Geologic Time — Test Answers

Which statement best compares consumers and decomposers?

Mosasaurs were large marine reptiles that resembled a cross between a crocodile and a giant iguana. The mosasaurs are believed to have completely died out after a huge asteroid impact caused Earth to drastically change.

Which best explains a primary reason for the inability of life to exist in Earth’s early atmosphere?

Underground mammals, such as the ancestors of moles, are thought to have first evolved as the dinosaurs died out.

Study the diagram of the geologic time scale.Which method is most likely used to identify what happened before the start of the Paleozoic era?

Which statement describes the relationship between plants, animals, and the carbon cycle?

Which statement about water best illustrates the property of adhesion?

Both photosynthesis and cellular respiration are part of the carbon cycle. Which statement best compares these two processes?

Read the following excerpt about water availability to living organisms.“Water covers 75 percent of Earth. 97 percent of water on Earth is salt water. Only 3 percent of water is available as fresh water, but most of this water is locked up in solid glaciers and polar ice caps.” Based on this information, which is the best approximation of the amount of water on the planet that is available for animals to drink?

Which best describes eras and periods?

If the herbivore population in an ecosystem increased, what would most likely happen to the size of the carnivore population?

Which statement describes both a positive impact and a negative impact associated with the effects of nitrogen-enhanced fertilizers?

Which sequence of processes transports water from the atmosphere to the ocean and then back into a cloud?

Paulo makes the argument that the asteroid strike that likely contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs was a short-tem environmental change because it happened so quickly.

Which of these is an autotroph?

Which characteristic best distinguishes runoff and infiltration?

What would most likely happen if there were no condensation stage in the water cycle?

Gwen is researching the effects of a small asteroid impact in an area that has started to regrow after being hit ten years ago. She considers the event to be a long-term change because the species of plants that were present had to start completely over from seeds after all of the plants in the area were killed by the impact.What is the error in Gwen’s thinking?

Maggots get their energy by breaking down dead and decaying animals. What are maggots?

What is speciation?