1. 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
2. The division of Earth's geologic history into units of
time called eons, eras, periods, and epochs is based on
A)
B)
C)
D)
absolute dating techniques
fossil evidence
climatic changes
seismic data
3. 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
4. Which event occurred earliest in geologic history?
A)
B)
C)
D)
appearance of the earliest grasses
appearance of the earliest birds
the Grenville Orogeny
the intrusion of the Palisades Sill
5. Trilobite fossils were recently discovered in
Himalayan Mountain bedrock. During which geologic
period could these organisms have lived?
A) Neogene
C) Triassic
B) Cretaceous
D) Cambrian
6. What is the estimated age of Earth?
A) 4.6 × 10 6 years
C) 4.6 × 10 8 years
B) 4.6 × 10 7 years
D) 4.6 × 10 9 years
D) 4
7. 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
8. 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%
9. 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
C) 3.8 m
B) 2.5 m
D) 4.5 m
10. How much of an 800-gram sample of potassium-40
will remain after 3.9 × 10 9 years of radioactive
decay?
A) 50 grams
C) 200 grams
B) 100 grams
D) 400 grams
11. How old is a fossil that has radioactively decayed
through 4 half-lives of carbon-14?
A) 5,700 years
C) 22,800 years
B) 17,100 years
D) 28,500 years
12. The half-life of a radioactive substance is mainly
controlled by the
A)
B)
C)
D)
amount of the substance
composition of the substance
pressure acting on the substance
temperature of the substance
13. The graph below shows the relationship between
mass and time for four radioactive elements during
radioactive decay.
16. Devonian-age fossils found in New York State
bedrock, such as Manticoceras and Mucrospirifer,
provide evidence that parts of New York State were
once
A) under a shallow sea containing tropical
waters
B) higher in elevation and eroded extensively by
glaciers
C) covered by extensive lava f1ows
D) impacted by comets and asteroids
17. Scientists believe that a large asteroid struck Earth
approximately 65 million years ago. It is often
theorized that this event contributed to the
A)
B)
C)
D)
Which line best represents the decay curve for
potassium-40?
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
14. Base your answer on the diagram below which
represents a cube of radioactive material (figure A)
cut into eight identical cubes (figure B).
Compared to the half-life of the material in figure A,
the half-life of the material in each small cube in
figure B is
A) 1/8 as long
C) 8 times longer
B) 1/64 as long
D) the same
15. Which group of organisms has the shortest record of
life on Earth?
A) eurypterids
C) birds
B) graptolites
D) placoderm fish
end of the last ice age
breaking up of the supercontinent Pangea
evolution of the first birds
extinction of the dinosaurs
18. The cartoon below illustrates possible interaction
between humans and mammoths.
21. Which event occurred at the time of the Alleghenian
Orogeny?
A) the extinction of many kinds of marine
animals
B) the extinction of many kinds of land animals
C) the development of primitive aquatic plants
D) the development of birds and mammals
22. Which event occurred at the start of the Mesozoic
Era?
A)
B)
C)
D)
the extinction of the armored fishes
the extinction of the mastodont
the appearance of the reptile
the appearance of the dinosaur
23. The gases in Earth's early atmosphere are inferred to
have come primarily from
A)
B)
C)
D)
meteor showers
melting of glacial ice
volcanic eruptions
evaporation of seawater
24. According to the fossil record, which sequence
correctly represents the evolution of life on Earth?
During which geologic timespan could this "game"
have ocurred?
A)
B)
C)
D)
Pleistocene Epoch
Pennsylvanian Epoch
Precambrian Era
Paleozoic Era
19. Which rock is most likely the oldest?
A) conglomerate containing the tusk of a
mastodont
B) shale containing trilobite fossils
C) sandstone containing fossils of flowering plants
D) siltstone containing dinosaur footprints
20. A skull was discovered that has human
characteristics and is about 2.8 million years old.
Based on this information, during which epoch
could early humans have existed?
A) Pliocene
C) Oligocene
B) Miocene
D) Eocene
A) fish
amphibians
mammals
soft-bodied organisms
B) fish
soft-bodied organisms
mammals
amphibians
C) soft-bodied organisms
amphibians
fish
mammals
D) soft-bodied organisms
fish
amphibians
mammals
25. Which event in Earth’s history was dependent on the
development of a certain type of life-form?
A) addition of free oxygen to Earth’s
atmosphere
B) formation of clastic sedimentary rocks
C) movement of tectonic plates
D) filling of the oceans by precipitation
26. Which group of organisms, some of which were
preserved as fossils in early Paleozoic rocks, are still
in existence today?
A) brachiopods
C) graptolites
B) eurypterids
D) trilobites
27. Which life-form appeared first?
A) trilobite
C) coelophysis
B) human
D) stromatolite
30. The diagram below represents a geologic cross
section of a portion of Earth's crust.
28. Organisms that later became good index fossils lived
over a
A) wide geographic area and existed for a long
geologic time
B) wide geographic area and existed for a short
geologic time
C) limited geographic area and existed for a long
geologic time
D) limited geographic area and existed for a short
geologic time
29. The three cross sections of sedimentary bedrock
shown below represent widely separated surface
exposures of layers that contain fossils. Letters A, B,
C, and D represent four different marine fossils
found in these rock layers.
Folding and erosion occurred after the formation of
the
A) Gayle shale
B) Freeport sandstone
C) Erie coal, but before formation of Freeport
sandstone
D) Dunbar limestone, but before formation of Erie
coal
31. Base your answer to the following question on the
geologic cross section below of the Grand Canyon.
The numbers 1 through 10 represent Paleozoic
sedimentary rock layers.
Which letter best represents an index fossil?
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
The unconformity between the Paleozoic
sedimentary rocks and the Precambrian sedimentary
rocks represents
A)
B)
C)
D)
a gap in the geologic time record
an intrusion of igneous rock
an abundance of fossils
a region of metamorphic rock
32. During which two geologic time periods did most of
the surface bedrock of the Taconic Mountains form?
A)
B)
C)
D)
Cambrian and Ordovician
Silurian and Devonian
Pennsylvanian and Mississippian
Triassic and Jurassic
33. Which geologic event occurred in New York State at
approximately the same time that eurypterids were
becoming extinct?
A)
B)
C)
D)
the opening of the Atlantic Ocean
the uplift of the Appalachian Mountains
the formation of the Catskill Delta
the intrusion of the Palisades Sill
34. The cross section below shows four rock units, A, B,
C, and D.
Which rock unit is youngest in age?
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
35. The cross section below shows rock layers A, B, C,
D, and fault F. The rock layers have not been
overturned.
Which sequence places the rock layers and fault in
order from oldest to youngest?
A)
B)
C)
D)
D
A
F
F
C
B
D
A
B
C
C
B
A
D
B
C
F
F
A
D
36. Base your answer to the following question on the block diagram below, which shows a portion of
Eath's crust. Letters A, B, C, and D indicate sedimentary layers.
Which event occurred most recently?
A)
B)
C)
D)
formation of layer A
formation of layer D
tilting of all four sedimentary rock layers
erosion of the igneous rock exposed at the surface
37. What is the relative age of a fault that cuts across
many rock layers?
A) The fault is younger than all the layers it
cuts across.
B) The fault is older than all the layers it cuts
across.
C) The fault is the same age as the top layer it cuts
across.
D) The fault is the same age as the bottom layer it
cuts across.
38. The geologic cross section below shows sedimentary
rock layers A, B, C, and D, which have not been
overturned. E is an igneous intrusion. Line XY
represents a fault.
Which geologic event occurred most recently?
A)
B)
C)
D)
deposition of sediments for rock layer A
formation of the fault
intrusion of the igneous material E
cementation of sediments for rock layer D
39. Which statement correctly describes an age
relationship in the geologic cross section below?
A)
B)
C)
D)
40. The diagram below shows a geologic cross section
of a portion of the Earth's crust that has not been
overturned.
The sandstone is younger than the basalt.
The shale is younger than the basalt.
The limestone is younger than the shale.
The limestone is younger than the basalt.
An observer travels across the surface from point A
to point B, measuring the age of the surface
bedrock. The observer finds the age of the surface
bedrock to
A)
B)
C)
D)
decrease, only
increase, only
decrease, then increase
increase, then decrease
Answer Key
Earth's History 2012
1.
D
36.
D
2.
B
37.
A
3.
B
38.
C
4.
C
39.
B
5.
D
40.
D
6.
D
7.
B
8.
D
9.
D
10.
B
11.
C
12.
B
13.
D
14.
D
15.
D
16.
A
17.
D
18.
A
19.
B
20.
A
21.
A
22.
D
23.
C
24.
D
25.
A
26.
A
27.
D
28.
B
29.
C
30.
C
31.
A
32.
A
33.
C
34.
A
35.
A