GEL 111 GEOLOGY Chapter 1

The ____________ division of the geologic time scale is an era of the Phanerozoic eon.

Paleozoic

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, direct observations showed that a glacier in Switzerland flowed forward in the downhill direction while its snout (terminus) was retreating higher up the valley? Which of the following explains these observations in a rational, scientific way?

The melting rate of ice in the glacier exceeded the rate at which new snow and ice were added to the glacier.

The most prominent feature on the ocean floor are the __________.

oceanic ridges

____________, a popular natural philosophy of the 17th and early 18th centuries, was based on a firm belief in a very short geologic history for Earth.

Catastrophism

The ____________ is the thinnest layer of the Earth.

Crust

A scientific theory is a tentative or untested explanation that is proposed to explain scientific observations.

False

Igneous rocks are produced largely by the deposition and consolidation of surface materials like sand and mud.

False

The currently accepted age of Earth is approximately 4.5 million years.

False

What are the basic differences between the disciplines of physical and historical geology?

Historical geology involves the study of rock strata, fossils, and geologic events, utilizing the geologic time scale as a reference; physical geology includes the study of how rocks form and of how erosion shapes the land surface.

____________ rocks form by crystallization and consolidation of molten magma.

Igneous

Which one of the following observations and inferences is consistent with the idea of uniformitarianism?

Sand rolling along a stream bottom shows that sediment is moving downstream

Compared to the age of Earth accepted as correct today, how did 17th and 18th century proponents of catastrophism envision the Earth's age

They believed Earth to be much younger than current estimates.

The doctrine of uniformitarianism implies that the current forces and processes shaping the Earth have been operating for a very long time

True

____________ is often paraphrased as "the present is the key to the past."

Uniformitarianism

____________ was the highly influential, ancient Greek philosopher noted for his writings and teachings on natural philosophy and on the workings of Earth

aristotle

The ________ is not a part of the Earth's physical environment.

astrosphere

All of the following provide evidence or clues to the composition of Earth's interior except for __________.

comets

In sedimentary rocks, lithification includes __________.

compaction and cementation

The relatively stable interior portion of a continent is known as a __________.

craton

In an open system both energy and matter flow into and out of the system.

True

Internally, the Earth consists of spherical shells with different compositions and densities.

True

The asthenosphere is actually a part of the ____________ of the Earth.

mantle

The ____________ is thought to be a liquid, metallic region in the Earth's interior.

outer core

____________ was an important 18th century English geologist and proponent of uniformitarianism.

James Hutton

The __________ proposes that the bodies of our solar system formed at essentially the same time from a rotating cloud of gases and dust

Nebular Theory