GEOL 1403 Earth History (17) – Flashcards

The waste gas released by plants as they synthesize food sugars from carbon dioxide and water is ______.

The most common Precambrian fossils are _____, layered mounds of calcium carbonate.

The ______ era is known as the "age of flowering plants."

______ are among the most widespread Paleozoic fossils.

Abundant fossil evidence did not appear in the geologic record until about _____.

Which one of the following represents the greatest expanse of geological time?

During the early Paleozoic era, the current continents of South America, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, India, and perhaps China comprised the vast southern continent of _______.

Which type of bacteria thrives in environments that lack free oxygen?

Which era of geologic time spans about 88% of Earth's history?

The ______ means "the sun in the making."

Mammals became the dominant land animals during the ______ era.

The _____ period was a time of major extinctions, including 75 percent of amphibian families.

The beginning of the Cambrian Period marks an important event in animal evolution - the appearance of organisms with ______.

The era of "ancient life" is the ______ era

Due to a virtual absence of land plants and certain animals, fossil fuels are notably absent in _____ rocks.

The major source of free oxygen in the atmosphere is from _____.

The age of Earth is about ________.

The Precambrian rock record indicates that much of Earth's first free oxygen combined with ______ dissolved in water.

Most ______ rocks are devoid of fossils, which hinders correlation of rocks.

The ______ period is sometimes called the "golden age of trilobites."

________ means "planets in the making."

The process in which plants use light energy to synthesize food sugars from carbon dioxide is called _______.

By the close of the Paleozoic, all the continents had fused into the single super continent of ______.

The beginning of the _______ era is marked by the appearance of the first life forms with hard parts.

Each continent contains large "core areas" of Precambrian rocks referred to as _______.