Unit 5: Earth's Changing Surface

Unit Test Review Notes: You may use these on your test if you type or write them yourself.  No cut and paste.  It does not help you learn. Typing and writing help you really learn information. 

• The relative age of a fossil, which has formed inside of a layer of rock is older than the layer of rock it was formed in.

• The law of crosscutting explains that a fault cutting across several layers of rock is younger than the layers of rock. 

• The law of superposition and the law of inclusion both describe the relative ages of rock.

• Carbon dating is only effective for organisms that died less than 60,000 years ago.

• Both carbon dating and index fossils are used to determine the absolute ages of rocks and fossils.

• Ammonites are a good example of an index fossil, because ammonites existed for a relatively limited period of time.

• Continental Drift describes the movement of landmasses on Earth's surface.

• A plant, such as the fern Glossopteris, provides evidence for the movement of continents because it was found on many continents.

• As a result of the Earth's magnetic poles reversing over time, there are distinct bands in rocks that contain magnetic particles. 

• Earthquakes at continental plate boundaries begin deeper in the Earth's crust than earthquakes at mid-ocean ridges.

• Ocean rocks that are found near mid-ocean ridges are younger and form through the cooling of magma.

• Fossils of the same life form species have been found on continents that are now divided by oceans. How could this be possible if a supercontinent did not exist?  (Make sure you use your own words, but you may use the following facts. Do NOT use AI, google, or any outside information.  Only use what you learned from Mrs. Van's rewrite or from the Pearson written lesson before you take the test.  These can NOT be open during your test.) The only other way that the fossils of the same animals and plants would be found on continents that are separated by the ocean would be that the organisms possessed characteristics that allowed them to survive crossing the open sea. Many animals could not swim thousands of miles or are not suited to the marine environment, and saltwater is damaging to most plants.