GEOL 1110 EXAM QUESTIONS
WITH CORRECT DETAILED
ANSWERS
What type of plant became more common over the course of the Cenozoic Era, driving
the evolution of mammals such as horses? - Answer- Grass
Two important groups of Ice Age mammals were the mammoths and the mastodons.
Your textbook provides several possible explanations for what may have driven them
extinct. Which of the following is not one of them? - Answer- Competition with modern
elephants
What is important about the presence of the chemical element iridium in rocks from the
end of the Cretaceous period? - Answer- Iridium was brought to Earth by an asteroid
impact
What did geologists find near the town of Chicxulub in Mexico? - Answer- A giant crater
from an asteroid impact
An asteroid impact would blow huge clouds of dust and gas into the atmosphere that
would have lingered for months. What is the main way that this would contribute to a
mass extinction? - Answer- Blocking sunlight and cooling the planet
What kind of geological activity created the feature called the Yellowstone caldera? -
Answer- A volcanic eruption
One way to tell what the ancient climate was like is to look at the kinds of animals and
plants that lived in different parts of the world. During the Paleocene and Eocene
epochs (both parts of the Paleogene period), what kind of life could you find living in the
Arctic region? - Answer- Palm trees and alligators
Which of the following features of the group of vertebrate animals called mammals are
you most likely to be able to see from a fossil? - Answer- One lower jaw bone
Based on early Cenozoic fossils of the first cetaceans (whales), what other mammal
group did whales evolve from? - Answer- Artiodactyls: hoofed mammals
What important global event happened at the end of the Permian period? - Answer- The
biggest mass extinction in Earth's history
WITH CORRECT DETAILED
ANSWERS
What type of plant became more common over the course of the Cenozoic Era, driving
the evolution of mammals such as horses? - Answer- Grass
Two important groups of Ice Age mammals were the mammoths and the mastodons.
Your textbook provides several possible explanations for what may have driven them
extinct. Which of the following is not one of them? - Answer- Competition with modern
elephants
What is important about the presence of the chemical element iridium in rocks from the
end of the Cretaceous period? - Answer- Iridium was brought to Earth by an asteroid
impact
What did geologists find near the town of Chicxulub in Mexico? - Answer- A giant crater
from an asteroid impact
An asteroid impact would blow huge clouds of dust and gas into the atmosphere that
would have lingered for months. What is the main way that this would contribute to a
mass extinction? - Answer- Blocking sunlight and cooling the planet
What kind of geological activity created the feature called the Yellowstone caldera? -
Answer- A volcanic eruption
One way to tell what the ancient climate was like is to look at the kinds of animals and
plants that lived in different parts of the world. During the Paleocene and Eocene
epochs (both parts of the Paleogene period), what kind of life could you find living in the
Arctic region? - Answer- Palm trees and alligators
Which of the following features of the group of vertebrate animals called mammals are
you most likely to be able to see from a fossil? - Answer- One lower jaw bone
Based on early Cenozoic fossils of the first cetaceans (whales), what other mammal
group did whales evolve from? - Answer- Artiodactyls: hoofed mammals
What important global event happened at the end of the Permian period? - Answer- The
biggest mass extinction in Earth's history
