Geology 2C Exam 3 Practice Test

Professor Bennington

1: Evidence for this orogeny is seen in the intensely metamorphosed rock of the Manhattan Prong:
1: Acadian
2: Taconic
3: Alleghenian
4: Laramide
5: Hercynian

2: Mountain building on the eastern margin of North America was most common during this era of geologic time:
1: Paleozoic
2: Mesozoic
3: Cenozoic
4: both 1 and 2
5: both 2 and 3

3: Foreland basin sediments eroded off of the rising mountains of the Taconic Orogeny can be seen in which region of New York State?
1: Newark Basin
2: Coastal Plain
3: Wallkill Valley
4: Adirondack Mts.
5: Allegheny Plateau

4: During the Cambrian and Ordovician, great thicknesses of this passive margin sedimentary rock accumulated on the eastern margin of North America:
1: sandstones
2: mudstones
3: basalts
4: limestones
5: shales

5: The first dinosaurs evolved during this Period:
1: Pennsylvanian
2: Triassic
3: Jurassic
4: Cretaceous
5: Paleocene

6: Almost all phyla of living animals were evolved by this Period:
1: Cambrian
2: Silurian
3: Devonian
4: Mississippian
5: Pennsylvanian

7: The extinction of all non-avian dinosaurs and ammonites occurred at the end of this Period:
1: Permian
2: Triassic
3: Jurassic
4: Cretaceous
5: Paleocene

8: The evolution of an amniotic egg allowed tetrapods to:
1: return to living full time in the water
2: avoid having to return to water to reproduce
3: begin evolving to live in drier, more upland environments
4: begin evolving to live in wetter, lowland environments
5: both 2 and 3

9: The great coal-producing swamp forests of the Northern Hemisphere continents flourished during this time period:
1: Ordovician
2: Silurian
3: Devonian
4: Mississippian
5: Pennsylvanian

10: All of these animals coexisted with the dinosaurs EXCEPT:
1: snakes
2: lizards
3: crocodiles
4: birds
5: dolphins

11: Plants acquired the ability to survive on land by evolving:
1: vascular systems
2: seeds
3: leaves
4: roots
5: all of the above

12: Worldwide deposition of large amounts of chalk due to high sea levels and warm global climates occured during this Period:
1: Pennsylvanian
2: Triassic
3: Cretaceous
4: Eocene
5: Pleistocene

13: The oldest large trees are found as fossils from this Period:
1: Ordovician
2: Silurian
3: Devonian
4: Mississippian
5: Pennsylvanian

14: Birds most likely evolved from this type of animal:
1: lizards
2: crocodiles
3: dinosaurs
4: synapsids
5: turtles

15: The largest mass extinction of marine organisms occurred at the end of this Period:
1: Ordovician
2: Silurian
3: Devonian
4: Pennsylvanian
5: Permian

16: True mammals first evolve during this Period:
1: Devonian
2: Permian
3: Triassic
4: Cretaceous
5: Eocene

17: Large basins filled with terrestrial sediments and intruded by volcanic basalt are evidence for:
1: continental rifting and separation
2: passive margin drifting of continents away from a mid-ocean ridge
3: collision of an ocean floor plate with the margin of the continent
4: collision of an island arc with the continent
5: collison between two continents

18: Clastic sediments eroded from the mountains of the Acadian Orogeny can be seen in this region of New York State:
1: Catskill Mts.
2: Adirondack Mts.
3: Taconic Mts.
4: Manhattan Prong
5: Atlantic Coastal Plain

19: Sequences of pure quartz sandstones and thick carbonate sediments are evidence for:
1: continental rifting and separation
2: passive margin drifting of continents away from a mid-ocean ridge
3: collision of an ocean floor plate with the margin of the continent
4: collision of an island arc with the continent
5: collison between two continents

20: Flowering plants evolved during this Period:
1: Silurian
2: Devonian
3: Mississippian
4: Jurassic
5: Cretaceous

21: Amniotes quickly evolved into two main lineages - the synapsids and the anapsids / diapsids. Synapsids eventually evolved into:
1: mammals
2: birds
3: crocodiles
4: dinosaurs
5: insects

22: The terrestrial sediments and volcanic rocks of the Newark Basin were deposited during this tectonic event:
1: collision between North America and Baltica
2: breakup of Pangea
3: breakup of Rodinia
4: formation of the Appalachian Mts.
5: metamorphism of the Grenville basement

23: The Pleistocene Period is best known for:
1: dinosaurs
2: ice ages
3: the breakup of Pangea
4: the extinction of trilobites
5: the evolution of grasses

24: Geologic evidence for past orogenies and the formation of large mountain ranges includes:
1: large regions of metamorphic rock
2: folding and thrust faulting of sedimentary rock
3: deposition of large quantities of clastic sediments
4: all of the above
5: 1 and 2 only

25: The first vascular land plants probably evolved during this Period:
1: Cambrian
2: Silurian
3: Devonian
4: Pennsylvanian
5: Jurassic

26: Hominids first evolve during this time in geologic history:
1: Cretaceous
2: Eocene
3: Oligocene
4: Pliocene
5: Holocene

27: The dominant land animals in size and number during the Permian were the:
1: true mammals
2: synapsid "proto-mammals"
3: dinosaurs
4: crocodiles
5: amphibians

28: Long Island was formed approximately how many years ago?
1: twenty thousand
2: ten million
3: 100 million
4: 1 billion
5: 4 billion

29: The first tetrapods (amphibians) evolved during this Period:
1: Cambrian
2: Ordovician
3: Silurian
4: Devonian
5: Mississippian

30: Rocks metamorphosed during the Grenvillian Orogeny can be found where in New York State?
1: Manhattan Prong
2: Adirondack Mts.
3: Hudson Highlands
4: all of the above
5: none of the above

Answer Key

1 2

2 1

3 3

4 4

5 2

6 1

7 4

8 5

9 5

10 5

11 5

12 3

13 3

14 3

15 5

16 3

17 1

18 1

19 2

20 5

21 1

22 2

23 2

24 4

25 2

26 4

27 2

28 1

29 4

30 4