earths biography quiz

1.

1 point

An iridium-rich layer of clay, glass spherules, and shocked quartz grains strongly suggests that the K-T boundary extinctions were at least in part caused by ____________.

a long trend of global warming

a long trend of global cooling

worldwide explosive volcanism

the impact of a bolide (meteoroid or comet)

2.

1 point

Regions on the continents that are experiencing warm climates today have generally experienced colder climates in the past, and vice versa.

TRUE

FALSE

3.

1 point

Earth is approximately how old?

15 billion years

4.57 billion years

40 million years

6000 years

4.

1 point

Toward the end of the Archean Eon, ____________.

the first abundant shelly organisms appear in the fossil record

Earth's interior was so hot that a solid outer crust, if present, was likely being extensively remelted

stable continental interiors, termed cratons, first formed

the dinosaurs appeared and came to dominate large-scale terrestrial life

5.

1 point

The eon represented by abundant deposits of strata with shelly fossils is the ____________.

Archean

Hadean

Proterozoic

Phanerozoic

6.

1 point

Greenhouse climate on Earth was associated with relatively high atmospheric levels of which gas?

nitrogen

water vapor

oxygen

carbon dioxide

7.

1 point

The earliest forests containing woody trees appeared during the ____________.

late Proterozoic

early Paleozoic (in the Ordovician Period)

middle Paleozoic (in the Devonian Period)

late Paleozoic (in the Permian Period)

8.

1 point

The Hadean is a time in Earth history when ____________.

the first abundant shelly organisms appear in the fossil record

Earth's interior was so hot that a solid outer crust, if present, was likely being extensively remelted

stable continental interiors, termed cratons, first formed

the dinosaurs appeared and came to dominate large-scale terrestrial life

9.

1 point

Oxygen in Earth's atmosphere is derived from ____________.

volcanic outgassing

photosynthesis

animal respiration

water from the oceans breaking down into hydrogen and oxygen during evaporation

10.

1 point

During the Cenozoic Era, most large-bodied terrestrial animals inhabiting regions of temperate climate have been ____________.

birds

dinosaurs

mammals

crocodiles