Geology Paleozoic Exam Practice

1. During the entire Paleozoic, the western margin of North America could be described as being tectonically active or passive?

2. During the Paleozoic, cratons were covered with large bodies of water called __________ __________.

3. The supercontinent that formed near the end of the Paleozoic from an assembling of all the continents was called __________.

4. What are limestone structures constructed by living organisms which build a skeletal structure called?

5. What are believed to be the causes of global transgressive and regressive cycles? 

6. What are cyclothems?

7. What is a cratonic sequence?

8. What were the general climatic conditions on the Paleozoic supercontinent (Pangaea)?

9. What worldwide effect was caused by Gondwana moving over the South Pole during the Carboniferous Period?

10. When and where did the Acadian orogeny occur?

11. Briefly state some of the mammal-like features that therapsids developed 

12. What characteristics make ammonoids such effective guide fossils?

13. Describe the evolutionary history and importance of crossopterygians.

14. Why do paleontologists think that therapsids were endothermic (warm blooded)?

15. The dominant type of flora in non-swampy areas of the Late Paleozoic was __________.

16. The Precambrian-Cambrian boundary represents the first appearance of ______.

17. Why did mass extinctions at the end of the Ordovician occur? 

18. The sail-like fin on the pelycosaur may have served what purpose(s)?

19. What is the age of the Burgess Shale? What is its significance, and why did this unique preservation occur?

20. What is the importance of Glossopteris?