Earth science D2l Questions fossils and such chapter Flashcards
What is a fossil?
Remains of trace of past life. Preserved; componets of sedimentary rock
What are the requirements for fossil preservation?
Hard parts, rapid preservation; dies, decays, buried, sediment. Starts to compact
What are the differences between how fossils and living organisms are classified?
Fossils are classified using skeletal morphology (shape); living organisms symmetry, coiling,
What types of information can we learn from dinosaur track ways??
Where they were going, how fast they were running. Trace fossils
Are the dinosaurs considered as an unsuccessful group because they went extinct, and what distinguishes them from the rest of the reptiles?
No, they were very successful. Their stance, started as sprawling (spread apart) ended in Erect Straight up
What is the most likely cause for the extinction of the dinosaurs?
K/T Mass extinction, 65 million years ago a rock hit the U.S. and killed the dinosaurs
What are the two major groups of dinosaurs and how can we tell them apart?
Bird hip and Lizard hip. Their hip bones
How do we know what dinosaurs ate, and list a few of the properties we will probably never know about dinosaurs?
We can tell by their poop, and by their teeth. We will never know if they had feathers or what color they were. If they were hot or cold blooded
What types of information do trace fossils give us that body fossils do not?
Trace fossils gives us tracks ,burrows, records the behavior of the organisms; where body fossils is just the skeleton
What are the two frameworks of geologic time?
absolute time-an actual number
radiometric dating, relative time- relative order of events
What is the difference between weather and climate?
Weather- condition of the atmosphere in a particular area. Climate-the average weather experienced by a region.
What factors influence temperature on earth?
Latitude, ealvation, proximity to H2o
What is the atmosphere and what is it composed of?
The atmosphere- thin envelope of air that surrounds the earth. It is composed of nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor
What causes seasonality on Earth, and why is seasonality more extreme in the northern hemisphere?
Seasonality- tilt and insolation, duration of daylight.
Why is the Red River so prone to flooding?
A lot of other rivers go into the red river, topography, climate, gradiant
