North Carolina Science Grade 8

Chapter 3: Clues to Earth's Past

Clues to Earth’s Past

1.
When younger sediments are deposited on top of an older area of erosion, scientists call this __________.
A)normal unconformity
B)nonconformity
C)angular unconformity
D)disconformity
2.
What natural preservative have scientists discovered fossils within?
A)frozen ground
B)amber
C)tar
D)all of the above
3.
Radiometric dating has been used to date the oldest rocks on Earth, and scientists now estimate Earth to be __________.
A)a few thousand years old
B)4.6 billion years old
C)2.0 billion years old
D)3.96 billion years old
4.
What geological theory has fossil evidence supported?
A)The Big Bang
B)plate tectonics
C)continental drift
D)seafloor spreading
5.
How is sediment transformed into rock?
A)Compaction and cementation occur.
B)Compaction occurs.
C)Compaction and carbonization occurs.
D)Cementation occurs.
6.
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
7.
When horizontal layers of sediment are tilted or uplifted, scientists call this __________.
A)nonconformity
B)disconformity
C)normal unconformity
D)angular unconformity
8.
What do large volumes of plant matter that have become carbonized form?
A)coal
B)tar
C)dirt
D)mountains
9.
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)Plants fossilized around the organism might have soft material that was once inside the fossil preserved around the plant.
C)Fossils that are younger and still have living material inside
D)insects preserved in amber
10.
What type of method do scientists use to determine correlation of rock layers?
A)radioactive decay
B)fossil evidence
C)Fossils that are younger and still have living material inside
D)all of the above
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