Worksheets (1 + 2) - GEOG-1301

EXAM 1 materials, geological time scale, Maps, and Geospatial Technology

Who developed the first modern Geological Time Scale?

Arthur Holmes

When was the Geological Time Scale devised & published?

1913

Which Eon accounts for 12% of Earth’s history?

Phanerozoic Eon

Which Eon includes most of Earth’s history?

PreCambrian, 88% of Earth’s history

Cambrian Explosion

The sudden appearance of many different organisms in the fossil record

When was the “Age of Invertebrates?”

Cambrian and Ordovician periods, 540-490 mya (million years ago)

When was the “Age of Fish?”

Devonian and Silurian periods, 443-417 mya

Which arthropod was a dominant species during the Cambrian Period?

Trilobites

Which plants dominate the forests of the Paleozoic Era?

Ferns

When was the “Age of Amphibians?”

Carboniferous (UK) period, both Mississippian(US) and Pennsylvanian(US), and Permian periods

What caused the Permian extinction? (and ended the Paleozoic era)

252 million years ago, caused by volcanic eruption from Serbia

When was the “Age of Reptiles?”

The Mesozoic Era, periods: Cretaceous (K), Jurassic, Triassic

Which plants dominated the forests of the Mesozoic Era?

Conifers

What caused the K-T boundary or Cretaceous/Tertiary extinction?

massive asteroid impact at the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico

When was the “Age of Mammals?”

The Cenozoic Era, periods: Quaternary and Tertiary

Which plants dominate the forests of the Cenozoic Era?

Angiosperms, or Flowering Plants

What is the present-day geological time period?

Quaternary Period (started 3 mya)

A proposed Geological Epoch known as the “Age of Humans”

Anthropocene Epoch

Which issue most prominently indicates the Anthropocene?

Human intervention with the environment to create accelerated climate change. “Characterized as the time in which the collective activities of human beings began to substantially alter Earth’s surface, atmosphere, oceans, and systems of nutrient cycling.”

Why did the scientific community reject the Anthropocene as a new Geological Epoch?

Starting point is too recent, 1950

A 15^th Century Flemish Cartographer

Gerardus Mercator (16^th Century actually, worked in the 1500s)

Which is the most famous map projection?

Mercator projection

When was the Mercator projection invented?

The Mercator projection was created in 1569 by Gerardus Mercator

What is the main problem with the Mercator projection?

It misrepresents the size of the countries, distorting those closer to the poles to be way larger

Which map uses Contour Lines to portray the Earth’s surface?

Topographic Map

What connects points of equal elevation on a topographic map?

Contour lines

The vertical distance or difference in elevation between Contour Lines

Contour interval

Bold or thicker lines that appear at every 5^th Contour Line

Index contours

What is a GNSS?

A Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is any satellite constellation that provides global positioning, navigation, and timing services.

___ is based on a constellation of at least 24 high-altitude satellites

This describes the Global Positioning System (GPS), the United States’ GNSS.

Which is Russia’s GNSS?

GLONASS

Which is the GNSS in Europe?

Galileo

Observing an object from a satellite or aircraft

Remote sensing

A USA Satellite program that began in 1972 & is jointly directed by NASA & the USGS

Landsat program

When was Landsat 9 launched?

September 27, 2021

A NASA Satellite program that began in the 1990s & monitors the Earth’s land, ocean, atmosphere & biosphere

This describes NASA’s Earth Observing System (EOS)

What is a UAV?

An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, commonly called a drone.

A computer mapping system

Geographic Information System (GIS).

Who invented GIS?

Roger Tomlinson, known as the “father of ___.”

Who developed ArcGIS software?

Esri (Environmental Systems Research Institute) developed and maintains ArcGIS.