1. Approximately 2.2 billion years ago, which gas was
first added in large amounts to Earth’s atmosphere
from life-forms that evolved in the oceans?
A) carbon dioxide
B) water vapor
C) oxygen
D) nitrogen
2. Antarctica's location and climate changed over the last
200 million years because Antarctica moved
4. Base your answer to the following question on the
map below. The map represents the movement of
tectonic plates that resulted in the collision of India
with Asia. Scientists believe that 71 million years ago,
India was at position A.
A) southward, resulting in a warmer climate
B) southward, resulting in a colder climate
C) northward, resulting in a warmer climate
D) northward, resulting in a colder climate
3. The diagrams below represent four series of events
over the passage of time.
Which life-forms were living on Earth when India was
at position A?
Which series of events took the least amount of time
to complete?
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
A) humans
C) trilobites
B) dinosaurs
D) armored fishes
5. Which graph shows the relative duration of geologic time for the Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic,
and Cenozoic time intervals?
A)
B)
C)
D)
6. What is the estimated age of Earth?
A) 4.6 × 10 6 years
B) 4.6 × 10 7 years
C) 4.6 × 10 8 years
D) 4.6 × 10 9 years
7. Trilobite fossils were recently discovered in
Himalayan Mountain bedrock. During which geologic
period could these organisms have lived?
10. Geologists have subdivided geologic time into units
based on
A)
B)
C)
D)
rock type
fossil evidence
erosion rates
landscape development
A) Neogene
B) Cretaceous
C) Triassic
D) Cambrian
8. What percentage of Earth's history represents human
existence?
A) less than 1.0%
B) 1.8%
C) 23.5%
D) more than 98.6%
9. The geologic time line below represents the three most recent geologic eras. The numbers represent
events in Earth's history.
Which number best represents when humans are inferred to have first appeared on Earth?
A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4
11. The time line below represents the entire geologic
history of Earth.
Which letter best represents the first appearance of
humans on Earth?
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
12. The timeline below represents time on Earth from the beginning of the Paleozoic Era (A)to the
present (B)
Which numbered position best represents the time when humans first appeared in the fossil record?
A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
13. Which sequence shows the correct order of Earth’s
geologic time intervals from oldest to youngest?
A) Archean ® Mesozoic ® Cenozoic ®
Paleozoic ® Proterozoic
B) Archean ® Proterozoic ® Paleozoic ®
Mesozoic ® Cenozoic
C) Cenozoic ® Mesozoic ® Paleozoic ®
Proterozoic ® Archean
D) Cenozoic ® Paleozoic ® Archean ®
Mesozoic ® Proterozoic
D) 4
14. Base your answer to the following question on the maps below, which show changes in the
distribution of land and water in the Mediterranean Sea region that scientists believe took place over a
period of 6 million years.
During which geologic time period did the changes shown in the maps take place?
A) Cambrian
B) Cretaceous
C) Permian
15. Approximately what percent of geologic time since
the estimated origin of the Earth is represented by
the Precambrian Era?
A) 37% B) 50% C) 67% D) 87%
16. Studies of the rock record suggest that
A) the period during which humans have
existed is very brief compared to geologic
time
B) evidence of the existence of humans is present
over much of the geologic past
C) humans first appeared at the time of the
intrusion of the Palisades sill
D) the earliest humans lived at the same time as
the dinosaurs
D) Neogene
17. What is the estimated length of time of the Mesozoic
Era?
A) 65 million years
B) 160 million years
C) 225 million years D) 345 million years
18. The division of Earth's geologic history into units of
time called eons, eras, periods, and epochs is based
on
A) absolute dating techniques
B) fossil evidence
C) climatic changes
D) seismic data
19. During which geologic epoch do scientists infer that
the earliest grasses first appeared on Earth?
A) Holocene
C) Oligocene
B) Pleistocene
D) Eocene
20. The largest meteorite impact crater in North America
formed approximately 1,850 million years ago,
which was during the
A) Middle Archean Era
B) Early Proterozoic Era
C) Early Jurassic Period
D) Late Cretaceous Period
21. Base your answer to the following question on the chart below, which shows the changing climatic
conditions that led to alternating glacial and interglacial periods.
The chart represents climactic conditions that occurred mostly during which geological time period?
A) Triassic Period
B) Ordovician Period
C) Quaternary Period
D) Cretaceous Period
22. Geologic time is divided into specific periods and
epochs based on
A)
B)
C)
D)
fossil evidence of Earth organisms
inferred positions of Earth landmasses
rock types found in mountainous areas
uplift and erosion of New York State bedrock
23. Base your answer to the following question on the passage and map of a portion of the East African
Rift system shown below. Point X represents a location on Earth's surface within a rift valley on the
Ethiopian Dome.
The Great Rift Valley
Rifting of Earth's crust in eastern Africa began during the Neogene Period as the Ethiopian and
Kenyan Domes formed. These two huge domes were created as Earth's mantle pushed up the
overlying crust. As the crust was forced upward, the resulting tension cracked the crust, resulting
in the eruption of volcanoes and the formation of large rifts. The crust continued to pull apart,
forming rift valleys. These valleys have become deeper and are currently becoming filled with
sediments, igneous rock, and water.
How many million years ago did the Ethiopian and Kenyan Domes form?
24. Base your answer to the following question on the
information and diagram below.
At intervals in the past, the Earth's magnetic field
has reversed. The present North magnetic pole was
once the South magnetic pole, and the present South
magnetic pole was once the North magnetic pole. A
record of these changes is preserved in the igneous
rocks that formed at mid-ocean ridges and moved
away from the ridges.
The diagram below represents the pattern of
normal and reversed magnetic polarity in the igneous
rocks composing the ocean crust on the east side of a
mid-ocean ridge.
During which geological epoch were the rocks at
letter C formed?
A) Eocene
B) Oligocene
C) Paleocene
D) Pliocene
25. If 1 meter = 1 billion years is the scale for a geologic
time line, approximately how many meters would
represent the Paleozoic Era?
A) 0.570 m
C) 0.345 m
B) 0.225 m
D) 0.450 m
26. Base your answers to questions 26 and 27 on the
diagram below, which shows specific events in the
history of Earth from the beginning of the universe
to the present.
Approximately how many billion years after the
beginning of the universe did a solid crust form on
Earth?
A) 0.7 B) 3.9 C) 9.1 D) 13.7
27. Approximately how many years ago did the solar
system originate?
A) 570,000,000
B) 1,000,000,000
C) 4,500,000,000
D) 10,000,000,000
28. When did the Jurassic Period end?
A)
B)
C)
D)
66 million years ago
144 million years ago
163 million years ago
190 million years ago
29. Which column best represents the relative duration
of the major intervals of geologic history?
A)
C)
B)
D)
30. Which event occurred earliest in geologic history?
A) appearance of the earliest grasses
B) appearance of the earliest birds
C) the Grenville Orogeny
D) the intrusion of the Palisades Sill
31. Students plan to construct a geologic time line of the
Earth's history from its origin to the present time.
They will use a scale of 1 meter equals 1 billion
years. What should be the total length of the
students' time line?
A) 10.0 m
B) 2.5 m
C) 3.8 m
D) 4.5 m
32. Approximately what percentage of the estimated age
of Earth does the Cenozoic Era represent?
A) 1.4%
C) 11.9%
B) 5.0%
D) 65.0%
33. Which pie graph best represents the percentage of total time for the four major divisions of geologic
time?
A)
B)
C)
D)
34. Which time line most accurately indicates when this sequence of events in earth's history occurred?
A)
B)
C)
D)