Earth Science: Geology, the Environment, and the Universe

Section 3: Formation of the Atmosphere and Oceans

Formation of the Atmosphere and Oceans

1
__________ are rocks that have alternating bands of fine-grained quartz and iron oxides.
A)Banded iron formations
B)Sedimentary rocks
C)Red beds
D)All Archean rocks
2
Why don't Archean and Proterozoic rocks have iron oxides?
A)there weren't any stromatolites at that time
B)there wasn't any free oxygen in the atmosphere
C)there wasn't any iron in rocks of that age
D)there was too much iron to be oxidized
3
What substance in Earth's atmosphere protects organisms from UV radiation?
A)ammonia
B)water vapor
C)ozone
D)methane
4
According to the dates given in the table, when would oxygen start appearing in Earth's atmosphere?
Event Or First Evidence In Fossil RecordApproximate Geological Time
Bacteria 3 b.y.b.p
Green algae1 b.y.b.p
Jellyfish 600 m.y.b.p
Ediacara organisms550 m.y.b.p
Eurypterids*510 m.y.b.p
Horn corals*500 m.y.b.p
First vertebrates480 m.y.b.p
Spiders400 m.y.b.p
Sharks
400 m.y.b.p
First jawed fish*380 m.y.b.p
Ferns350 m.y.b.p
Earthworms300 m.y.b.p
Great Permian Extinction Event
250 m.y.b.p
Drastic geographic and climatic changes248 m.y.b.p
First dinosaurs* 220 m.y.b.p
First mammals210 m.y.b.p
Ginkgo biloba 200 m.y.b.p
Abundant ammonites*180 m.y.b.p
Archaeopteryx*140 m.y.b.p
First flowering plants120 m.y.b.p
Ants 100 m.y.b.p
Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction Event66 m.y.b.p
Camel35 m.y.b.p
Grass20 m.y.b.p
Australopithecus afarensis (“Lucy”)4 m.y.b.p

* = now extinctint
b.y.b.p = billion years before present
m.y.b.p = million years before present


A)3 billion years ago
B)550 million years go
C)600 million years ago
D)1 billion years ago
5
What was the original composition of Earth's atmosphere?
A)ammonia and hydrogen
B)hydrogen and helium
C)water vapor and methane
D)nitrogen and carbon dioxide
6
What process is primarily responsible for the formation of Earth's oceans?
A)sea-floor spreading
B)evolution
C)outgassing
D)plate tectonics
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