Chapter 23 Multiple Choice Quiz 1

Please answer all questions


1	The oldest fossils are about how many years old?
		A)	4.5 billion years
		B)	3.5 billion years
		C)	250 million years
		D)	10,000 years


2	Which of the following is not a common way for fossils to form?
		A)	preservation of skeletal remains
		B)	preservation of an organism's shape
		C)	preservation of signs of activity
		D)	preservation of soft parts by freezing


3	The fossilization process by which the original material is dissolved and new materials added is called
		A)	replacement.
		B)	carbonization.
		C)	mineralization.
		D)	replication.


4	A road cut shows layers of sedimentary rock that are uptilted. From this observation one could conclude that the rocks
		A)	have been subjected to deformational stress.
		B)	were formed by deposition of sediment on a sloping surface.
		C)	were formed on land instead of under water.
		D)	None of these is correct.


5	Correlating and relative dating of rock units is made possible by application of the principle of
		A)	cross-cutting relationships.
		B)	faunal succession.
		C)	superposition.
		D)	All of these can be used.


6	Fossils are useful for all of the following except
		A)	correlating rocks in one location with those in another.
		B)	determining the former environment of a region.
		C)	determining the former climate of a region.
		D)	determining the exact age of the earth.


7	To serve as a geologic clock, a process must
		A)	have been operating since the beginning of the earth.
		B)	be uniform (or at least subject to averaging).
		C)	be capable of being measured.
		D)	All of these must be true.


8	The process that has yielded the most accurate estimate of the age of the earth is measurement of
		A)	the rate of sedimentation.
		B)	the radioactive decay of elements in minerals
		C)	rate of increase of salinity of the oceans.
		D)	the rate of the cooling of the earth from a molten mass.


9	The geologic time scale defines eras in terms of
		A)	major worldwide extinctions of life on earth.
		B)	reversals in the earth's magnetic field.
		C)	the beginning of the radioactive decay of elements in minerals.
		D)	major plate tectonic events.


10	Correlation and relative dating through the use of index fossils is limited because
		A)	index fossils are extremely rare.
		B)	many sedimentary layers do not contain index fossils at all.
		C)	index fossils appeared for too short a time in the geologic record to be very helpful.
		D)	index fossils are rarely found in other than sedimentary rocks.

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