Geology 105: History of Life Midterm 1	March 9, 1998 Version 1
I. Write your name and social security number on your scantron form. II. Write the version number of your exam on the scantron form. III. There are 50 questions on the exam worth one point each. Be sure to read the questions carefully before answering.

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1) Given an undisturbed sequence of sedimentary rocks, the top most rock is older than the bottom most rock. A. True B. False   2) "Walther's Law" suggests A. all deposits within a particular environment are the same age. B. sedimentary deposits form a layer cake. C. beach sands should lay on top of offshore muds. D. volcanic rocks cut through sedimentary rocks. E. fossils in beach deposits are older than fossils in shelf deposits.   3) What term best describes the principle of uniformitarianism? A. the present is key B. the key is the past C. the past is the key to the present D. the present is the key to the past E. a key, here?   4) Which of the following is not a major principle of geology. A. principle of uniformitarianism B. principle of superposition C. principle of lateral mediocrity D. principle of faunal succession E. principle of original horizontality   5) Which of the following depositional environments best display the principles of superposition? A. pillow basalts B. river deposits C. beach deposits D. lake deposits E. coral reefs     6) Based on the figure above, Rock unit D is younger than rock unit E A. True B. False   7) If rock unit B is dated at 1.6 Million years old and rock unit D is dated at 2.3 Million years old. Fossils in C are: A. 400,000 years old B. 2.4 Million years old C. at least 1.6 Million years old D. 3 million years old E. none of the above   8) Which geologic principle is most important in relative dating of rocks? A. principle of superposition B. principle of lateral mediocrity C. principle of uniformitarianism D. principle of primary velocity E. none of the above   9) Which of the following organisms would most likely produce an environment-independent fossil. A. trilobite B. bivalve C. diatom D. dinosaour E. annelid worm   10) Microfossils are common in rocks from the Hadean. A. True B. False   11) Most fossils are found in: A. ingneous rocks B. metamorphic rocks C. sedimentary rocks D. volcanic rocks E. putonic rocks   12) The Burgess Shale is an important rock unit because: A. shale rarely contains fossils. B. it is located in British Columbia. C. it contains fossils of soft bodied organisms. D. it does not contain trilobites. E. it was deposited in the Mesozoic.   ©1998, TR Clifton   13) The picture above shows what type of fossil: A. soft-body fossil B. bivalve fossil C. trace fossil D. pseudo-fossil E. none of the above   14) Transport of dead organisms down a river to the ocean would most likely to produce: A. a complete fossil assemblage of all the organisms that lived in the river B. a mixed fossil assemblage of disarticulated skeletons C. a mixed fossil assemblage of dinosaurs and hominids D. a complete fossil assemblage of marine organisms. E. a mixed fossil assemblage of birds and trilobites   15) Which of the following generally does not bias the fossil record A. preservation potential of hard parts B. the process of death C. the type of organism D. processes occuring after deposition E. none of the above   16) The oldest earth fossils are: A. primitive trilobites B. ammonites C. neogastropods D. bacteria microfossils E. found on Mars   17) In 1667, Nicolas Steno suggested that: A. fossils were placed in rocks by the devil to deceive people B. fossils were parts or traces of once living organisms C. fossils could be used to date rocks D. fossils could be used to correlate rocks E. none of the above   18) Carbon-14 is useful for providing absolute dates on dinosaur bones. A. True B. False   19) The geologic time scale was developed using stratigraphic principles. A. True B. False   20) The oldest rocks on the earth have been dated at: A. 3.0 billion years old B. 4.6 billion years old C. 4.7 billion years old D. 3.5 billion years old E. 3.8 billion years old   21) The Miocene is an epoch of the Teriary Period of the Cenozoic. A. True B. False   22) The 4.6 billion year date for the origin of the earth is based on: A. sedimentary rocks formed on the earth B. moon rocks and meterorites C. comets D. volcanic rocks formed on the earth E. none of the above   23) Lord Kelvin estimated the age of the earth at 20-40 Million years old. This estimate was: A. absolutely correct. B. biased because Kelvin was a physicist. C. biased because of poor data. D. biased because Kelvin was English. E. too low because Kelvin did not know of radioactive heating.   24) Estimates of the age of the earth based on sedimentation rates and salt concentrations in the oceans were: A. absolutely correct. B. unnecessary. C. limited by estimates of unknown variables. D. off by an a magnitude of two. E. all of the above.   25) Which of the following is not a Period in the Paleozoic A. Cambrian B. Carboniferous C. Devonian D. Silurian E. none of the above   26) It is possible to measure the absolute date of a rock because: A. Radioactive elements decay at a constant rate. B. some elements have short half-lifes. C. most fossils are radioactive. D. all of the above. E. none of the above.   27) Phyla Annelida will most likey produce the following fossil: A. a leg bone B. a trace fossil in sand C. a siliceous test D. a segmented skeleton E. none of the above   28) Phyla Arthopoda is first recognized in rocks from the: A. Holocene Eon B. Caboniferous Period C. Pleistocene Epoch D. Mesozoic Era E. Cambrian Period   29) Which of the following is a member of Phyla Chordata: A. sea urchins B. trilobites C. ammonites D. dinosaurs E. none of the above   30) Cnidarians are considered "true" animals because they show a tissue level of organization. A. True B. False   31) The coelom was an important evolutionary development in animals because: A. it is a fluid-filled cavity lined with mesoderm. B. it allowed animals to burrow into the sediment. C. it first appeared in the Cnidarians. D. it appeared in all organisms after the Silurian. E. it allowed plants to photosynthesize.   32) Members of the Kingdom Plantia are the only organisms that photosynthesize. A. True B. False   33) Members of the Kingdom Protista do not produce fossils. A. True B. False   34) Bacteria are considered animals. A. True B. False   35) Sessile, filter-feeding organisms often have free swimming larvae because: A. asexual reproduction is not possible B. the local environment is not suitable C. free swimming larvae are selected against D. it can increase the organisms distribution E. none of the above   36) Competition between different species should: A. promote speciation B. increase sea level C. hinder speciation D. open new environments E. not affect evolution   37) Competition between members of the same species is intense because: A. they need to know who is faster. B. of the principle of lateral mediocrity. C. they have essentially identical requirements for food, etc. D. all of the above. E. none of the above.   38) Evolution is driven to build more complex species A. True B. False   39) Species take an active role in deciding how they evolve. A. True B. False   40) Mutations to regulatory genes are more likely to cause major evolutionary changes than mutations to structural genes. A. True B. False   41) Which of the following is probably an example of neoteny A. evolution of the horse from Eohipus B. sexual reproduction in sponges C. budding of a medusa from a polyp D. evolution of vertabrates from a larval tunicate E. recrystalization of aragonite to calcite   42) Which of the following is a primary control on the rate of evolution A. gravitational constant B. rate of sea floor spreading C. mutation rate D. velocity of an unladen swallow E. none of the above   43) Complexity increases through time because: A. natural selection likes complexity. B. complex features, once evolved, are difficult to change. C. sea floor spreading rates are high. D. simple organisms do not survive. E. none of the above   44) Natural selection acts on genetic variations within a individual A. True B. False   45) Plate Tectonics can influence the diversity of life by: A. openning ocean basins B. moving contintental masses C. influencing sea level D. all of the above E. none of the above   46) The Paleozoic-Mesozoic boundary records a large mass extinction. A. True B. False   47) Cyclic changes in sea level may result from cyclic changes in sea floor spreading rates A. True B. False   48) Extinctions result from: A. competition with other species B. changes in the earth's climate C. changes in sea level D. all of the above E. none of the above   49) Which of the following is not considered a Milakovitch cycle: A. eccentricity of the earth's orbit B. the earth's galactic orbit C. obliquity of the earth's plane of orbit D. precession of the exquinoxes E. none of the above   50) Dinosaurs became extinct at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary. A. True B. False