1. "Fossil organisms succeed one another in a definite and determinable order, and therefore any time period can be recognized by its fossil content."
a. principle of fossil succession
b. principle of superposition
c. principle of crosscutting relationships
d. principle of original horizontality
e. principle of inclusions

2. When you observe an outcrop of steeply inclined sedimentary layers, what principle allows you to assume that the beds were tilted after they were deposited?
a. principle of fossil succession
b. principle of superposition
c. principle of crosscutting relationships
d. principle of original horizontality
e. principle of inclusions

3. The Earth is about ____ years old?
a. 4.6 thousand
b. 4.6 million
c. 4.6 billion
d. 4.6 trillion
e. 4.6 gazillion

4. In general, rocks exposed in the cores of mountain ranges are ________ when compared to surrounding rocks.
a. quite old b. quite young

5. The names Cenozoic, Mesozoic and Paleozoic refer to geological
a. eons
b. eras
c. periods
d. epochs
e. pulses

6. Missing rock, or "a surface that represents a break in the rock record caused by erosion or non-deposition."
a. unconformity
b. cross bedding
c. continental gap
d. epoch
e. epic

7. Rocks in the lowest parts of the Grand Canyon are old. How old?
a. Permian
b. Cretaceous and Tertiary
c. Cambrian
d. Precambrian
e. Phanerozoic

3. Fossils that are most useful as time indicators are called
a. index fossils
b. time fossils
c. indicator fossils
d. extinct fossils
e. correlative fossils

9. The half life of uranium-238 is 4.5 billion years. This means that if we start with 100 atoms of uranium-238, we will have ___ atoms left after 9 billion years (two half lives):
a. 100
b. 75
c. 50
d. 25
e. 0

10. What may account for the fact that we don't have a detailed time scale for the Precambrian?
a. Precambrian rocks are not found at the surface in most parts of the Earth
b. there are not many fossils associated with Precambrian rocks
c. many Precambrian rocks were affected by metamorphism
d. we just don't know lots of things about rocks that old
e. all of the above

11. Early scientists thought the Earth was less than 100 million years. They based their estimates on:
a. rates of sedimentation
b. rate at which the ocean gets salty
c. the rate at which the Earth cooled
d. the Bible
e. all of the above

12. Why can we not get radiometric age dates for most sedimentary rocks?
a. because there is no quartz or clay present
b. because the rock formed over a long period of time
c. because the ages we get will be ages of individual grains, not the rock
d. because diagenesis causes all ages to become disequilibrium ages, generally younger
e. all of the above

13. Which samples yielded the oldest radiometric ages?
a. rocks of the Canadian Shield
b. individual zircon grains in sandstones from Australia
c. Mt. St. Helens lavas
d. the Zoroaster Granite
e. moon rocks

14. Carbon-14 dating works well for young archaeological artifacts. Uranium-lead dating works well for very old rocks. Why the difference?
a. there is no carbon in very old rocks
b. there is no uranium in archaeological samples
c. uranium can be a gas, carbon cannot
d. carbon breaks down at high temperature
e. carbon has a much shorter half life

15. In the geological time scale, subdivision of eras are
a. eons
b. stages
c. periods
d. epochs
e. pulses

16. Which of the following is the youngest period of geological time?
a. Cenozoic
b. Mesozoic
c. Paleozoic
d. Precambrian
e. neither, they all refer to the same thing

17. Crust that has not been affected by orogeny for a very long time is called a
a. craton
b. fault-block mountain
c. anticline
d. exotic terrane
e. mylonite

18. The mountains along some continental margins contain accreted terranes. What sorts of margins?
a. transform faults
b. convergent
c. divergent

19. The Canadian Shield contains many old metamorphic and igneous rocks that formed deep in the earth. Why do we see them at the surface today?
a. there used to be mountain ranges there
b. due to uplift and erosion
c. most old basement rocks are igneous and metamorphic
d. these are tough rocks that resist weathering and erosion
e. all of the above

20. When rock layers are subjected to compressional forces, ,they may develop
a. normal faults and synclines
b. reverse faults or folds
c. strike-slip faults
d. horsts and grabens
e. spreading centers or rifts

21. Which major mountain range in the United States was caused by a combination of the Grenville Orogeny, the Taconic Orogeny, the Acadian Orogeny and the Alleghenian Orogeny?
a. Alps
b. Rockys
c. Cascade
d. Mogollon
e. Appalachians

22. What types of mountains are found in Nevada (an extentional terrane)?
a. anticlines
b. synclines
c. fault-block mountains
d. slickensides
e. shields

23. Today's Himalayan Mountains are a product of what sort of collision?
a. ocean-ocean
b. ocean-continent
c. continent-continent

24. Most of the near-surface bedrock of the United States is _____________ rocks.
a. volcanic
b. plutonic
c. sedimentary
d. metamorphic
e. economic

25. Which of the following features might let you recognize a fault in the field?
a. slickensides
b. slip lineations
c. mylonites
d. shear zones
e. all of the above

26. Using certain characteristics to arrange rock units or geologic events in chronological order is called:
a. age dating
b. absolute dating
c. relative dating
d. geometric dating
e. the principle of original horizontality

27. Lord Kelvin's original calculation of the age of the Earth was incorrect because he did not take into account
a. heat from radiation
b. fossil succession
c. weathering and diagenesis
d. the magnitude of geological time
e. all of the above

LONGER ANSWER QUESTIONS

27. Consider the map that shows where Precambrian rocks are exposed at the Earth's surface. Why are Precambrian rocks found where shown? Why aren't Precambrian rocks at (or near) the surface everywhere in the United States? What is special or different about the areas with Precambrian rocks?

28. And, specifically, why are volcanic rocks found only in the places colored in map #7. What happened there or is going on there today? (Don't just tell me that those are the places where magma reached the surface -- I asked "why" not "what.")