Practice Questions for Chapter 19
Geology 1200 Section 02
Use these questions to test your knowledge of Chapter 19.
A. Short answer:
1. The study of sequences of sedimentary rock is called ____________.
2. Rising sea-level is called __________.
3. Sea-levels are highest during periods of active _________.
4. The most basic unit of biological classification is the _____________.
5. A local, interbreeding group of individuals within a species is referred to as a _________________.
6. Populations of closely related individuals that are unable to interbreed are referred to as distinct ____________.
7. Worldwide changes in sea-level are referred to as __________ changes.
8. The molecules in chromosomes that contain the genetic code are called ________, short for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid.
9. The system of naming species that we use today was developed by ______________________.
10. Gregor Mendel studied the _____________ of characteristics in common garden peas.
B. Match the Terms.
1. Gregor Mendel _____ a. uniformitarianism
2. Aristotle ____ b. acquired characters are inherited
3. Rosalind Franklin____ c. Principles of Geology (1830)
4. Charles Darwin ____ d. fossils are remains of organisms
5. Lamarck ____ e. genetic characters are inherited
6. Francis Crick _____ f. first x-ray pictures of DNA
7. Thomas Malthus _____ g. populations are too large for food supply
8. James Hutton ______ h. Grand Canyon contains Earth history
9. Charles Lyell ______ i. natural selection
10. John Wesley Powell ____ j. deduced structure of DNA with Watson.
C. True or False? Circle the correct answer.
1. Understanding the environment of deposition of a sedimentary rock requires study of modern environments. True Or False?
2. Rising sea level causes seaward migration of the sandy beach facies. True Or False?
3. Rosalind Franklin made the x-ray photographs that revealed the structure of DNA to Francis Crick. True Or False?
4. Gregor Mendel discovered that organisms inherit two copies of each gene, one from each parent. True Or False?
5. Early philosophers, including Aristotle, realized that fossils were the remains of organisms. True Or False?
6. William Smith made the first correlations of sediments during his work in South America. True Or False?
7. Sediments can be used to deduce past landscapes and climate. True Or False?
8. Charles Darwin suggested mechanisms for changes in anatomy over many generations, a process he called "Natural Selection". True Or False?
9. Larmarckian evolution was based on inheritance of acquired characteristics. True Or False?
10. Populations may become unable to interbreed if separated for many generations. By definition, the populations have then become distinct species. True or False?
D. Multiple choice:
1. The Grand Canyon is most noted for:
(a) earthquakes.
(b) volcanic activity.
(c) waterfalls.
(d) its geological record.
2 All of the following techniques were used to assemble the early geologic time scale in the 1800s EXCEPT:
(a) relative dating.
(b) radiometric dating.
(c) correlation.
(d) study of fossils.
3. The history of Earth is recorded in:
(a) earthquakes.
(b) folds.
(c) faults
(d) sedimentary rocks.
4. Which of the following is NOT supplied by a study of sedimentary rocks:
(a) the absolute age of the Earth.
(b) positions of long-vanished mountain belts.
(c) the depths of ancient seas.
(d) information about paleoclimates.
5. To identify the environment of deposition of a body of sedimentary rock requires a study of all of the following EXCEPT:
(a) the sedimentary structures present.
(b) the fossils present.
(c) the relationship to both overlying and underlying rocks.
(d) its radiometric age.
6. The study of sequences of sedimentary rock is called:
(a) stratigraphy.
(b) seismology.
(c) structural geology.
(d) surficial geology.
7. Sand is deposited in which of the sedimentary environments below?
(a) River channels.
(b) On a beach.
(c) In a shallow sea.
(d) All of the above.
8. Layering in sedimentary rocks is a function of all of the following EXCEPT:
(a) changes in climate.
(b) changes in fossils contained in the sedimentary rock.
(c) changes in tectonic activity.
(d) rising or falling sea level.
9. All of the following represent (Lithostratigraphic) units of sedimentary rocks EXCEPT:
(a) a formation.
(b) a group.
(c) a granitic batholith.
(d) a member.
10. A sedimentary facies found over a wide area would be:
(a) a river channel.
(b) a beach.
(c) a playa lake.
(d) a shallow marine limestone.
11. The closer to the source of a clastic wedge:
(a) The coarser the sediment and thinner the rock unit.
(b) The coarser the sediment and thicker the rock unit.
(c) The finer the sediment and the thicker the rock unit.
(d) The finer the sediment and the thinner the rock unit.
12. Uplifted blocks of continental shield, deposited nearby, would form:
(a) feldspar-rich arkoses.
(b) sediments rich in volcanic rock fragments.
(d) basalts
13. Rising sea level is called:
(a) accumulation.
(b) regression.
(c) transgression.
(d) ablation.
14. Migration of the shoreline away from the continental interior is called:
(a) crustal subsidence.
(b) regression.
(c) transgression.
(d) global warming.
15. During which stage of the major tectonic cycle are sea levels highest?
(a) Rifting at the mid ocean ridge.
(b) Drifting away from the mid-ocean ridge.
(c) Collision.
(d) Subsidence.
16. Which of the following processes was NOT a major factor in global sea level changes during the Phanerozoic?
(a) Rates of continental rifting, drifting, and collision.
(b) Rates of sea-floor spreading.
(c) Formation of ice sheets.
(d) Local up-or-down crustal movements.
17. Which of the following statements concerning the effect of sea-level change on sedimentation
patterns is NOT true?
(a) Rising sea level causes seaward migration of the sandy beach facies.
(b) Rising sea level causes landward migration of the muddy facies.
(c) Rising sea level causes landward migration of the carbonate facies.
(d) Rising sea level causes landward migration of the sandy beach facies.
18. Sequences deposited from the lowering of sea level can be recognized by the presence of:
(a) a disconformable erosion surface.
(b) the sandy beach facies.
(c) the muddy lagoon facies.
(d) the carbonate facies.
19. Which hypothesis does NOT attempt to explain the changes of life on the Earth’s surface?
(a) Catastrophism.
(b) Continental drift.
(c) Divine creation.
(d) Uniformitarianism.
20. The most basic unit of biological classification is the:
(a) genus.
(b) species.
(c) family.
(d) kingdom.
21. Each species is identified with a two part name that includes its:
(a) family and order.
(b) class and order.
(c) kingdom and domain.
(d) genus and species.
22. Which of the following statements regarding lions and tigers is NOT true?
(a) They both belong to the same species.
(b) They both belong to the same genus.
(c) They are both big cats.
(d) Offspring crossbred from lions and tigers are sterile.
23. Larmarckian evolution was based on:
(a) catastrophism.
(b) divine creation.
(c) inheritance of acquired characteristics.
(d) uniformitarianism.
24. Darwin was hired on the Beagle as the ship’s:
(a) cabin boy.
(b) naturalist.
(c) geologist.
(d) captain
25. All of the following are examples of the same homologous structure EXCEPT a(n):
(a) man’s forelimb.
(b) bird’s wing.
(c) insect’s wing.
(d) bat’s wing.
26. What is the evolutionary implication of homologous structures?
(a) nature finds a way.
(b) structures were inherited from a common ancestor.
(c) convergence.
(d) speciation.
27. What is the evolutionary significance of vestigial structures?
(a) Convergence.
(b) The structure was useful in ancestors.
(c) Adaptive radiation.
(d) Speciation.
28. An example of a vestigial structure in humans would be:
(a) the tailbone.
(b) wisdom teeth.
(c) the appendix.
(d) All of the above.
29. Individuals in a population compete for:
(a) food.
(b) habitat.
(c) mates.
(d) All of the above.
30. Individuals in a population succeed only when they:
(a) grow to maturity.
(b) reproduce.
(c) survive.
(d) find food.
31. What is the driving force of evolution?
(a) extinction.
(b) catastrophism.
(c) natural selection.
(d) inheritance of acquired characteristics.
32. Mendel found that all of the following parental crosses will produce a red flower in pea plants
EXCEPT:
(a) both parents were red.
(b) both parents were white.
(c) one parent was red, one parent was white.
(d) all flowers were red, regardless of their parents flower color.
33. Mendel supposed that the white flowered offspring contained:
(a) one red trait, one white trait.
(b) flower color determined by other factors.
(c) both red traits.
(d) both white traits.
34. Meoisis takes place in:
(a) the body cells of eukaryotes.
(b) the sex cells of multicellular eukaryotes.
(c) the sex cells of prokaryotes.
(d) the body cells of prokaryotes.
35. Mutations are passed along to future generations only if they occur in:
(a) the sex cells of eukaryotes.
(b) the body cells of multicellular eukaryotes.
(c) the sex cells of prokaryotes.
(d) the body cells of prokaryotes.
36. All of the following represent adaptive radiation EXCEPT:
(a) reptiles at the beginning of the Mesozoic.
(b) mammals at the beginning of the Cenozoic.
(c) Darwin’s finches.
(d) dinosaurs at the end of the Mesozoic.
37. Most fossils are not actual parts of the original organism, but represent replacement:
(a) molds.
(b) casts.
(c) impressions.
(d) All of the above.
38. All of the following organisms are well represented in the fossil record EXCEPT:
(a) trilobites.
(b) worms.
(c) brachiopods.
(d) bivalves.
39. Which of the following are problems faced by paleontologists attempting to name species:
(a) different appearances of adult and juvenile stages.
(b) great differences in size between male and female forms.
(c) highly variable adult morphology.
(d) All of the above
40. All of the following are important characteristics of index fossils EXCEPT:
(a) widespread distribution.
(b) easily identified.
(c) large size.
(d) short geologic range.
41. A floating organisms such as a foraminifer or a radiolarian would be classified by a paleoecologist as:
(a) planktonic.
(b) nektonic.
(c) vagile benthic.
(d) sessile benthic.
42. The geological research of William Smith helped to establish the:
(a) Law of Superposition.
(b) Law of Faunal Succession.
(c) Law of Crosscutting.
(d) Law of Original Horizontality.
E. Short Answer
1. Discuss how
a. glaciers and
b. mid-ocean ridges
cause sea-level to rise and fall.