Name __________________________

Period _______ Date ______________

Science 20 Workbook | Geology | Chapter 1
Lesson 1.1: The Long Beginning
1. Earths internal structure can be compared to an egg. Infer what else
Earths internal structure can be compared to. Write, draw or model your
own analogy.

2. Complete the following table by inserting the missing information.

3. Why is the oceanic crust pushed under the continental crustal plate
instead of vice versa?

APPLICATION
A lava lamp is a good model of Earths convection currents. The semi-fluid
material inside the lamp could represent the mantle. The heat source at the
lamps base could represent heat from Earths core. A bubble starts at the
bottom of the lamp, slowly rises, and then sinks again. Explain step by step,
how the bubbles in the lava lamp move.

Lesson 1.2: Early Life

4. A geologist finds that a present-day river, similar in size to the one thought
to have existed at Cameron Falls 1.5 billion years ago, deposits sediment
at a rate of 1.0 cm/a (year). use this measurement to calculate the time it
took to deposit Albertas 11 km (1100000 cm) thick sandwich of
Precambrian sedimentary rock strata. (t = d/v)

5. List assumptions you have to make to perform the calculation in question

4.

6. Identify the process that uses the Suns energy to make glucose from
carbon dioxide and water.

7. Refer to question 6. Identify the other product besides glucose in the

process.

APPLICATION
The picture to the right shows two
geologists posing by 700 million year old
sedimentary rock in Namibia. These big,
embedded rocks are the type that
glaciers pick up and carry with them as
they flow.
a. Describe the climate that
supports glacial deposits.
b. Just above the geologists
hands are sedimentary layers of limestone known only to be
deposited in warm seas. What do these limestone deposits
indicate?

Lesson 1.3: Strange Rocks

8. Look at the fossilized shark teeth in the picture to
the right. How did the undamaged solid sharks
teeth become fossils in the sedimentary rock?

9. Hypothesize about which was deposited first the

shark teeth or the strata below the shark teeth.
Remember: A good hypothesis includes a reason.

10. During his travels, Steno observed

many outcrops of sedimentary rocks
with distinct strata. Determine the
relative age of each of the minerals in
the stratigraphic sequence to the right
by numbering them from 1(youngest) to
5(oldest).
Use the picture to the right to answer the next
2 questions.
11. Determine the relative age of the lava and
the road.

12. Explain why you cannot precisely determine the absolute age of the road
or the lava on the road.

13. Examine the picture below carefully.

a. Determine the oldest layers of rock at Locations 1 and 2.

b. Determine the youngest layers of rock at Locations 1 and 2.

c. Conclude which layer in Location 1 contains rock of roughly the

same age as the rock in layer X of Location 2.

APPLICATION
Calculate the percentage of Earths history for each era.
Round all answers to the nearest percent.
Describe the criteria geologists use to divide the Geological
Time Scale into eras.

Identify the name for the subdivisions of an era.

Identify which period is more recent the Triassic or the

Permian. Explain how you know.

Which epoch are you living in? Explain how you know.

Lesson 1.4: Getting a Handle on Time

The following image is a geological profile painted by James Hutton on one of his
trips through the Scottish countryside. Use this image to answer questions 14-20.

14. Identify which layer in the painting is the youngest.

15. Identify which layer represents older rock A or B. Justify your decision.

16. Why do you think the strata in the painting are tilted?

17. Identify the proper name of the surface labeled D.

18. Describe a process that may have created D.

19. Rock structure E cuts across several sedimentary layers. Describe how
structure E may have formed.

20. Is structure E younger or older than the rock in layer A? Justify your
decision.

APPLICATION
Use the following images to answer questions 1-5.

1. Determine which fossil in Diagram 1 is older the one in A or B. Explain

your reasoning.

2. List the layers in Diagram 2 from oldest to youngest.

3. Explain the cause of unconformity (slanted strata) in Diagram 2.

4. Determine which layer in Diagram 2 is approximately the same ages as

layer A in Diagram 1. How can you tell?

5. Based on the rock strata, relate a brief story that explains the geological
history of the land area shown in Diagram 3.

Lesson 1.5: Pinpointing Time

For the problems below, write out the radioactive decay equation. Then
use the radioactive decay curve and age formula BELOW to solve the
problem. (age = # of half lives x half life rate pg 8 of your databook)

Example Problem: A geologist determines the percentages of uranium-238 and

lead-206 found in a zircon. This geologist finds that 30% of the sample is lead206. Determine the age of the zircon.

21. A sample of orthoclase is dated using potassium-40. A mass spectrometer

analysis shows that 20% of the potassium-40 is present in the sample.
Use this data to determine the age of the orthoclase sample.

22. During the 1970s, missions to the Moon collected lunar rocks to bring
back to Earth for analysis. One of the experiments completed on the
collected lunar rocks was determining their age by radiometric dating. The
oldest Moon rock ever dated contains 6% of the daughter nuclide
strontium-87. Using this information, determine the minimum age of Moon.

23. Volcanic ash deposits can be dated using uranium. Some scientist think
that about 100 million years ago (1.00 x 10 8 a), a series of volcanic
eruptions blanketed Alberta with ash. Work your way backward to
determine the percentage of uranium-235 present in the volcanic ash.
Step 1) Write down the reaction & look up the radioactive rate
Step 2) Determine half lives = age / rate
Step 3) Using the radioactive curve and half-lives, determine the
percentage of uranium 235
24. In the fall of 1991, two hikers discovered a male human body melting in
the glacial ice of the Italian Alps. Carbon-14 dating methods found that the
body contained 52.5% of the original carbon-14 that would have been in
his body at his time of death. Determine the age of the ice mummy.

25. Carbon-14 dating cannot be used to date samples more than 45000 years
old. Provide a possible explanation for this.

APPLICATION

The above image shows an outcropping of the Red Deer River at Dinosaur
Provincial Park near Brooks.
a. Determine the relative age of the dinosaur skeleton shown in the
diagram.

b. Determine the relative age of the ammonite fossil.

c. Is the relative age more precise in question a or question b?

Why?