 Ma. Which is a possible age for the
conglomerate? (Ma = millions of years ago)
a. 100
b. 200
c. 300
d. Cannot be determined
Answer: b
31. The half-life of potassium-40 is 1.3 billion years. Which fraction of the original
potassium-40 remains after 3.9 billion years?
a. 1/2
b. 1/16
c. 1/4
d. 1/8
Answer: d
32. Which kind of rock is the least suitable candidate for radiometric dating?
a. Schist
b. Granite
c. Rhyolite
d. Sandstone
Answer: d
33. Moon rocks were collected during the Apollo moon landings. Which isotope would yield
the best results in determining the absolute age of the rocks?
a. Uranium-238
b. Carbon-14
c. Radon-222
d. Zircon-219
Answer: a
34. Which statement about radiocarbon dating is accurate?

a. There is no daughter product left to measure.
b. The daughter product is gradually transformed back into the parent.
c. The half-life is not important.
d. The maximum time of dating is over a billion years.
Answer: a
Section 4: Global Change over Different Scales of Time
35. The only evidence you have of the existence of prehistoric humans is that they left
footprints in volcanic ash. What parent-product isotope pair is most useful for
determining when those humans lived?
a. Rubidium-strontium
b. Thorium-lead
c. Potassium-argon
d. Carbon-nitrogen
Answer: c
36. When was the occurrence of the highest CO2 concentration over the past 400,000 years?
a. 250,000 years ago
b. 400,000 years ago
c. Today
d. 125,000 years ago
Answer: c
37. Why is there a concern about atmospheric CO2 concentrations?

a. CO2 is poisonous at concentrations over 350 ppm
b. CO2 is a greenhouse gas
c. Increasing CO2 levels indicate increased volcanic activity
d. CO2 becomes a solid at low concentrations
Answer: b
38. Which term describes the period of time when atmospheric CO2 concentrations are at
their peak?
a. Interglacial
b. Full glacial
c. Icehouse
d. International
Answer: a
39. Which material or method is used to correlate CO2 concentrations with their age for the
period of 100,000 to 400,000 years ago?
a. Insects trapped in glacial ice
b. Fossilized fish scales in sediments
c. Volcanic ash in glacial ice
d. Color of the glacial ice
Answer: c
40. Why did atmospheric CO2 decline rapidly over 400 million years ago?
a. Explosive growth in algae
b. Large volcanic eruptions
c. Expulsion of carbon from swamps
d. Colonization of land by plants
Answer: d
True or False
1. Records of past climates from seafloor drilling have indicated that Earth’s climate has
been relatively static.
Answer: False
Format: True/False
2. The principle of original horizontality is useful to apply when trying to determine the
geologic history of tilted strata.
Answer: True
Format: True/False
3. The principle of faunal and floral succession made it possible to correlate formations in
Australia with formations in Europe.
Answer: True
Format: True/False
4. The best way to date sedimentary rocks is by using radiometric techniques.

Answer: False
Format: True/False
5. Carbon that has been sequestered contributes to global warming.

Answer: False
Format: True/False
Essay
1. Explain how the theory of evolution is important in the field of geology.
Answer: Evolution is responsible for Smith’s principle of faunal and floral succession.
Evolution explains why species have disappeared and been replaced by other species.
The distinct groupings of species associated with different time periods allow geologists
to reconstruct geologic history and to construct a relative geologic time scale.
Format: Essay
2. Why are mass extinctions of certain species important in formation correlation?
Answer: Mass extinctions caused certain species to cease showing up in the geologic
record on a worldwide scale following the extinction event. This cessation of fossil
evidence allows geologists to correlate widely spaced formations on not only the
occurrence of certain fossil species, but the absence of species.
Format: Essay
3. Explain why some elements are considered “nature’s clock.”
Answer: Elements that serves as nature’s clock are radioactive isotopes. Because the rate
of disintegration of an isotope is proportional to the number of parent atoms and occurs at
a fixed rate specific to each isotope, the isotopes are used to date the age of certain rocks
after they were formed.
Format: Essay
4. Hypothesize why Charles Keeling (of the Cripps Institute) chose the island of Mauna Loa
to measure CO2 concentrations. The Cripps Institute is located in California.
Answer: Keeling chose the island of Mauna Loa because he knew that anthropogenic
activities tend to release carbon dioxide. He needed a location where anthropogenic
effects would be minimized in order to get a consistent carbon dioxide concentration that
was representative of the worldwide background level.
Format: Essay
5. Explain how Darwin formulated the process of natural selection.

Answer: Darwin observed different kinds of finches on the Galapagos Islands. He
realized that these finches all had a common (extinct) ancestor. Given that the modern-
day finches had different beaks and other physical characteristics, he reasoned that
environmental pressures had favored certain physical characteristics of their ancestors.
Over long periods of time, those individuals with characteristics that made them more
successful than others passed on these characteristics to their young and this eventually
resulted in new species.
Format: Essay

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Environmental Geology An Earth Systems Approach 2nd Edition Merritts Test Bank

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Environmental Geology An Earth

Systems Approach 2nd Edition Merritts

1. During which geologic epoch did metallurgy arise?

9. Which indicator is used to determine the absolute age of a geologic formation?

12. Which goal of geologists was achieved by using fossils?

13. Which principle directly supports the theory of evolution?

14. Which of the following is common to geologic formations?

17. Which of the following is needed to reconstruct geologic history?

18. Which event follows mass extinctions in the geologic record?

20. Which time span had the simplest assemblage of organisms?

21. Which events were used to separate geologic eras?

22. Which geologic period is considered the Age of Fishes?

26. Which is the daughter product of carbon-14?

34. Which statement about radiocarbon dating is accurate?

37. Why is there a concern about atmospheric CO2 concentrations?

4. The best way to date sedimentary rocks is by using radiometric techniques.

5. Carbon that has been sequestered contributes to global warming.

2. Why are mass extinctions of certain species important in formation correlation?

3. Explain why some elements are considered “nature’s clock.”

5. Explain how Darwin formulated the process of natural selection.

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