Answer the following questions based on your interpretation of the Geologic History of New York State chart of the Earth Science Reference Tables (pages 8-9) as well as your class notes.
1. Which pair of fossil organisms possess the longest time distribution in the sedimentary strata of
New York State?
a. trilobites and nautiloids b. vascular plants and corals
c. corals and gastropods d. gastropods and brachiopods
2. Evidence of Earth's first coral reef can be found in sedimentary rocks of which geologic period?
a. Cambrian b. Ordovician c. Silurian d. Devonian
3. A layer of sedimentary strata possesses the fossils of four different organisms, pictures of
which appear below:
20. Rocks produced during which geologic period are not present in the New York State rock record?
a. Mississippian b. Devonian c. Permian d. Jurassic
21. Tetragraptus is a type of fossil marine organism known as a graptolite (see diagram below).
It is thought that Tetragraptus lived in Earth's oceans approximately
a. 400 million years ago b. 450 million years ago
c. 480 million years ago d. 550 million years ago
22. Subduction was an important tectonic event in New York State approximately
a. 460 million years ago b. 400 million years ago
c. 300 million years ago d. 200 million years ago
23. Which fossil is matched with an improbable geologic time during which it could have existed?
The most likely age of the layer is
a. Silurian b. Cambrian c. Triassic d. Precambrian
4. Orogeny is defined as the collective geologic process of mountain building. How many orogenic
episodes appear to have occurred in New York State?
a. 1 b. 2 c. 4 d. 5
5. The extinction of trilobites, a diverse group of marine arthropods, occurred how many millions of
years ago?
a. 65 b. 251 c. 544 d. 1300
6. The environs of the city of Syracuse are known for their commercially valuable deposits of salt
and gypsum. The most likely age of the strata from which these minerals are obtained is
a. Quaternary b. Triassic c. Permian d. Silurian
7. Which of the following pairs of fossil organisms are graptolites?
a. Elliptocephalus and Phacops b. Cooksonia and Aneurophyton
c. Mucrospirifer and Bothriolepis d. Tetragraptus and Dicellograptus
8. The rocks of which eon are most completely representative of that eon?
a. Precambrian b. Paleozoic c. Mesozoic d. Cenozoic
9. The oldest known rocks on Earth are approximately
a. 440 million years old b. 4400 million years old
c. 600 million years old d. 1300 million years old
10. The most important geologic event that occurred in New York State during the Late Permian was
a. widespread extinction of many marine organisms
b. rifting
c. extensive erosion
d. transform collision
11. Which of the following sequence of ages is shown in the correct order from old to young?
a. Cambrian - Silurian - Jurassic - Triassic b. Triassic - Jurassic - Cretaceous - Carboniferous
c. Ordovician - Jurassic - Tertiary - Quaternary d. Cretaceous - Jurassic - Permian - Silurian
12. The approximate latitude of middle North America 359 million years ago was
a. 40 degrees North b. 15 degrees North c. 15 degrees South d. 0 degrees
13. The first coral reef on Earth appeared approximately
a. 500 million years ago b. 425 million years ago
c. 400 million years ago d. 460 million years ago
14. The approximate duration of the Paleocene Epoch was
a. 5 million years b. 10 million years c. 15 million years d. 60 million years
15. The cause of the Appalachian (Alleghenian) orogeny is attributed to
a. the collision of Africa and North America b. the collision of North America and Avalon
c. erosion and the intrusion of the Palisade Sill d. the breakup of Pangea
16. The transition from the Archean Eon to the Proterozoic Eon was approximately
a. 1,000 million years ago b. 0.6 billion years ago
c. 4.6 billion years ago d. 2.5 billion years ago
17. Trilobites inhabited the Earth during which geologic era?
a. Cenozoic b. Mesozoic c. Devonian d. Paleozoic
18. Which geologic periods collectively comprise the Carboniferous?
a. Paleogene and Neogene b. Silurian and Devonian
c. Mississippian and Pennsylvanian c. Archean and Proterozoic
19. The Triassic Period ended approximately
a. 200 million years ago b. 142 Million years ago
c. 251 million years ago d. 65 million years ago
