EASC 104 Historical Geology Past Paper 2015/2016 PDF

STUDENT ID NUMBER: _ _ _ _ _ _ _._....-._._ -....-___. SIGNATURE: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ UNIVERSITY OF GHANA (All rights reserved)...

STUDENT ID NUMBER: _ _ _ _ _ _ _._....-._._ -....-___. SIGNATURE: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ UNIVERSITY OF GHANA (All rights reserved) DEPARTMENT OF EARTH SCIENCE BSC. SECOND SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS: 2015/2016 EASC 104: HISTORICAL GEOLOGY (2 CREDITS) TIME ALLOCATED: TWO (2) HOURS INSTRUCTIONS: ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS IN SECTION A ON THE QUESTION PAPER AND SECTION B IN THE ANSWER BOOKLET. SECTION A From the list of alternatives, choose (Circle) the most appropriate letter (A - D) corresponding to the word/phrase/clause which answers the question. 1. What factor caused the separation of continents in the study of earth's history? A.The air B. A hurricane C. A tornado D_ Continental drift 2. The helium nucleus in the equation bel()w would be called ilii~R~ ·=~- ~H~ _. ~ -2iiR~1 , ~ ¥" - , A An alpha particle B.. The daughter nucleus C. The parent nucleus D. An atom. 3. How old was the earth before the continents split up?.> A. 1 million years old B. 500 thousand years old C. 200 thousand years old D. 200 million years old 4. What evidence supports the theory that the continents were once joined? A Fossils B. Mountains C. Technology D. Rivers Examiner:Ms. Jennifer E. Agbetsoamedo Page 1 of9 STUDENT 10 NUMBER: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ SIGNATURE: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ 5. Which of the following statements about patterns or processes in the evolution of life is false? A. The ends of five geological periods have been marked by mass extinctions. B. The supercontinent Pangaea formed during the Permian period. C. Mass extinctions of marine organisms have coincided with periods of low sea levels. D. 14C can be used to date the age of dinosaur bones. 6. The oldest fossils are about how many years old? A. 4.5 billion years B. 3.5 billion years C. 250 million years D. 10,000 years 7. Which of the following is not a common way for fossils to form?.A. preservation of skeletal remains B. preservation of signs of activity C. preservation of soft parts by freezing D. non preservation of soft parts 8. The fossilization process by which the original material is dissolved and new materials added is called................ A. replacement. B. carbonization. C. mineralization. D. replication. 9. A road cut shows layers of sedimentary rock that are tilted. From this observation one could conclude that the rocks.................. A. have been subjected to post depositional changes. B. were formed by deposition of sediment on a sloping surface. C. were formed on land instead of under water. D. have maintained their original depositional state. 10. Correlation and relative dating of rock units are made possible by the application of the principle of.......................... A. cross-cutting relationships. B. faunal succession. C. superposition. D. original horizontality 11. The atomic number of an element is found by averaging the mass numbers of the isotopes and also taking into consideration the relative abundance of each isotope. A. True B. False 12. Fossils are useful for all of the following except........................ A. correlating rocks in one location with those in another. B. determining the former environment of a region. C. determining the former climate of a region. D. determining the exact age of the earth. Examiner:Ms. Jennifer E. Agbetsoamedo Page 2 of9  g~ STUDENT 10 NUMBER: --'---'-~;;;.;..;;",;._ _ _ _ _ SIGNATURE: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ , ".:; '. 13. To serve as a geologic clock, a process must......................... A. have been operating uninterruptedly. B. be uniform (or at least subject to averaging). C. be capable of being measured. D. all of these must be true. 14. i l~C -?-oIjN..+ _~e Which answer is closest to the half-life of the parent shown above? A. 5730 years B. 45 seconds C. 82 minutes D. 1.5 years 15. The process that has yielded the most accurate estimate of the age of the earth is measurement of...................... A. the rate of sedimentation. B. the radioactive decay of elements in minerals. C. rate of increase of salinity of the oceans. n. the fate of the cooling of the earth from a moltenmass. 16. The geologic time scale defines eras in terms of.............................. A. major worldwide extinctions of life on earth. B. reversals in the earth's magnetic field. C. the beginning of the radioactive decay of elements in minerals. D. major plate tectonic events. 17. The use of index fossils in correlation is limited because........................ A. index fossils are extremely rare. B. many sedimentary layers do not contain index fossils at all. C. index fossils appeared for too short a time in the geologic record to be very helpful. D. index fossils are rarely found in other rocks than in sedimentary rocks. 18. The first land-dwelling organisms were........................ A. Insects B. Simple plants and fungi C. Amphibians and reptiles D. complex mammals 19. The earliest living things dwelled........................ A. on land B. in freshwater lakes C. on land and in air D. in the ocean 20. Periods during Earth's history when huge numbers of species suddenly disappeared are called.......................... Examiner:Ms. Jennifer E. Agbetsoamedo Page 3 of9.,. , STUDENT ID NUMBER: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ SIGNATURE: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ A. Variations B. Mass extinctions C. Period conclusions D. Isolations 21. The total number of................ determines the mass number. A. Protons and electrons B. Neutrons and electrons C. Neutrons and protons D. Protons only 22. According to the fossil record, the first multicellular organisms were................ A. Seaweeds B. Jellyfish C. Bacteria D. Insects 23. Scientists determine the absolute age of a fossil by............................ A. studying where it is found. B. measuring its radioactivity. C. measuring its size and shape. D. identifying the kind of rock in which it is found. 24. Which of the following is the best definition for half-life? A. Half of the time that it takes for the radioactive atoms to decay B. The time it takes for half of the radioactive atoms to decay C. The time it takes for half of a radioactive atom to decay D. Half of the time it takes for half of the radioactive atoms to decay 25. In which rock types are fossils most common? A. Igneous and sedimentary B. Sedimentary C. Igneous D. Metamorphic 26. The study of faunal succession allows....................... A. matching of similarly-aged rocks from different outcrops B. absolute dating of fossil-bearing strata C. matching of columns D. the study of habits of extinct mammals 27. A stratigraphic sequence is a vertical set of strata........................... A. used as a chronological record of the geologic history of a region B. that is unique to a specific area C. none of these D. that represents a repeating set of events such as recurring floods, debris flows, etc. 28. Radiometric dating is possible if a rock contains a measurable amount of............... A. only parent isotope B. only daughter isotopes Examiner:Ms. Jennifer E. Agbetsoamedo Page 4 of9  cr- STUDENT 10 NUMBER: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ SIGNATURE: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ C. both parent and daughter isotopes D. either parent or daughter isotopes 29. Radiometric age is often referred to as............... age. A. total B. absolute C. historic D. geologic 30. We cannot accurately measure time in years with stratigraphy for several reasons. Which of the following is false? A. Sediments accumulate at different rates in different sedimentary environments. B. Many sedimentary rocks contain fossils that have not been identified. C. The rock record does not tell us how many years have passed between periods of deposition. D. Stratigraphy alone cannot be used to detennine the relative ages of widely separated beds. 31. A rock fonned with 1,000 atoms of a radioactive parent element, but only contains 250 radioactive parent atoms today. If the half-life is 1,000,000 years, how old is the rock? A. 250,000 years B. 500,000 years C. 1,000,000 years D. 2,000,000 years 32. A nonconfonnity is.......................... A. a rock unit that is different than units above or below it B. a gap in the geologic record bounded below by metamorphic or igneous rocks and bounded above by sedimentary rocks C. a rock unit that does not contain fossils D. a line or space 33. Which of the following represents the longest time span in the geologic time scale. A. Precambrian B. Holocene C. Paleozoic D. Mesozoic 34. The boundaries between.............. seem to coincide with major changes in the life fonns present on Earth. A. systems B. eras C. epochs D. periods Use the diagram below to answer questions 35 to 40 (Note that VII is a granite intrusion). Examiner:Ms. Jennifer E. Agbetsoamedo Page 5 of9  13 STUDENT ID NUMBER: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ SIGNATURE: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ II xx 35. Which of the following units is the youngest? A. VII B.IIl C.I D. II 36. Which of the following is likely to be observed in the section? A. Inclusions of V in VII B. Inclusions of III in v1I C. Intrusions of VII in VI D. Intrusions of V in VII 37. Which of the following units is the oldest? A.II B.V C.VI D. I 38. The horizontal line labeled 'XX' is a (n).................. A. fault B. angular unconformity C. non conformity D. disconformity 39. Which of the following happened most recently? A. deposition of unit III B. deposition of unit II C. deposition of unit VI D. tilting ofIIl, IV, V, and VI 40. Which of the following statements is true? A. The granite is younger than unit II B. Unit II is younger than the granite C. Unit II and the granite are the same age Examiner:Ms. Jennifer E. Agbetsoamedo Page 6 of9 STUDENT 10 NUMBER: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ SI~URE: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ D. The relative ages of the granite and unit II cannot be determined from the information given 41. What is the name for an erosional surface that separates two sets of sedimentary layers with parallel bedding planes? A. plane of erosion B. nonconformity C. disconformity D. angular unconformity 42. A Potassium-Argon (K-Ar) age measures...................... A. the time since last cooling below the gas retention temperature - Potassium is the gas B. the time since last cooling below the gas retention temperature - Argon is the gas C. the time since the tree containing the Potassium died D. the time since crystallization of a mineral containing Potassium 43. The Paleozoic does not include the........................... A. Ordovician B. Jurassic C. Mississippian D. Permian 44. Which ofthe following radioactive isotopes is most useful for dating a very young sample (