Earth System History 4th Edition Stanley Test Bank

Earth System History 4th Edition Stanley Test Bank

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Earth System History, 4th Edition, by Steven M. Stanley and John A. Luczaj

Test Bank, Chapter 06

1. __________ was the first to conclude that species have become extinct over the course of
Earth's history.
A) Charles Darwin
B) George Cuvier
C) James Hutton
D) Charles Lyell
Ans: B

2. In a joint paper (1835), British geologists Adam Sedgwick and Roderick Murchison
named the __________ systems, based principally upon studies in Wales.
A) Precambrian and Cambrian
B) Cambrian and Devonian
C) Cambrian and Silurian
D) Precambrian and Silurian
Ans: C

3. In 1839, the Silurian System was defined primarily on the basis of

A) the nature of sedimentary rocks lying directly upon ancient crystalline rocks.
B) seven distinct fossil mammalian faunas of the Paris Basin.
C) expansion of glaciers at the south pole, which was related to a mass extinction.
D) trilobites, brachiopods, and crinoids, and as well as corals that formed small reefs.
Ans: D

4. In 1879, __________ proposed that a system be erected between Cambrian and Silurian.
A) Charles Lapworth
B) Adam Sedgwick
C) Charles Lyell
D) Omalius d'Halloy
Ans: A

5. Uppermost ___________ rocks document an episode of widespread extinction and

expansion of glaciers near the south pole that we know was related to that extinction.
A) Cambrian
B) Ordovician
C) Silurian
D) Devonian
Ans: B

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 6. A time-rock unit is the same thing as a __________ unit.
A) chronologic
B) chronostratigraphic
C) biostratigraphic
D) lithostratigraphic
Ans: B

7. A(n) __________ includes all strata in the world that were deposited during a particular
interval of time called an Epoch.
A) epoch
B) stage
C) erathem
D) series
Ans: D

8. The boundary between two chronostratigraphic units, for example, Ordovician and
Silurian, is formally defined at a single locality known as a
A) stratigraphic range.
B) geochronologic unit.
C) boundary stratotype.
D) time-rock unit.
Ans: C

9. Select the description below that is NOT some type of biozone.

A) A body of rock defined by the range of a single taxon
B) A body of rock having a lower boundary defined by the lowermost or uppermost
occurrence of one taxon and an upper boundary defined by the lowermost or
uppermost occurrence of another taxon
C) A body of rock with lower and upper boundaries based on the ranges of one or more
taxa, usually species, in the stratigraphic record
D) A body of rock defined by the absence of taxa
Ans: D

10. Select the characteristic below that is NOT consistent with an index or guide fossil.
A) The fossil is very rare in the stratigraphic record.
B) The fossil is easily distinguished from other taxa.
C) The fossil is geographically widespread.
D) The fossil occurs in many kinds of sedimentary rock and in many places.
Ans: A

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11. __________ form the basis for all magnetic stratigraphy.
A) Outpourings of iron-rich lava and magma
B) Reversals of Earth's magnetic field
C) Small grains of iron-bearing minerals that settle from water to become parts of
sedimentary rocks
D) Minerals that crystallize from lava or magma
Ans: B

12. A __________ is a polarity time-rock unit.

A) pole
B) zone
C) chron
D) group
Ans: C

13. Among those listed below, __________ is the smaller lithostratigraphic unit.
A) group
B) supergroup
C) member
D) formation
Ans: C

14. A __________ displays a vertical sequence of rock layers in a local outcrop or other rock
exposure, but which does NOT necessarily define a stratigraphic unit.
A) boundary stratotype
B) type section
C) stratigraphic section
D) time-rock unit
Ans: C

15. A regression might result in a sandy beach facies being deposited on top of a __________
facies.
A) muddy lagoon
B) meandering stream
C) muddy offshore
D) gravelly alluvial fan
Ans: C

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16. Correlation of local stratigraphic sections measured along the walls of the Grand Canyon
shows that the lower part of the Muav Limestone changes laterally into the
A) upper part of the Bright Angel Shale.
B) upper part of the Tapeats Sandstone.
C) upper part of the Muav Limestone.
D) lower part of the Tapeats Sandstone.
Ans: A

17. One of the problems with trying to compute the absolute age of Earth based on rates of
accumulation of sediment is that
A) removal of salts by evaporate deposition has approximately balanced the addition
of salts by rivers and other sources.
B) radioactive decay and its heat contribution to Earth's heat need to be taken into
account.
C) the salinity of the world ocean may not have changed much since early in Earth's
history.
D) the stratigraphic record is full of gaps and unconformities.
Ans: D

18. Select the method below that is NOT a legitimate way that an isotope undergoes decay
from parent to daughter isotope.
A) Loss of an alpha particle
B) Capture of an alpha particle
C) Loss of a beta particle
D) Capture of a beta particle
Ans: B

19. If after three half-lives, a mineral crystal that originally contained 80 atoms of a common,
radioactive isotope of uranium would contain how many atoms of the original isotope?
A) 40
B) 20
C) 10
D) 5
Ans: C

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20. Potassium-argon and argon-argon dating techniques are used on
A) some minerals that form in igneous and metamorphic rocks.
B) igneous, metamorphic, and even in a few sedimentary rocks older than about 10
million years.
C) objects of biological origin, such as bones, teeth, and pieces of wood.
D) reef-building corals and certain other fossils with these elements within them.
Ans: A

21. The change over time in the ratio of two isotopes of __________ in the world ocean is the
basis for much of stable isotope stratigraphy.
A) thorium
B) carbon
C) strontium
D) uranium
Ans: C

22. For alpha decay to cause a loss in mass, such as that in the uranium 238 conversion to
thorium 234, what must the atomic weight of the alpha particle be?
A) 0
B) 2
C) 4
D) 6
Ans: C

23. __________ provides a means for determining how long an object has been exposed at
Earth's surface.
A) Radiocarbon dating
B) Cosmogenic dating
C) Thermoluminescensce dating
D) Optical dating
Ans: B

24. The approximate half-life of radioactive decay from rubidium 87 to strontium 87 is

__________ billion years.
A) 0.7
B) 1.3
C) 4.6
D) 48.8
Ans: D

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25. Preservation of deposits resulting from instantaneous events preserved within
sedimentary layers is the basis for correlation in
A) event stratigraphy.
B) biostratigraphy.
C) isotope stratigraphy.
D) lithostratigraphy.
Ans: A

26. Select the layer below that is NOT a good marker bed for temporal correlation.
A) Volcanic ash bed
B) Dark and light bands in some evaporate deposits
C) Iridium-enriched layers
D) A bed of conglomerate lying on a transgressive surface
Ans: D

27. Global changes of sea level are the same as

A) sequences.
B) eustatic changes.
C) seismic stratigraphy.
D) marker beds.
Ans: B

28. In a typical cross- section showing facies in a transgression-regression, the place where
the facies boundary meets the line of correlation is called
A) the “moment” of maximum regression.
B) the “moment” of maximum transgression.
C) the level of the unconformity.
D) an event or marker bed.
Ans: B

29. __________ is the method used to divide much of the stratigraphic record into units
called __________, which are large bodies of marine sediment bounded by
unconformities resulting from relatively sudden drops in sea level.
A) Seismic stratigraphy; eustatic changes
B) Global unconformities; eustatic changes
C) Seismic stratigraphy; sequences
D) Global unconformities; sequences
Ans: C

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Earth System History 4th Edition Stanley Test Bank

30. The shortest of the Milankovitch cycles of change in Earth's astronomical movements is
called
A) precession.
B) obliquity.
C) eccentricity.
D) feedback.
Ans: A

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