Historical Geology Exam 2 (Chapter 6-9 *nice*)

The toes of land-dwelling mammals are examples of _______

A) natural selection.

B) vestigial organs.

C) homology.

D) origin of species.

According to Darwin, the kinds of individuals that came to predominate as generation followed generation could be said to be 

A) capable of producing more total offspring.

B) mainly survivors alone.

C) favored by natural selection.

D) members of a limited breeding population.

Mutation of ______________________ can profoundly modify an organism. 

A) any part of the DNA

B) the nucleus of a cell

C) a regulatory gene

D) chromosomes

The cornerstone of modern genetics, which was discovered by Gregor Mendel, is called _______

A) a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).

B) chromosomes.

C) mutations.

D) particulate inheritance.

When a new species originates from two or more individuals of a preexisting species, we call this _______

A) interbreeding.

B) speciation.

C) mutation.

D) sexual recombination.

Evolutionary convergence, the evolution of __________ in two or more different biological groups, is convincing evidence of adaptation in biological forms.

A) immature offspring

B) similar forms

C) diverse ways of life

D) limitation

7) Instead of a branching "tree of life", __________ thought that organisms arose by spontaneous generation, then began "climbing the ladder."
A) Mendel

B) Lamarck

C) Cuvier

D) Darwin

Lamarck believed that if you cut the tails off of rats for enough generations, they would eventually lose their tails. (Lamarck did this for 21 generations of rats, but they never lost their tails.) This idea is called _______

A) Mendelian genetics.

B) Neo-Darwinism.

C) Darwinism.

D) inheritance of acquired characteristics.

The geographical distribution of _________ in ________ was strong evidence of evolution.

A) penguins; Antarctica

B) sloths; Argentina

C) dinosaurs; Argentina

D) tortoises; Galapagos Islands

____________________________ independently from Darwin came up with the idea of evolution.

A) Baron Cuvier

B) Lamarck

C) Gregor Mendel

D) Alfred Russel Wallace

To Darwin, the fact that more organisms are born than can survive but populations stay constant was evidence for _______

A) parapatric speciation.

B) gradualism.

C) particulate inheritance.

D) natural selection.

Life shows a pattern of branching, with groups nested within groups, which indicates ______
A) that life has evolved by allopatric speciation.
B) that Lamarck's spontaneous generation is correct.
C) that the groups evolved from a common ancestor.
D) that our current classification system is flawed.

Tiny legs on a whale that are of no use are called ______

A) relic appendages.

B) vestigial organs.

C) phylogenetic abnormalities.

D) wasted appendages.

A term coined by Ernst Haeckel to describe the similarities between the evolutionary history of an organism and its embryological development is called ______

A) ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.

B) evolutionary theory.

C) phylogeny recapitulates ontogeny.

D) survival of the fittest.

In Australia and surrounding regions, there are marsupial dogs, marsupial squirrels, marsupial anteaters, and other mammals that look very similar to placental mammals. What is this similarity referred to in the context of evolution?

A) cladistics

B) reductionism

C) evolutionary divergence

D) evolutionary convergence

Neo-Darwinism (Modern) Synthesis is the theory of evolution that combines ______________________ to explain how evolution works.

A) genetics, Lamarckianism, mathematics

B) gradualism, punctuated equilibrium, allopatric speciation

C) Lamarckianism, Darwinism, reductionism

D) genetics, natural selection, variation

Allopatric speciation refers to the process of speciation in which ______

A) groups of individuals come together to form a new species.

B) a small group of individuals become isolated within the same geographic area as the parent species.

C) a genetic barrier develops that splits a parent population into two parts.

D) a small group of individuals develop new niches and do not interbreed with the parent population.

There is good evidence that viruses can change the DNA code of individuals. The theory that evolution results from the action of natural selection upon acquired characters is called ______

A) neo-Mendelism.

B) neo-Lamarckanism.

C) neo-Darwinism.

D) evolutionary theory

The theory that evolution proceeds uniformly but in very small steps is referred to as ______

A) Lamarckianism

B) cladistics

C) gradualism

D) punctuationism

DNA includes many gene sequences that no longer have a function (genetic junk). A general term for changes in DNA that no longer code anything is called:

A) neo-Lamarckianism

B) Darwinism

C) catastrophism

D) neutralism

If the water flea Daphnia is exposed to predators, it will develop spines, and those changes are heritable. What is the general term for genetic changes that happen after fertilization that can affect the genome?

A) Darwinism

B) neo-Lamarckianism

C) Mendelism

D) Lamarckianism

Given genetic treatment, a chicken embryo can grow to have teeth. These evolutionary throwbacks are called:

A) regulatory genes.

B) Frankenstein genes.

C) atavisms.

D) recessive genes.

An adaptive breakthrough for the modern hexacorals that allowed them to quickly crowd out other animals that would complete for the same hard surfaces was:

A) gnawing front teeth.

B) dual-purpose limbs.

C) porous skeletons.

D) a symbiotic relationship with algae that live in their tissues

The typical pattern of evolutionary radiation, such as that seen in the record of hexacorals, is characterized by______

A) evolution that produced large-scale divergence at a very early stage, but not much divergence later on.

B) evolution that does not seem to affect the body plan.

C) evolution that produced only new genera and species at the early stages.

D) evolution that produced large-scale divergence that continued for many millions of years.

_______________________ undergo mutation without any effect on adaptation.

A) Molecular clocks

B) Neutral genes

C) Amino acids

D) Related taxa with poor fossil records

In general, ______________________ is the result of particularly extreme impacts of limiting factors that normally hold populations in check.

A) adaptation

B) extinction

C) speciation

D) pseudoextinction

Gradual changes in a species through time can accumulate so much that they are formally recognized as a new species. This process is called ______

A) extinction.

B) pseudoextinction.

C) evolution.

D) adaptive breakthroughs.

The Big Five mass extinctions included events in these three time intervals.

A) end Permian, end Jurassic, end Cretaceous

B) end Ordovician, late Devonian, end Triassic

C) end Ordovician, late Devonian, end Jurassic

D) late Silurian, late Devonian, Permian

Trilobites became extinct at the end of the ______

A) Triassic

B) Ordovician

C) Cretaceous

D) Permian

Dollo's law says ______

A) extinction is forever.

B) there is a gradualistic model for evolution.

C) there is a punctuational model for evolution.

D) genetic change spreads rapidly through a population.

Evidence in the form of _________________________ allows us to know the age of the universe and distant galaxies.

A) index fossils

B) the Big Bang

C) the redshift

D) stony meteorites

In the pre-history of our solar system, the event that must have preceded the formation of our solar nebula was _______

A) the arrival of comets.

B) redshift.

C) accretion of Earth.

D) supernova.

The first surface of Earth was likely a _______

A) magma ocean.

B) feldspar-rich crust.

C) layer of gold and platinum.

D) Precambrian craton.

The origin of Earth's Moon was _______

A) a magma ocean.

B) an asteroid captured by Earth's gravity.

C) accretion of a swarm of asteroids that once orbited Earth.

D) the impact of a Mars-sized planet shortly after Earth's accretion

Our planet's early ocean was formed by _______

A) melting of polar ice caps.

B) chemical reactions in the crust and in the early atmosphere.

C) volcanic emission of water vapor.

D) atmospheres of asteroids and comets that struck Earth as it formed.

The expansion of the universe is best observed by_______

A) the Doppler shift towards the blue end of the spectrum.

B) sound waves that bunch up.

C) sound waves that are rarified.

D) the Doppler shift towards the red end of the spectrum.

What wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum are best to observe the early universe?

A) infrared radiation

B) gamma radiation

C) microwave radiation

D) visible light

What observation indicates that a supernova occurred before the formation of our solar nebula?

A) the red shift

B) the temperature of the Solar System

C) the background microwave radiation

D) heavy metals such as uranium on Earth

Which of the following was NOT part of the Nebular Hypothesis for the formation of our Solar System?

A) Matter within the nebula coalesced to form the Sun and planetesimals.

B) The planetesimals coalesced to form the protoplanets and eventually planets.

C) There are large angular differences among the orbital planes of the planets.

D) The Solar System was originally flat, but became more spherical through time

The fastest seismic waves are ______

A) body waves

B) S-waves

C) Raleigh waves

D) P-waves

____________________ cannot pass through liquids.

A) body waves

B) Raleigh waves

C) P-waves

D) S-waves

P-wave shadow zones indicate ______

A) that the outer core is solid.

B) that the outer core is liquid.

C) that the inner core is liquid.

D) that Earth core is very small.

Which is the following indicate that Earth's core must be very dense (metallic)?

A) Earth's average density is 5.5 g/cc, but the density of the crust is only 5.8 g/cc and the mantle is 6.2 g/cc.

B) Earth's average density is 10.5 g/cc.

C) Earth's average density is 5.5 g/cc, but the average density of the crust is 2.7 g/cc and the mantle averages ~3.4 g/cc.

D) Earth's average density is 8.7 g/cc, but the density of the crust is 4.2 g/cc.

Which observation is inconsistent with a liquid metallic outer core?

A) Earth's magnetic field

B) reversal of Earth's magnetic field

C) S-wave shadow zone

D) P-waves pass completely through the planet.

What are sources of heat in our planet?

A) radioactivity, loss of angular momentum, residual heat from the formation of the planet

B) radioactivity, impact events, loss of angular momentum.

C) volcanoes, radioactivity, loss of angular momentum

D) radioactivity, impact events, residual heat from the formation of the planet.

The dark areas on the surface of the Moon are called ______

A) maria.

B) terra.

C) lowlands.

D) highlands.

The oldest mineral grains in the world are ______

A) diamonds.

B) zircons.

C) cubic zirconium.

D) cherts.

The constant elevation of the sea level relative to the continents has been stable for almost 4 billion years. This indicates______

A) that rainfall has been constant on Earth for 4 billion years,

B) that the amount of water emerging from the mantle is balanced by the amount that evaporates from Earth.

C) that the amount of water being added to Earth from comets is balanced by the amount that is absorbed into the mantle.

D) that the cycle of emerging from and being absorbed back into the mantle has remained constant.

Planetary differentiation refers to ______

A) the formation of the Earth-Moon system.

B) the formation of Earth.

C) the segregation of sizes of the planets.

D) the sinking of heavy elements to the center of Earth and the floating of lighter elements to

Meteorites made of iron with olivine crystals are called ______

A) stony meteorites.

B) stony-iron meteorites.

C) cratons.

D) iron meteorites.

Evidence that Earth cooled rapidly after its formation is indicated by ______

A) evidence for oceans as early as 4.4 billion years ago.

B) the age of the Moon.

C) the presence of very old zircons.

D) the presence of 3.8-billion-year marine fossils.

The age of the universe is now known to be ________.

A) 10.5 billion years old.

B) 13.77 million years old

C) 137.7 billion years old

D) 13.77 billion years old.

The process through which a rotating, convecting, and electrically conducting fluid can maintain a magnetic field over astronomical time scales is called a _____

A) magnet

B) electricity

C) geodynamo

D) lodestone

The age of the Earth is now known to be about ______.

A) 5.56 billion years old.

B) 4.56 million years old.

C) 4.56 billion years old.

D) 13.77 billion years old.

Precambrian time is used for all of Earth's history before the Phanerozoic Eon. What eons are in Precambrian time?

A) Hadean, Proterozoic, Phanerozoic

B) Hadean, Archean, Phanerozoic

C) Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic

D) Phanerozoic, Proterozoic, Archean

The beginning and end of the Proterozoic Eon are

A) 4600 Ma and 2500 Ma

B) 4600 Ma and 542 Ma

C) 2500 Ma and 542 Ma

D) 4600 Ma and 3200 Ma

Which characteristic does not pertain to the Proterozoic Eon?

A) Continental record of deep-water deposition

B) Major ancient mountain-building events

C) Major intervals of widespread glaciation

D) Persistence of large cratons formed from the consolidation of protocontinents and arc terranes

What is a komatiite?

A) a protocontinent

B) an olivine-rich lava

C) an igneous intrusion

D) a feldspar-rich lava

Hadean crust was ________

A) very thin and made mostly of peridotitic and komatiitic rocks.

B) very thick and made mostly of peridotitic and komatiitic rocks.

C) very thin and made of rhyolitic and komatiitic rocks.

D) very thin and made mostly of andesitic and ultramafic rocks.

How did Archean crust differ from Hadean crust?

A) Archean crust was slightly thicker, but still made of komatiites.

B) Archean crust included more metamorphic rocks but was made mostly of granite.

C) Archean crust was slightly thicker, but with no sedimentary cover.

D) Archean crust was richer in gold and other precious metals.

Modern crust differs from Proterozoic crust by

A) being thicker and including mantle material erupting from shallow sources

B) being thicker and having thick layers of komatiite and granite

C) being thinner and with multiple layers of high-grade metamorphic rocks

D) being thicker and having multiple layers of high-grade metamorphic rocks

Reactive iron sulfide minerals such as pyrite are seldom found in sands of rivers and shallow marine deposits younger than about 2.3 Ga. What does this imply about the abundance of atmospheric oxygen before 2.3 Ga?

A) Oxygen was plentiful before 2.3 Ga but became even richer after then.

B) The atmosphere included little oxygen after 2.3 Ga.

C) Oxygen was much more plentiful before 2.3 Ga.

D) The atmosphere included little oxygen before 2.3 Ga.

________________________ basalts in conjunction with redbeds and alluvial fan conglomerates represent a 1.3-billion-year-old (mid-Proterozoic) failed intracontinental rift event in North America.

A) Keweenawan

B) Wyoming

C) Grenville

D) Superior

The Wopmay orogeny, involving the Slave craton and an island arc, tells us that ___

A) Proterozoic orogenies are much like Phanerozoic orogenies.

B) there were no glaciers present on Earth at this time.

C) we should not look for Proterozoic flysch and molasse deposits.

D) the Proterozoic crust was still hot and plastic like the Archean crust

In the Wopmay orogenic belt, dolomites underlie deep-water turbidites. In plate tectonic theory, these dolostones represent ____

A) shallow-water deposition along a passive margin prior to the onset of tectonic activity.

B) shallow-water deposition after tectonic activity.

C) deep-water deposition prior to orogenic activity.

D) shallow-water deposition along an active continental margin.

Flysch is composed of ________

A) shallow-water conglomerates formed after a foreland basin fills with marine sediment.

B) deep-water turbidites formed in a foreland basin at the onset of tectonic activity.

C) shallow-water turbidites that form at the onset of tectonic activity.

D) deep-water turbidites formed in an igneous-magmatic arc.

The Proterozoic orogeny that occurred along the eastern part of North America was the ______

A) Wopmay orogeny.

B) Yavapai orogeny.

C) Grenville orogeny.

D) Superior orogeny.

Clean sandstones are not common in Archean rocks because ______

A) there was little wave activity to weather rocks.

B) the continents were large.

C) there was no source of quartz.

D) the limited shallow shelf areas caused sediment to be deposited directly into deep water.

Stromatolites are ______

A) layered, shallow-water pillow lavas.

B) layered, deep-water limestones formed by algal mats.

C) layered, shallow-water limestone structures formed by algal mats.

D) massive, shallow-water limestones formed by abundant clams.

Glacial deposits sandwiched between limestone suggests ______

A) glaciers at low latitudes.

B) an intermittent warm spell between cold temperatures.

C) glaciers at high elevations.

D) glaciers at high latitudes.

There were two major freezing events in the Precambrian. These were ______

A) one in the one in the Hadean about 4.1 Ga and one in the Late Proterozoic about 1.9 Ga.

B) one in the Early Proterozoic about 2.4 Ga, and one in the Late Proterozoic about 800-700 Ma

C) one in the Early Proterozoic about 2.4 Ga and one in the Middle Proterozoic about 1.9 Ga.

D) one in the Archean, about 3.2 Ga, and one in the Late Proterozoic ~800-700 Ma.

A high albedo means ______

A) the Earth is absorbing a lot of solar radiation and heating.

B) the Earth is absorbing a lot of solar radiation and cooling.

C) the Earth is reflecting a lot of solar radiation and cooling.

D) the Earth is reflecting a lot of solar radiation and heating.

19) A positive feedback loop ______

A) results in higher temperatures.

B) is a process that exacerbates the effect of a small disturbance.

C) tends to keep systems stable.

D) results in lower temperatures.

Detrital pyrite in rocks older than 1.9-1.8 Ga indicates ______

A) that there was abundant oxygen in the air.

B) that iron was very abundant.

C) that the levels of sulfur were high.

D) that there was little or no oxygen in the atmosphere.

Banded Iron Formations formed before ______

A) about 1.9 Ga ago, when there was abundant oxygen in the air.

B) about 2.5 Ga ago, when there was little oxygen in the atmosphere.

C) about 3.2 Ga ago, when there was little oxygen in the atmosphere.

D) about 1.9 Ga ago, when there was little oxygen in the air.

22) Oxygen buildup in the atmosphere lasted hundreds of millions of years. What was the source of that oxygen?

A) Photosynthesis of cyanobacteria that formed the stromatolites.

B) Oxidation of methane.

C) The weathering of rocks.

D) Breakdown of CO2 in the atmosphere by cosmic rays.

Major disruptions in chemical cycles on Earth occurred between about 2.4-2.0 Ga ago. What was the source of this disruption?

A) heavy volcanic eruptions

B) volcanic outgassing
C) the introduction of oxygen into the atmosphere

D) the introduction of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere

In the earliest history of Earth, the Sun's output of solar radiation was only about 70% of what it is today. What kept Earth from being completely frozen?

A) abundant water vapor in the atmosphere

B) abundant oxygen in the atmosphere

C) very rapid weathering of rocks

D) abundant methane in the atmosphere

What factor is thought to have led to the melting of ice on the snowball Earth?

A) the greenhouse effect associated with the release of oxygen trapped under the ice

B) the greenhouse effect associated with release of CO2 trapped under the ice

C) glacial erosion of the continents

D) the greenhouse effect associated with the release of large amounts of sulfur into the atmosphere

Cap carbonates that overlie glacial till in 700-800 Ma deposits in Africa indicate _____

A) that Africa moved from a high latitude to a low latitude

B) that a supernova occurred

C) temperatures were hot, then became very cold

D) temperatures were cold, then became very hot

Molasse is composed of ______

A) olivine-rich lava flows

B) non-marine sediments deposited above flysch in a foreland basin

C) deep-water turbidites deposited at the onset of tectonic activity

D) graywackes deposited in deep water

The Pongola Group of South Africa represent ______

A) the oldest sandstone formations

B) the onset of modern style of plate tectonics

C) the formation of deep-water turbidites

D) the earliest formation of extensive shallow-water deposits

Greenstone belts are characterized by ______

A) a granitic composition.

B) pillow lavas and low-grade metamorphism.

C) extensive high-grade metamorphism.

D) extensive gold deposits.

The _________________refers to observations that __________________.

A) "faint young Sun paradox"; the Sun's luminosity was significantly less than today, but the Earth was not frozen.

B) "faint young Sun paradox"; the Sun in the distant past was much colder than anticipated.

C) "young Sun doctrine"; the Sun was the same temperature as today.

D) "young Sun paradox"; the Sun was much hotter in the distant past, but the Earth was much cooler.

What did the Miller-Urey experiment demonstrate?

A) That life must have arisen in an oxygen-rich atmosphere.

B) That lipids could be produced from an ammonia and methane atmosphere and electricity.

C) That oxygen could be derived from photosynthesis.

D) That amino acids could be produced from an ammonia and methane atmosphere and electricity.

The building blocks of proteins are _______

A) genes.

B) amino acids.

C) proteinoids.

D) lipids.

Lipid bilayers are important components of _______

A) RNA.

B) cell membranes.

C) fatty acids.

D) amino acids

Lipids are naturally polarized molecules, with the _______

A) water-loving alcohol at one end and the water-hating amino acids at the other.

B) water-loving amino acids at one end and the water-hating fatty acids at the other.

C) water-loving alcohol at one end and the water-hating fatty acid at the other.

D) water-loving fatty acid at one end and the water-hating alcohol at the other.

Coacervates are _______

A) important amino acids.

B) important components of cell membranes.

C) compounds of fatty acids and alcohols.

D) small droplets of proteins and lipids.

__________________________ polymerize to form proteins.

A) RNA and DNA

B) Amino acids

C) Fatty acids

D) Proteinoids

Early life on Earth is called an RNA world because _______

A) RNA can act as a protein and enzyme and could copy itself.

B) RNA can perform all of the function of DNA.

C) RNA can exist in extreme temperatures such as those along mid-ocean ridges.

D) RNA is found in every living organism.

Templates for the formation of large, complex organic molecules include _______

A) clay minerals, cell membranes and gold.

B) gold, zeolites and clay minerals.

C) clay minerals, zeolites and pyrite.

D) clay minerals, zeolites and coacervates.

Hydrothermal communities are unique in that ______

A) the base of the food chain is chemosynthetic, rather than photosynthetic.

B) sunlight is the only form of energy.

C) they are all plants.

D) They live in the deepest parts of the ocean

The most primitive life forms on Earth are ______

A) bacteria.

B) cyanobacteria.

C) viruses.

D) Archaea.

Prokaryotes differ from eukaryotes in having ______

A) a Golgi apparatus.

B) no cell wall.

C) a chloroplast.

D) no nucleus.

Cyanobacteria are ______

A) true algae.

B) prokaryotes.

C) chemosynthetic.

D) eukaryotes.

The earliest fossils on Earth are ______

A) 3.2 Ga bacteria from Nova Scotia, Canada.

B) 4.5 Ga bacteria and cyanobacteria of the Warrawoona Group, Australia.

C) 3.5 Ga bacteria and cyanobacteria from the Warrawoona Group, Australia.

D) 3.5 Ga eukaryotes from the Warrawoona Group, Australia.

The Fig Tree Group of South Africa is famous for the early record of ______

A) mammals.

B) dinosaurs.

C) cyanobacteria.

D) trilobites.

Stromatolites are ______

A) Archaean layered volcanic rocks.

B) head- or cabbage-shaped structures formed by Archaea.

C) head- or cabbage-shaped structures formed by eukaryotes.

D) head- or cabbage-shaped structures formed by cyanobacteria.

Stromatolites form today ______

A) in shallow-water settings with a diverse invertebrate fauna.

B) in deep-water settings.

C) in shallow-water settings with a restricted or no invertebrate fauna.

D) in the Precambrian only.