GLY 1102 Topic 8
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At their maximum, Cretaceous seas covered approximately half of the present land area of the Earth
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False (1/3)
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For most of the Mesozoic, __ occurred along the western margin of North America causing the formation of volcanic arcs and numerous collisional events of volcanic arcs and microcontinents
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subduction
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Closer toward the margins of Pangaea, __ climates of altering wet and dry seasons were common
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monsoonal
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Higher average temperatures cause some expansion of ocean waters and raise sea levels
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True
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Although Pangaea was beginning to rift apart in the __, the still-connected continents facilitated widespread dispersal of the dinosaurs
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Triassic
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If the average rate of seafloor spreading increases on a global basis, ridge volume decreases
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False (increase)
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The Connecticut River Valley was a Mesozoic __ containing abundant dinosaur footprints
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rift basin
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By the Middle Jurassic, sea level began to rise again, continuing to a high level in the __
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Late Cretaceous
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Dry and hot desert conditions persisted in many interior continental areas of Pangaea during the Early and Middle Jurassic
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True
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Rocks of the Upper Jurassic contain more diverse and abundant dinosaur fossils then those of the earlier Jurassic
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True
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The Late Jurassic partial breakup of Pangaea and higher sea level increased the proximity of large land areas to the moisture of the ocean; as a result, climate become more continental (warmer with less seasonality) and drier
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False
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Monsoons are caused by seasonal differences in temperatures and atmospheric pressure between oceans and continents
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True
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During the Cretaceous, cool temperate forests covered the polar regions where there was seasonal snowfall and thick ice sheets
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False
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The lack of global glaciation would case sea level to be:
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higher than today
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At the peak of Mesozoic warmth, in the Cretaceous, the pole-to-equator temperature gradient was probably no more than __ degrees C
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20
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The continued warm climate of the Late Cretaceous, combined with higher than average seafloor spreading rates, resulted in the highest sea level of the Mesozoic
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True
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During the Early Cretaceous, conifers became dominant over cycads
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True
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During the Triassic, Gondwana was north of the equator
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False
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Higher Late Jurassic sea level flooded the low-lying portions of continents creating __ sea
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An epicontinental
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Plate tectonic events inhibited early dinosaur dispersal
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False
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During the Late Jurassic, an interior seaway called the __ Sea formed in North America, extending from the Arctic almost to the Gulf of Mexico
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Sundance
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Flowering trees and grasses evolved during the Middle Triassic
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False
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During the Jurassic, western North America was covered by expansive eolian sands
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True
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Late Cretaceous lea level was so high that it flooded the entire Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains of the US
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True
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The average elevation of physiographic regions of the ocean basins can change over time, as a consequence of changes in the rates of __
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Seafloor spreading
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During the Late Cretaceous, forests grew in coastal Antarctica and in Canada as far north as 85 degrees N latitude
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True
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The Tethys Seaway divided Africa from Europe in the Middle Jurassic, separating African dinosaurs from their cousins to the north
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True
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The three geologic periods of the Mesozoic are, from the oldest to youngest,
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Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous
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The rise of the Late Jurassic sea level continued into the Cretaceous
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True
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Most sea level change during more recent ( last 2 million years ) geologic time has been the result of
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changes in glacial ice volume
