(Stnd 16) Study Guide-Geology and Extinction WS

Name:

Which of the following is NOT an accepted criterion for a mass extinction event?

a.	The event could have been either a rapid or gradual extinction.
b.	A significant part of life on Earth became extinct.
c.	The cause of the mass extinction must be obvious.

During glacial periods, sea levels drop which changes marine ecosystems sometimes resulting in species going extinct. During interglacial periods, sea levels rise which can also cause extinctions.
What cause and effect connection explains why the sea level changes like this?

a.	During Ice Ages, more global water is frozen on land. This reduces the amount of water in the oceans.
b.	Cause: Glaciers are heavy and the extra weight must be supported by tectonic plates. Effect: The extra weight pushes down the continents which makes the sea level rise.
c.	Marine organisms reproduce faster in colder water. So, as the temperate decreases, the number of fish vastly increases causing the ocean level to rise.

Which of the following is NOT an example of a phenomenon that would cause a rapid change in the environment leading to an extinction event?

Asteroid Impact

Comet Impact

Continental Drift

Extinctions can be caused by tectonic plate movement, asteroid impacts, or massive volcanic eruptions. What occurs after each mass extinction?

a.	Ultraviolet radiation and solar flares gradually destroy all life on Earth.
b.	Surviving species adapt to the new environmental conditions and fill vacant habitats.
c.	Mutations result in super-predators which overgraze the flora causing extinction.

Mass extinction events cause the death of huge numbers of different types of plants and animals on land and in the oceans. However, there are long-term benefits for those species that survive.
Which is these choices is a key benefit of mass extinctions?

a.	It results in a process called adaptive radiation for some of the surviving species.
b.	There are no benefits to mass extinctions, only death and destruction
c.	It creates more food for the extinct species.

Which of the following choices provides good geological evidence that a volcanic eruption caused the Permian extinction which is estimated to have extinguished around 96% of all life on Earth?

a.	Off the coast of Mexico and on the Yucatan peninsula, they found a huge crater.
b.	The Hawaii island and the Galapagos islands were formed by underwater volcanoes.
c.	Massive flood basalt regions in modern Russia (called the Siberia Traps).

The Cretaceous-Paleogen extinction event wiped out the dinosaurs. This was a rapid extinction that was most likely caused by a large asteroid impact.
How did this impact effect the stability of ecosystems around the planet?

a.	The impact ripped open a fault line in Russia called the Siberian Traps which vented millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
b.	Only the ecosystems at the impact site were damaged or destroyed. Most ecosystems around the world were unaffected resulting in a population boom.
c.	Rock dust was hurtled into the atmosphere blocking sunlight which killed plants and lowered global temperatures. This disrupted food webs and resulted in climate change.

What kind of geological evidence have we found to support the claim that an asteroid impact caused the dinosaurs to go extinct?

a.	Massive flood basalt regions in Siberia and India likely caused extinctions.
b.	A huge crater was discovered off the coast of Mexico on the Yucatan peninsula.
c.	Plate boundaries such as the mid-Atlantic ridge were formed by an asteroid impact.

There is evidence that Earth has experienced five to seven glacial periods (called Ice Ages) during the last 650,000 years. After each glacial period the Earth eventually warmed up and the glaciers retreated (called Interglacial periods).
What patterns can you discern from this?

a.	The expansion of glaciers is generally caused by the movement of tectonic plates.
b.	Glacial and interglacial periods happen randomly with no discernable pattern.
c.	Glacial periods and Interglacial periods occur in repeating cycles.

10.

How can tectonic plate movement (continental drift) cause extinctions?

a.	If the plates move too quickly, the force of this motion can kill fauna and flora.
b.	If your continent moves far away from its current location, this can change the amount of rainfall, the average temperature, and even the amount of sunlight.
c.	When tectonic plates move, they carry the continents with them. When continents are moved great distances the climate will remained unchanged resulting in extinctions.