Fossil Quiz 1: Introduction and Chapter 1

Question 1

Define evolution

Answer 1

the belief that life started by chance, and millions of years of struggle and death slowly changed a few simple living things into many complex and varied forms through stages

Question 2

Define Paleontologist

Answer 2

A person who studies fossils

Question 3

Define permineralized fossils

Answer 3

fossils preserved by minerals hardening in the pore spaces of a specimen such as a shell, bone, or wood.

Question 4

Define trace fossils

Answer 4

are not remains of plant or animal parts, but show evidence of once-living things

Question 5

Who were the two men given credit for popularizing the modern teaching of evolution?

Answer 5

Charles Lyell and Charles Darwin

Question 6

List two agents that erode and deposit sediments. Which agent is more powerful?

Answer 6

wind and water; water

Question 7

What two elements must exist in the right amount for sediments to turn into rocks?

Answer 7

water and rock cement

Question 8

What are the two most common rock cements?

Answer 8

calcium carbonate and silica

Question 9

Give some examples where calcium carbonate can be found.

Answer 9

limestone, bottom of tea kettle, in Tums and Rolaids, chalk

Question 10

When did most of the branches of modern science begin?

Answer 10

1600s and 1700s

Question 11

What does TCSD stand for?

Answer 11

time, chance, struggle, and death

Question 12

What types of sedimentary rocks are fossils normally found in?

Answer 12

flaky shale, gritty sandstone, or chalky limestone

Question 13

What type of event would provide the right conditions to form fossils?

Answer 13

A flood

Question 14

Briefly describe how a fossil can form.

Answer 14

When a plant is buried in sediment under flood conditions, the plant is preserved when the heavy sediment weight squeezes out extra water and encourages the growth of cement minerals that turn the plant into a fossil.

Question 15

Why must fossilization begin quickly?

Answer 15

The plant or animal needs to be preserved quickly before it begins to decompose.

Question 16

What is the most common type of fossil?

Answer 16

A permineralized fossil

Question 17

What is the difference between permineralized wood and petrified wood?

Answer 17

permineralized wood has minerals in its pore spaces but still has wood fibers, while minerals have completely replaced the wood but preserved the pattern in petrified wood.

Question 18

Why is coal considered to be a fossil fuel?

Answer 18

Coal is the charred remains and carbon atoms of once-living plants, making it fossil. Coal burns, making it a fuel.

Question 19

Describe how coal forms (based on the research of Dr. Steve Austin).

Answer 19

Huge mats of vegetation were ripped up in violent storms, torn apart by the waves and currents, and deposited in layers. Sediment on top of these layers then squeezed out water and raised the temperature of the buried plants. The plants would then begin to char, turning into coal.

Question 20

What catastrophic event in May of 1980 supports Dr. Austin’s theory?

Answer 20

The eruption of Mount St. Helens

Question 21

How do polystrate fossils imply rapid burial?

Answer 21

If the layers surrounding the polystrate item had built up slowly over millions of years, the tops of the polystrate item would rot away, even if the bottoms were fossilized.

Question 22

List and describe the four Cs of biblical history discussed in this book.

Answer 22

Creation - God’s perfect creation; Corruption - Ruined by man’s sin; Catatstrophe - Destroyed by Noah’s flood; Christ - Restored to life in Christ