Historical Geology Test 5

Contains chapter 15, 16, and parts of 14

The Permian extinction killed approximately ____ of all marine invertebrate species.​

96%

The unique preservation of soft-bodied fauna in the Burgess Shale occurred because ____.​

animals and plants were transported and buried in anaerobic conditions

The Cambrian explosion refers to___

sudden apperance of fossils

In the marine ecosystem, a fish would be classified as an infaunal and benthic.

False

Mass extinctions at the end of the Ordovician occurred because of

dramatic changes related to glaciation

An organism classified as an autotroph has which of the following characteristics?

It produces its own food

Organisms that belong to the benthos are classified primarily by___

where they live and if they move

Archaeocyathid, bryozoan, and stromatoporoid fossils indicate which type of enviornment?

reef

Which characteristic does not apply to trilobites?

abundant in modern oceans

Plankton and nekton are different because

plankton float

Vertebrates first appeared in the

Cambrian

Which of the following was critical for the adaptation of reptiles to terrestrial ecosystems?

the amniote egg

The earliest fish were___

jawless

Therapsids have features characteristic of _, but they are truly.

mammals; reptiles

Echinoderms and chordates are thought to be related because____.

both have embryonic cells with radial cleavage

Plants adapted to the desiccating effects of the land environment with the evolution of ____/

cutin

Animals lived on land before plants moved to land.

False

Gymnosperms represent the earliest flowering plants

False

Put the following organisms in order of evoulution, from earliest to latest.

fish, amphibians, and reptiles

The major barrier to both plant and animal inhabitation of land was___.

their methods of reproduction

During the Triassic, the climate of the low and middle latitudes was____.

arid

Evaporites formed in the rift zones between continents as Pangaea broke apart.

True

The mountain building events of the west coast that began in the Jurassic and continued into the Cenozoic are collectively called the____.

Cordilleran orogeny

While out in the western United States on a field trip, you collect some beautiful specimens of petrified wood. You are probably collecting petrified wood in which Triassic formation?​

Chinle

The three phases of the Cordilleran orogeny are, from oldest to youngest, ____.​

​Nevadan, Sevier, and Laramide

The breakup of Pangaea began with ____.​

​rifting between Laurasia and Gondwana

Looking at the Mesozoic paleogeographic maps, North America was moving in which direction during the Mesozoic?

northwest

Sea levels rose during the Cretaceous in response to ____.​

​accelerated rifting caused by higher heat flows

What formation was created from sediments derived from uplifting mountains that were deposited into the retreating Sundance Sea and is famous for dinosaur remains?​

​Morrison Formation

​The interior of western North American continent was flooded by the Middle Jurassic ____.

Sundance Sea

​The two subclasses of bony fish are ____ and ____.

​ray-finned; lobe-finned

Which gymnosperms made their appearance in the Triassic and became very widespread?​

cycads

Pterosaurs were ____.

flying reptiles

Which statement about ichthyosaurs is true?​

They were carnivorous marine reptiles

​Vascular plants having flowers and seeds are called ____.

angiosperms

The organisms that replaced Paleozoic corals as the major reef builder in the Mesozoic were ____.​

​rudist bivalves

Which feature is one of the pieces of evidence that indicates that the boundary between the Cretaceous Period and the Tertiary was marked by the impact of a large meteorite (bolide)?​

iridium anomaly

Why do some geologists believe a meteorite impact was not the sole cause of the extinction event at the end of the Mesozoic?​

​Terrestrial and marine extinctions have not been shown to occur at the same time.

​The mammal-like reptiles at the end of the Paleozoic were ____.

therapsids

Fossils of Archaeopteryx are important because they ____.​

​indicate birds may have evolved from theropod dinosaurs

One possible reason for present day geothermal activity at Yellowstone National Park and the extensive flood basalts of the Columbia River plateau is ____.​

hot spot

​In the Cenozoic, the western margin of North America ____.

​changed from a subduction zone to a transform boundary

The Alpine orogeny resulted in the formation of which mountains?​

Alps, Atlas, and Pyrenees

What is an example of a transform plate margin?​

San Andreas Fault

​The orogenic event of the North American Cordillera, which began in the Late Cretaceous and extended into the Cenozoic, is the ____.

Laramide

Although the Appalachian Mountains formed during the Paleozoic Era, the present topographic features are a result of Cenozoic geologic activity.

True

​The majority of methane hydrates are found along the eastern margin of North America.

True

Which plate is a remnant of the Farallon plate?​

Juan de Fuca plate

​Formation of Basin and Range mountains is a result of ____.

normal faulting

What is an example of a continental-continental convergent plate margin?​

Himalaya

Although the last major ice sheets receded 10,000 years ago, pollen and tree ring data exist to indicate that since 6,000 years ago, there have been small glacial advances and retreats.​

True

The increased elevation of some areas of Scandinavia is the result of ____.​

glacial rebound

Any lake that formed in nonglaciated areas during the Pleistocene, as a result of increased precipitation and reduced evaporation rates during that time, is a(n) ____.​

pluvial lake

____ moraines allow geologists to determine the farthermost advance of Pleistocene glaciers.​

Terminal

At their maximum extent, how much land did glaciers cover?​

30%

The zone of a glacier in which additions of ice exceed losses is called ____.​

the zone of accumulation

On which landmass on which does a continental glacier exist?​

Greenland

Planktonic foraminifera provide evidence for glaciation based on ____.​

coiling direction

A glacier covering at least 50,000 km2 and unconfined by topography is classified as a(n) ____.​

continental glacier

The scablands of Washington and large ripple marks in Montana and Idaho were formed when the ____.​

​proglacial Lake Missoula flooded

Forests gave way to grasslands and prairies following a general decrease in precipitation 25 million years ago.

True

​____ and ____ were most affected by the Pleistocene extinctions.

North America; Australia

Prior to mammals, what animal was the most important predator?​

flightless birds

Which line of evidence would support the climate change hypothesis for the Pleistocene extinction event?​

​correlating extinctions with glacial advance and retreat

Which mammals have been hugely successful, partly because they can eat almost anything?​

rodents

What is one possible reason artiodactyls have been more successful than perissodactyls?​

​Artiodactyls developed multiple stomachs to aid in digestion.

​The large size of some Pleistocene mammals was probably an evolutionary adaptation to allow these animals to live in tropical climates.

False

The Bering Land Bridge connected ____ and ____.​

North America; Asia

Carnivores can be distinguished from herbivores by ____.​

tooth shape

Most of the existing orders of mammals were present by the ____.​

Oligocene