Spring 2016 – Clicker Questions. 15% extra credit
Points: Participation points are generally worth 1/3 of the points each day, and performance
points are worth 2/3 of the points each day. You must be present and answer all questions in
order to get the participation points. Performance points are awarded for correct answers.
As we progress through the semester, I will tell you the total possible points at any given
time. Dividing the number of points you have by the total possible points gives the percentage of
the maximum extra credit you have at that point. For instance, by Test 1 the maximum number
of points might be 36 (12 participation and 24 performance points). If you have 30 clicker
points, then you have 83% (30/36 = 0.83) of the possible points. By the end of the semester
there might be 150 points (50 participation and 100 performance points). If you have 120 clicker
points, then you have 80% (120/150 = 0.80) of the possible points. Multiply 80% x 15 = 12%
extra credit to add to your test average. If your test average was 76% then your total would be
88%.
Wednesday, Jan.13, Outline 1: practice
1. What was Lord Kelvin’s starting assumption in calculating the age of the earth
based on the rate of heat loss (or cooling)?
A. The earth had once been entirely molten and then cooled to its present solid
state.
B. The earth has become cooler over time as the sun’s energy decreased over
time.
C. That the continents were fixed and have not moved over time.
D. He assumed too much heat from radioactive decay of minerals in the earth.
2. The Appalachian Mountains are considered to be very old mountains. But how
old is old? If earth history could be compressed into a single year, in which month
did the Appalachians form?
A. March
B. July
C. October
D. December
3. If the earth’s history could be compressed into a single year, how soon before
the end of the year did our species, Homo sapiens, first appear?
A. About a week.
B. About a day.
C. About an hour.
D. About 10 minutes.
4. How did North America and Africa come to be separated by over 6000 km
(4000 miles) of ocean?
A. The continents were formed in their current positions early in earth history.
B. Rates of continental drift were very rapid in the geologic past.
C. It only took 5% of earth history with sea floor spreading at the rate of about
3 cm per year.
D. The continents are moving imperceptibly, so it took about 50% of earth
history for the Atlantic Ocean to form.
Wednesday, Jan. 21: Outline 2
1. What does this photo show?
A. Dinosaur skin
B. Mud cracks in modern sediments.
C. Mud cracks in sedimentary rock.
D. Ripples formed by water or wind in an ancient environment.
2. How do you know the answer to the above question?
A. Principle of Uniformitarianism
B. Induction
C. Deduction
D. All of the above
3. The sedimentary rock layers above formed in flowing water. What was the
direction of flow?
A. Left to right
B. Right to left
C. Top to bottom
D. Not enough information to tell
4. The Principle of Uniformitarianism states that “the present is the key to the
past.” Could we also use this principle to claim that “the past is the key to the
future”?
A. Yes
B. No
Outline 3
5. How do we know that these tilted rocks did not form this way?
A. Principle of Superposition
B. Principle of Original Horizontality
C. Principle of Cross-cutting Relationships
D. Principle of Intrusive Relationships
Wednesday, Jan. 27: Outline 3
1. Which of the principles of historical geology is not illustrated in the above
diagram?
A. Superposition
B. Cross-Cutting Relationships
C. Original Lateral Continuity
D. Fossil Succession
E. Original Horizontality
2. What is the oldest feature in this diagram?
3. What is the youngest feature in this diagram?
4. Which feature is an igneous dike?
February 1: Outline 4
1. How do black shales form?
A. In anoxic aquatic environments.
B. From soot washed into rivers and lakes from forest fires.
C. In oxygenated environments.
D. By baking of sedimentary rocks by igneous intrusions.
2. What is the rock type shown above?
A. Sandstone
B. Conglomerate
C. Limestone
D. Dolostone
3. What is shown in this photomicrograph?
A. Grains in an oolite limestone
B. Sand in a sandstone
C. Conglomerate grains
D. Poor sorting of grains
4. The sedimentary facies shown above is best described as?
A. Alluvial fan
B. Reef
C. Delta
D. Beach
5. What does this diagram show?
A. Transgression and probably rising sea level.
B. Transgression and probably falling sea level.
C. Regression and probably rising sea level.
D. Regression and probably falling sea level.
Wednesday, Feb. 3: Outlines 4 & 5
WEST
EAST
1. The marine Bright Angel Shale overlies the beach deposits of the Tapeats
Sandstone. The zone of middle Cambrian trilobites is shown in red on the
stratigraphic sections in the Grand Canyon. Based on the information shown
above, which of the following is true about the Bright Angel Shale?
A. It is younger in the east and older in the west.
B. It is younger in the west and older in the east.
C. Sea level was falling during the deposition of the Bright Angel Shale.
D. A and C
E. B and C
2. Which of the following eras are in correct order from oldest to youngest?
A. Mesozoic, Paleozoic, Cenozoic
B. Cenozoic, Mesozoic, Paleozoic
C. Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic
D. Mesozoic, Cenozoic, Paleozoic
3. Which of the following periods are in correct order from oldest to youngest,
with no gaps?
A. Cambrian, Silurian, Devonian, Permian
B. Ordovician, Silurian, Carboniferous, Triassic
C. Silurian, Devonian, Permian, Carboniferous
D. Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic
E. Jurassic, Triassic, Cretaceous, Paleogene
4. Which of the following Cenozoic epochs are in correct order from oldest to
youngest, with no gaps?
A. Paleocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pleistocene
B. Eocene, Oligocene, Pliocene, Miocene
C. Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene
D. Paleocene, Eocene, Miocene, Oligocene
Monday, Feb. 8: Outline 6
1. What does this diagram show?
A. The formation of Carbon-14
B. The decay of Carbon-14
C. Explosive Nucleosynthesis
D. Radiocarbon dating
2. If the parent:daughter ratio (P:D) of a radioactive element is 1:15, how many
half-lives has elapsed?
A. 2
B. 4
C. 6
D. 8
3. If the parent:daughter ratio (P:D) of a radioactive element is 1:7, how many halflives has elapsed?
A. 1
B. 3
C. 5
D. 7
4. A lava flow has a radioactive element with a P:D ratio of 1:31 with a half-live of
50 million years. How old is the lava flow?
A. 100 m.y.
B. 150 m.y.
C. 200 m.y.
D. 250 m.y.
E. 300 m.y.
5. Which of the following cannot be dated using the Carbon-14 method?
A. Egyptian mummies
B. Charcoal from native American campfires
C. Cave paintings in France and Spain
D. Dinosaur bones
6. The radiometric clock for dating rocks is set when:
A. the igneous rock crystallizes and cools down.
B. the geologist sets the clock with a mass spectrometer.
C. the original elements formed by explosive nucleosynthesis in a
supernova.
D. the parent nuclide: daughter nuclide ratio is measured.