Potential Quiz Questions, Quiz #3
Short Answer Questions
- What did the Miller-Urey experiments demonstrate about
the origin of life on earth?
- How could proteins and cell membranes form in the absence of life?
- How are Archean rocks different from Proterozoic rocks?
Be sure to describe both the rocks and their plate tectonic setting.
- What evidence supports the interpretation that a supercontinent 1) formed
in Late Proterozoic time, and 2) broke up just at the beginning of the Cambrian?
- Cambrian rocks in North America are dominated by quartz sandstones; Ordovician
rocks are mostly limestones. What can you say about depostional environments
during the Cambrian and Ordovician? What caused the change from sandstone
deposition to limestone deposition?
- What kind of plate boundary occupied the east coast of North America during
the Ordovician? What is the evidence for this interpretation?
- Why are cyclothems important in Late Paleozoic history? What are cyclothems,
and what do they tell us about environmental conditions in the Late Paleozoic?
Potential Essay Questions
1. The East Coast of North America (Appalachian region) had a violent history
throughout the Paleozoic. Describe the evolution of the East Coast from the
Cambrian to the Permian, giving the evidence for each step of the history. Feel
free to use a chart if that helps your organization.
2. Although the continents are well spaced around the globe today, geologists
say that in the Late Paleozoic all the world's continents were assembled into
a single supercontinent, Pangaea. What is the evidence 1) that this continent
existed, 2) that it finished forming in the Late Paleozoic, and 3) that it broke
up again in the Triassic?