How the Earth was Made

Question 1

The natural process that lowers mountains. _

Accepted Answer

erosion

Question 2

The collision of Africa and Europe produced this mountain chain. _

Accepted Answer

Alps

Question 3

A top paleontologist, he discovered the fossils in the Burgess Shale.

Accepted Answer

Charles Doolittle Walcott

Question 4

The Australian beach where stromatolites may be found. _

Accepted Answer

Shark Bay

Question 5

A desolate, lifeless supercontinent formed about a billion years ago. _

Accepted Answer

Rodinia

Question 6

Dinosaurs are described as _-blooded.

Accepted Answer

lukewarm

Question 7

The new supercontinent formed around 299 million years ago.

Accepted Answer

Pangea

Question 8

Connects North and South America.

Accepted Answer

Isthmus of Panama

Question 9

The time when the atmosphere and oceans were oxygenated.

Accepted Answer

1.9 billion years ago

Question 10

The period that the Earth froze; caused by Rodinia blocking currents of warm water in oceans.

Accepted Answer

Snowball Earth

Question 11

The thickness of the ice sheet during Snowball Earth. _

Accepted Answer

100 feet

Question 12

This force of nature kept Earth warmer than Kelvin expected, throwing off his age of Earth. _

Accepted Answer

radioactivity

Question 13

What is this? (Picture © Sam Gon III via Wikimedia Commons.)

Accepted Answer

paradoxides trilobite

Question 14

He calculated the age of the Earth on radioactive dating of the decay of uranium into lead.

Accepted Answer

Arthur Holmes

Question 15

The approximate distance that Europe and North America move apart each year. _

Accepted Answer

2.5 cm

Question 16

The current scientific estimate of the age of the Earth. _

Accepted Answer

4.5 billion years

Question 17

Formed from plant matter decomposing in freshwater swamps around 200 to 300 million years ago.

Accepted Answer

coal

Question 18

250 mya volcanic eruptions in Siberia lasting a million years created this mass extinction. _

Accepted Answer

Permian Extinction

Question 19

The natural process that raises mountains. _

Accepted Answer

uplift

Question 20

Pangea began to split into the current set of continents around _.

Accepted Answer

170 million years ago

Question 21

180 million years ago this split apart. _

Accepted Answer

Pangea

Question 22

A period, 359.2 to 299 million years ago, when large plants dominated a steamy, swampy Earth. _

Accepted Answer

Carboniferous

Question 23

The formation of this in the atmosphere permitted life on land.

Accepted Answer

ozone layer

Question 24

The connection of North and South America blocked ocean current and permitted these.

Accepted Answer

ice ages

Question 25

A rare element deposited by meteors. It dates the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Accepted Answer

iridium

Question 26

By 4 billion years ago _ of the Earth was a vast iron-rich hot green ocean.

Accepted Answer

90%

Question 27

A new supercontinent is predicted to form _ in the future.

Accepted Answer

250 million years

Question 28

The next ice age is predicted for _ in the future.

Accepted Answer

15,000 years

Question 29

Formed during the Carboniferous Period.

Accepted Answer

fossil fuels

Question 30

Fossils of this fresh-water animal found on different continents, indicating they had moved.

Accepted Answer

paradoxides trilobite

Question 31

Gemstones brought to the surface of the Earth by volcanic activity.

Accepted Answer

diamond

Question 32

Continents were mainly formed from this stone. It was created by undersea volcanoes. _

Accepted Answer

granite

Question 33

Formed as glaciers retreated at the end of the last ice age.

Accepted Answer

The Great Lakes

Question 34

This mountain shows the combination of the European and African continental plates.

Accepted Answer

The Matterhorn

Question 35

Crystals that date the presence of water on Earth from the uranium they contain. _

Accepted Answer

zircon

Question 36

Evidence of continental drift may be found on this island.

Accepted Answer

Iceland

Question 37

The light density granite caused it to float on the denser molten _ of the Earth.

Accepted Answer

mantle

Question 38

541 to 485.4 million years ago, that modern life forms are first evident in the fossil record.

Accepted Answer

Cambrian Period

Question 39

Molten material in the Earth rises to surface and erupts; caused Permian Extinction.

Accepted Answer

mantle plume

Question 40

Around 231 million years ago these animals first appeared on Earth. _

Accepted Answer

dinosaur

Question 41

This eroded as the Colorado River moved over elevated land. _

Accepted Answer

The Grand Canyon

Question 42

A stone formation in the Canadian Rockies rich in Cambrian fossils.

Accepted Answer

Burgess Shale

Question 43

Stromatolites filled the atmosphere with this gas.

Accepted Answer

oxygen

Question 44

The study of the movement of the continents. _

Accepted Answer

plate tectonics

Question 45

The last ice age ended _.

Accepted Answer

10,000 years ago

Question 46

The theory that the continents move over the mantle of the Earth. _

Accepted Answer

continental drift

Question 47

Snowball Earth melted because of _.

Accepted Answer

volcanoes

Question 48

The oldest fossils, they were formed by cyanobacteria. _

Accepted Answer

stromatolite

Question 49

Who used thermodynamics to miscalculate that the Earth was about 20,000 years old? _

Accepted Answer

Lord Kelvin

Question 50

The oxygen-rich atmosphere allowed these to grow to several feet long. _

Accepted Answer

insects

Question 51

The increased levels of oxygen in the oceans removed much of this element through rusting.

Accepted Answer

iron

Question 52

The Earth formed from collisions of these. _

Accepted Answer

meteors

Question 53

The radioactive element used by Arthur Holmes to calculate the ago of the Earth. _

Accepted Answer

uranium

Question 54

Stone formed when lava solidifies under deep water. The oldest date the formation of the oceans

Accepted Answer

pillow lava

Question 55

The burst of new life forms about 500 million years ago following Snowball Earth.

Accepted Answer

Cambrian Explosion

How the Earth was Made

Questions 55

How the Earth was Made

Questions 55