Early Earth History Quiz

Question 1

The largest part of the geologic timescale - and Earth's history - is known as the ___ time.

Accepted Answer

Precambrian

Question 2

Organisms with hard parts appear in the fossil record towards the late Precambrian.

Accepted Answer

FALSE

Question 3

___ are thought to be one of the earliest lifeforms on Earth.

Accepted Answer

Cyanobacteria, Blue-green algae

Question 4

Vertebrates are animals with backbones - which evolved during (or at) the

Accepted Answer

beginning of the Paleozoic.

Question 5

Warm shallow seas covered a large part of the continents during the Paleozoic - leading to

Accepted Answer

massive marine life that was more easily preserved.

Question 6

Over the following 3 billion years, ___ lifeforms began to inhabit the oceans.

Accepted Answer

simple

Question 7

The Hadean eon (4.6 - 4.0 b.y.a.) was marked by no life and

Accepted Answer

many erupting volcanoes.

Question 8

Without hard parts like bone & teeth, many Precambrian fossils were preserved as trace fossils.

Accepted Answer

TRUE

Question 9

Oxygen produced by cyanobacteria over billions of years helped to create

Accepted Answer

the formation of Earth's ozone layer.

Question 10

Cyanobacteria contains chlorophyll which enables the organism to convert sunlight into

Accepted Answer

oxygen & food.

Question 11

Little is known about Precambrian life because

Accepted Answer

many of the lifeforms did not have hard parts to fossilize., many of the rocks that formed were re-melted over time.

Question 12

Eventually amphibians evolved an egg that did not need water to hatch. These amphibians became

Accepted Answer

reptiles.

Question 13

"Lungfish" (fish with both gills & lungs for breathing) eventually adapted to land as

Accepted Answer

amphibians.

Question 14

During the Archean & Proterozoic eons life became more complex with multi-cellular organisms.

Accepted Answer

TRUE

Question 15

The end of the Paleozoic was marked by the greatest mass extinction event - possibly caused by

Accepted Answer

an asteroid or comet impact., increased volcanic activity due to the formation of Pangaea.

Question 16

The Precambrian includes the eons Hadean, Archean and the ___.

Accepted Answer

Proterozoic

Question 17

As Earth cooled from formation about 4.5 billion years ago, simple life arose in the oceans

Accepted Answer

after about 1 billion years.

Question 18

The oldest rocks on Earth have been found to be just over __ billion years old & are very rare.

Accepted Answer

four

Question 19

The beginning of the Paleozoic era was marked with the "sudden" geologic appearance of

Accepted Answer

complex organisms with hard parts.

Question 20

Mountain building events also occurred during the Paleozoic which included

Accepted Answer

the Appalachian & Ural (European) mountains.

Questions 20