Geol 102 Exam 3 - Retrum

What are the supercontinents of the Proterozoic?

Nuna and Rodinia

How does the Proterozoic ocean differ from the Archean and Phanerozoic oceans?

The Proterozoic ocean is stratified

What climatic events occurred in the Late Proterozoic?

Widespread glaciation

What is a "Snowball Earth"?

A time when the Earth was completely covered with ice

What was the most prevalent life (prokaryote or eukaryote) throughout the Proterozoic?

Prokaryote (single-celled)

What is a metazoan?

multicellular eukaryote

What is the Edicaran biota?

Life that represents the earliest complex metazoans

What are the three types of Edicaran biota?

Avalon, Edicara, and Nama type assemblages

What is a cratonic sequence?

A widespread sequence of sedimentary rocks bounded above and below by unconformities that was deposited during a transgressive-regressive cycle of an epeiric sea

What is Laurentia?

a large continental craton that forms the ancient geological core of the North American continent

Where was Laurentia during the Cambrian?

At the equator

Sea level during the Cambrian:

rose and created an epicontinental sea

Climate during the Cambrian:

Warmer than today

Where was Laurentia and Baltica during the Ordovician?

At or near the equator

Where was Gondwana during the Ordovician?

Over the South Pole

How did the Taconic Orogenic Belt form?

Volcanic Island Arc Collides with

Eastern North America

What climatic event occurs at the end of the Ordovician?

Gondwana moved over

the South Pole and glaciers formed.

Climate cooled.

How did the Caledonian Orogeny form?

Collision of Laurentia and Baltica

Climate during the Silurian:

warm and stable

What are small shelly fossils and why are the significant?

they were the metazoans with hard parts

What are reefs?

A massive framework built from skeletonized organisms and forming a spatially extensive topographic feature rising to near the ocean surface.

Myllokunmingia

oldest known fish

What is Hylonomus?

the oldest reptile fossils that resemble modern insect-eating lizards

When do the first trees appear in

the fossil record?

ordovician

When are the three mass extinction events in the Paleozoic?

Ordovician, Permian, triassic

Which extinction event

was the largest?

Permian

What happens to Pangea during the Triassic?

starts to rift apart

Climate during the Triassic:

very dry, hot summers and cold winters

Evidence for Triassic climate?

extensive desert deposits; evaporites; large supercontinent

Climate during the Jurassic:

warm and humid

Where is Laurasia during the Jurassic?

By the Jurassic, Laurasia has separated from Gondwana.

Evidence for Jurassic climate?

coral reefs and coal deposits

Where is Laurasia during the Cretaceous:

Laurasia and Gondwana are drifting farther apart

Sea level during the Cretaceous

High sea levels and epicontinental seas

Which orogenies formed during the Cretaceous?

carpathian and sevier

What is an ichthyosaur?

the oldest known amphibian

What are the two orders of dinosaurs and how do they differ?

saurischian dinosaurs and ornithischian dinosaurs, lizard hipped vs bird hipped

What is the group of flying reptiles called?

pterosaurs

What is an Archaeopteryx?

first bird-like dinosaur

What caused the Cretaceous mass extinction?

volcanic eruptions, climate change, sea level change, and other impact events.

What are the two profound climatic events that affected the whole Earth at the end of the

Proterozoic?

widespread glaciation and snowball earth

Which of the following was the most prevalent life form in the Proterozoic?

Prokaryotes

What is a multicellular eukaryote?

metazoan

The idea that all or most of the Earth was covered in ice is called ____________.

Snowball Earth

Rodinia

A proposed Precambrian supercontinent that existed around 1 billion years ago.

Why was the Ediacaran biota important to science?

represents the earliest complex metazoans

Which Early Paleozoic continent starts colliding with Baltica during the Silurian?

Laurentia

Which event caused the advancement of glaciers and an Ice Age during the Ordovician?

Gondwana moving over the South Pole

Which of the following is NOT part of the cratonic sequence?

Glaciation advancement

What event caused the Caledonian Orogeny?

Collision of Laurentia and Baltica

What is an epicontinental sea?

a shallow sea that covers large areas of a continent

After the late Proterozoic glaciers receded, sea level in the Early Cambrian __________.

rose/transgression

Which orogenic event was the result of Laurentia colliding with volcanic island arcs?

Taconic

When is Western Pangea completely formed?

Permian

During which period does sea level fluctuate greatly producing cyclothems and coal deposits?

Carboniferous (Mississippian and Pennsylvania)

Sea level was ________ during the Permian, which may have contributed to the Permian mass

extinction.

falling/regression

When is Euramerica formed?

Devonian

The Late Mississippian globally is an unconformity. What event leads to an unconformity?

Sea level regression

True or False. Reef builders are always coral species.

False

Which of the following is the oldest (first) known fish?

a. Dimetrodon

b. Hylonomus

c. Ichthyostega

d. Myllokunmingia

Myllokunmingia

Which of the following is the oldest (first) known amphibian?

a. Dimetrodon

b. Hylonomus

c. Ichthyostega

d. Myllokunmingia

Ichthyostega

Which group of tetrapods is thought to have evolved from boney fishes?

Amphibians

Which of the following appeared first in the fossil record?

a. Dinosaurs

b. Reptiles

c. Amphibians

d. Boney fishes

Boney fishes

The earliest evidence of land plants is in which Paleozoic period?

Ordovician

When was the first mass extinction in the Paleozoic? a. Devonian

b. Ordovician

c. Permian

d. Silurian

Ordovician

What is a tetrapod?

a four-footed animal, especially a member of a group that includes all vertebrates higher than fishes.

During which Paleozoic period do most invertebrate phyla appear in the fossil record?

Cambrian

Which Paleozoic period does Hylonomus first appear in the fossil record?

Pennslyvanian

In which period is Pangea completely formed?

Triassic

During which period does Pangea first start to rift apart?

Triassic

What is the geological evidence for arid climate during the Triassic?

Evaporites, Extensive desert deposits, large supercontinents

Pangea rifts first into two continents in the Jurassic. What are these two continents?

Laurasia and Gondwana

What was the climate of the Mesozoic?

warmer than today

Which Mesozoic period likely had no glaciers anywhere on Earth?

Cretaceous

During the Jurassic, sea levels start to rise and the climate becomes ____________.

more humid

The Mesozoic is known as the age of ________.

reptiles

What is the likely cause of the Cretaceous mass extinction?

Asteroid impact

What is the main difference between saurischian dinosaurs and ornithischian dinosaurs?

Lizard-hipped vs bird-hipped pelvic structure

Where do reptiles dominate in the Mesozoic?

Air, oceans, and land

Which of the following was a marine reptile?

Ichthyosaur

Which of the following was a flying reptile?

Pterosaur

What group of reptiles is thought to have given rise to the birds?

Saurischian

True or False. Metazoans are prokaryotes.

False

Proterozoic continents are not the same continents we have today. Which Proterozoic continent was today's North America a part of during the Proterozoic?

Laurentia

Which of the following is NOT evidence for glaciation during the Proterozoic?

Fossils of ice-living organisms

What is an acritarch?

Single-cell eukaryote

Which of the following were the prevalent life form during the entire Proterozoic Eon?

Prokaryotes

The Proterozoic ocean was...

Stratified

Which of the following represents the first appearance of complex metazoan fossils?

Ediacaran Biota

Which of the following is NOT a type of fossil appearance for the late Proterozoic metazoan fossils?

Spherical

What is the name of the nonmarine-marine sequences produced in the Pennsylvanian from fluctuating sea levels?

Cyclotherms

Which orogeny formed the Appalachian mountains?

Alleghanian

Which of the following events occurred at the end of the Ordovician?

Gondwana moved over South Pole, glaciers advanced, and climate cooled into an Ice Age

Where was Laurentia/Euramerica during the Paleozoic?

At or near the equator

What is the youngest (last) period in the Paleozoic?

Permian

Which of the following Paleozoic periods experienced an Ice Age? Select two periods.

Pennslyvanian and Ordovician

What event led to the Taconic Orogeny?

Collision of Laurentia with volcanic islands

After Euramerica and Gondwana collide, what name is given to the new combined continent?

Western Pangea

Which is the oldest tetrapod?

Ichthyostega

Which Paleozoic period had large tropical forests in lowland swamps that would later become large coal deposits?

Carboniferous (Mississippian and Pennslyvanian)