What is the difference between relative age and absolute age? a) Relative age compares the ages of rocks, while absolute age is the number of years since the rock was formed. b) Relative age is the number of years since the rock was formed, while absolute age compares the ages of rocks. c) Relative age is impossible to determine, while absolute age is based on the position of rock layers. d) Relative age is based on the position of rock layers, while absolute age is impossible to determine.

What is the Law of Superposition? a) The top layer of sedimentary rock is the oldest. b) The bottom layer of sedimentary rock is the oldest. c) The deeper you go, the younger the rocks. d) The higher you go, the older the rocks.

How do geologists determine the relative age of faults? a) By comparing the age of the fault to the age of the rock it cuts through. b) By comparing the age of the fault to the age of the youngest layer it cuts through. c) By comparing the age of the fault to the age of the oldest layer it cuts through. d) By comparing the age of the fault to the age of the surrounding rock.

What are fossils? a) Preserved remains or traces of living things. b) Layers of sedimentary rock. c) Igneous extrusions. d) Unconformities.

What do index fossils help geologists do? a) Determine the absolute age of rocks. b) Determine the relative age of rocks. c) Determine the composition of rocks. d) Determine the half-life of radioactive elements.

What is an unconformity? a) The surface where new rock layers meet much older rock surface. b) The surface where new rock layers meet younger rock surface. c) The surface where igneous rocks form. d) The surface where fossils are found.

How do scientists fill in the gaps in the geologic record? a) By using rock samples from all over the Earth. b) By using radioactive elements in rocks. c) By using index fossils. d) By using the Law of Superposition.

What is radioactive decay? a) When elements become unstable and release energy in the form of radiation. b) When elements break down to form the atoms of another element. c) When elements change composition to become stable elements. d) When elements decrease in amount and increase in a new element.

What is a half-life? a) The time it takes for half of a radioactive element’s atoms to decay. b) The time it takes for a rock to form. c) The time it takes for a fossil to be preserved. d) The time it takes for a rock layer to erode.

How is the age of a rock determined using radioactive dating? a) By comparing the amount of radioactive element to the amount of stable element. b) By comparing the amount of stable element to the amount of radioactive element. c) By comparing the amount of radioactive element to the amount of sedimentary rock. d) By comparing the amount of sedimentary rock to the amount of stable element.

Which radioactive dating method is useful for dating very old rocks? a) Potassium-Argon Dating. b) Carbon-14 Dating. c) Radioactive Decay. d) Radioactive or Radiometric Dating.

Which radioactive dating method is useful for dating fossils? a) Potassium-Argon Dating. b) Carbon-14 Dating. c) Radioactive Decay. d) Radioactive or Radiometric Dating.

What is the half-life of Potassium-40? a) 1.3 billion years. b) 5,630 years. c) 50,000 years. d) It varies depending on the rock.

What is the half-life of Carbon-14? a) 1.3 billion years. b) 5,630 years. c) 50,000 years. d) It varies depending on the rock.

How old can rocks/fossils be using Carbon-14 dating? a) Less than 50,000 years old. b) More than 50,000 years old. c) Less than 1.3 billion years old. d) More than 1.3 billion years old.

What type of rock are index fossils usually found in? a) Igneous rock. b) Sedimentary rock. c) Metamorphic rock. d) Extrusive rock.

What do igneous extrusions tell us about the relative age of rocks? a) They are younger than the rock that covers them. b) They are older than the rock that covers them. c) They are younger than the rock that surrounds them. d) They are older than the rock that surrounds them.

What do igneous intrusions tell us about the relative age of rocks? a) They are younger than the rock that covers them. b) They are older than the rock that covers them. c) They are younger than the rock that surrounds them. d) They are older than the rock that surrounds them.

How do scientists determine the relative age of faults? a) By comparing the age of the fault to the age of the rock it cuts through. b) By comparing the age of the fault to the age of the youngest layer it cuts through. c) By comparing the age of the fault to the age of the oldest layer it cuts through. d) By comparing the age of the fault to the age of the surrounding rock.

Why do scientists use both relative and absolute age to describe a rock? a) Because knowing the absolute age of some rocks is impossible. b) Because relative age is more accurate than absolute age. c) Because absolute age is more accurate than relative age. d) Because it helps construct a record of Earth’s history.