Glencoe Earth Science

Chapter 13: Clues to Earth's Past

Clues to Earth’s Past

1.
How do unconformities form?
A)when rocks are displaced by growing roots
B)when erosion removes portions of rock by washing or scraping them away
C)when animals add portions of rock by depositing them in the empty spaces
D)when animals remove portions of rock by scraping them away
2.
When sedimentary rock is deposited on top of igneous or metamorphic rock, scientists call this __________.
A)nonconformity
B)normal unconformity
C)disconformity
D)angular unconformity
3.
When horizontal layers of sediment are tilted or uplifted, scientists call this __________.
A)angular unconformity
B)disconformity
C)nonconformity
D)normal unconformity
4.
What determines whether or not an organism will become a fossil?
A)how well it is protected from scavengers, decomposers, and physical agents that break things down
B)its chemical makeup
C)the weather conditions at the time of death
D)the type of soil it is buried in
5.
What principle did James Hutton use to determine that Earth was much older than a few thousand years old?
A)conformitarianism
B)uniformitarianism
C)disconformitarianism
D)superposition
6.
What type of process helps scientists find preserved DNA inside fossils?
A)Premineralized remains can have soft material that was once inside the fossil preserved in minerals around the fossil.
B)insects preserved in amber
C)Fossils that are younger and still have living material inside
D)Plants fossilized around the organism might have soft material that was once inside the fossil preserved around the plant.
7.
What do scientists use to help them determine the absolute age of rocks and other objects?
A)the number of atoms they are made of
B)their weight
C)the properties of the atoms they are made of
D)the properties of the fossils they are made of
8.
What do scientists use to determine the ages of rock within a rock layer?
A)carbonaceous film
B)index fossils
C)the type of rock it is
D)trace fossils
9.
Rocks that can be dated radiometrically are mostly __________.
A)metamorphic rocks
B)igneous and metamorphic rocks
C)sedimentary and metamorphic rocks
D)igneous and sedimentary rocks
10.
What do large volumes of plant matter that have become carbonized form?
A)coal
B)tar
C)dirt
D)mountains
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