1. Of the following, which does not belong? List all that are out of place.

amber entombment; permineralization; dissolution/replacement; igneous inclusion;

remineralization; superposition; petrification; carbonization

ANS: igneous inclusion; superposition

2. Why did those two not fit in with the others?

ANS: because they are relative dating techniques, not methods of fossilization.

3. What fossilization process occurs when the original minerals in an organisms’ body are replaced over time with other minerals?

ANS: remineralization; permineralization

4. What is the rock-forming process known as?

ANS: lithification

5. Many soft-bodied organisms (insects and plants) are compacted tightly over time, so that only the carbon in their bodies is left. What type of fossil forming process is this?

ANS: Carbonization6. Another name for permineralization, most commonly found in fossilized trees, is

ANS: Petrification

7. When insects get trapped in tree sap, which then hardens to form a fossil, what type of fossil is formed?

ANS: amber (entombment)

8. In terms of its effect on the process of fossilization, which of the following does NOT belong? List all.

Environmental conditions; human collection technique; presence of hard body parts; time; tectonic activity;

predation

ANS: human collection technique

9. An animal “body fossil” is also called a

ANS: Zoolith

10. A plant “body fossil” is also called a

ANS: Phytofossil

11. Another name given to a “trace” fossil is

ANS: Ichnofossil

12. Which of the following list would not belong within the category of “ichnofossil”? (list all that apply)

zoolith; cast; mold; mummy; coprolite; gastrolith; phytofossil

ANS: zoolith; mummy; phytofossil

13. Fossilized algae and bacteria and tiny microorganisms known as foraminiferans are VERY common, and form what type of fossil?

ANS: Microfossils

14. Use the following list to match with the defined characteristics (a-e) below:

cast; mold; coprolite; gastrolith; borings and burrows

a. reproduction of interior or exterior surface of an organism, such as a footprint

b. fossilized feces which often helps to determine the diet and environment in which an organism lived.

c. worms, beetles and small rodents may leave these

d. tiny polished stones found within the fossilized remains of herbivorous dinosaurs.

e. fossil that forms inside of a mold, mimicking an actual body fossil

ANS: a: mold; b: coprolite; c: borings and burrows;

d: gastroliths; e: cast

15. The transitional fossil below is very famous. The Archaeopteryx is TRANSITIONAL organism because it contained features from what two taxonomic vertebrate classes?

ANS: birds (feathers) and reptiles (scales and claws)

16. The Burgess Shale in British Columbia is a very famous fossil formation. What types of organisms were most likely preserved there?

ANS: soft-bodied invertebrates (like jellyfish)

17. Why are there more fossils of mollusks (organisms with shells), than any other kind?

ANS: Because the hard parts of these organisms fossilize easily, and they live in aquatic ecosystems which are conducive to fossilization processes.

18. Which of the following environmental areas would be MOST conducive to lithified fossil formation? (select all that are possible)

Marine sediments; deserts; mountainous regions; grasslands; riverbeds; tropical rainforests; polar glaciated

regions

ANS: Marine sediments; riverbeds

19. Why is the fossil record incomplete?

ANS: Because the odds of becoming a fossil are against you! Only hard body parts fossilize readily, and only certain environments are conducive to fossilization. Predation and scavenging is common in most environments, as well.

20. Of the five mass extinction events, what was the biggest?

ANS: Permian Mass Extinction, or “The Great Dying”

21. What do scientists hypothesize was the cause of the Permian Mass Extinction?

ANS: It may have been many events, such as shield volcanic eruption, and impacts which caused environmental upset due to atmospheric disturbances, like global warming.

22. Why are mass extinctions important to evolution?

ANS: Without extinction to “upset” the cart of life occasionally, the dominant organisms would keep things constant. Extinction of major groups of organisms gives others a chance to exploit new niches and ecosystems…which are also evolving. Plant species are the same. When the Gingkophytes and Gnetophytes (which were dominant during Jurassic times) became all but extinct, it gave the flowering plants an opportunity to capitalize on the changing landscape. (Remember…adaptive radiation)

23.What is the name given to the mass extinction event that occurred 65,000,000 years ago which eliminated the dinosaurs?

ANS: the K-T extinction

24.What do scientists think was the main cause of this extinction event?

ANS: A large meteorite that struck the Earth in the area of the Yucatan Peninsula. (Chixulub crater)

25. What organisms are the first to die (or be affected) after a meteorite impact?

ANS: Plants

26. What law states that layers of sediment are laid down at first, in a horizontal manner?

ANS: Original Horizontality

27. Name one reason the Grand Canyon is a geologic “gold mine”.

ANS may include: Rock layers are easily studied; Millions of years worth of rock record are present; etc…

28.What type of dating technique gives you the actual age of a specimen?

ANS: Radiometric dating

29. When lithified sediments have been disrupted and tilted sideways, and then overlain by horizontal sediments (such as below), it is evidence of what type of unconformity?

ANS: Angular unconformity

30. If a large piece of granite contains pieces of sandstone, which is older…and which law do you use to help you determine that?

ANS: the sandstone is older, and it is the law of inclusions that tells us that.

31. Besides number 29 above, describe and name one other type of nonconformity.

ANS: Disconformity: No uplift or tilting…simply lithification, followed by erosion, followed by deposition again.

Unconformity: Metamorphic and igneous rock are overlain by sedimentary rock, after erosion.

32. What is the process by which atomic nuclei spontaneously break-down over time?

ANS: Radioactive decay

33. What is a half-life?ANS: The time period it takes for ½ of the parent

isotope to break down into the daughter isotope.

34. An element has 64 atoms of a radioactive element. If its half-life is 15 seconds, how many atoms of parent isotope are left after 45 seconds?

ANS: 8 atoms

31. Using the diagram below, put the layers in order from most recent, to oldest.

ANS: D; A; C; B; E

32. The _____________ Era is also called the “Age of Mammals”.

ANS: Cenozoic

33. In what era did the Cambrian Explosion occur?ANS: Paleozoic

34. What extinction event killed the dinosaurs?ANS: K-T Extinction