The final exam is approaching (Monday, December 10th, 10:15 am to 12:30 pm in our classroom), covering new material taught beginning Monday, November 5th, and drawing on the earlier material (time scale, general evolutionary trends) as you need to discuss the new material.  This is an in-class, closed-book and closed/notes exam, designed to be completed in 1.5-2 hours.  Here is a sample final exam to help you prepare for the kind of questions that will be asked.  This is not the final I will be giving you, but is typical of the format and is drawn from the same material.

I.    Definitions

 1.  Please write out the geologic periods  in the time scale in order, including dates for the boundaries between the Archean Era and Proterozoic Era of the Precambrian, the Proterozoic Era of the Precambrian and the Paleozoic Era of the Phanerozoic Eon, between the Paleozoic and the Mesozoic Era, and between the Mesozoic and the Cenozoic Era.  20 points
 

2. Please give brief definitions (one to two sentences) of any 6 of the following terms (5 points ea.): (30 total)

ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation)

¹⁸O/¹⁶O

Holocene

Sunspot Cycles

Antarctic Bottom Water

North Atlantic Deep Water

Little Ice Age

Deccan Traps

Chicxulub Crater

Pacific Warm Pool

Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM)

Peru-Humboldt Current

Younger Dryas

Abrupt Climate Change
 

II. Short Answer:   Please choose any 2 of these 4 questions and answer with a short (1 paragraph) response.  15 points ea. (30 total)

1. What fossil evidence suggests that changes in heat output from the Sun was responsible for the “Little Ice Age” of historical time?
 

2. Why do changes in the ratio of 18 O / 16 O in the shells of marine invertebrates tell us about sea level change and global ice volume? (i.e., How does this work?)

3.  How do corals record El Nino conditions?

4.  What evidence does Peter Ward bring to bear on the issue of sudden versus slow extinction of the ammonites at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary, in his book “On Methuselah’s Trail”?
 
 

III.  Essay Answer:  Please choose 1 of these 4 questions and answer with a one page essay response.    20 points ea. (20total)  Based on your readings and class lectures:

 Note:  Refer to the isotope curve for the Cenozoic (Zachos et al., 2001 listed on class web page under Useful Links) when reading questions 1 and 2:

1. Here is the oxygen isotope curve from marine benthic foraminifera for the Cenozoic Era.  Why is this kind of curve an important part of the argument that Earth moves from a “hothouse” to an “ice house” mode by mid-Cenozoic time?   (e.g., Why does this work?)

2.  Here is the oxygen isotope curve from marine benthic foraminifera for the Cenozoic Era.  Discuss the important tectonic events that affected global climate at approximately 40-50 m.y.a.,  15 m.y.a,  4 m.y.a, and the last 3 million years.  What has been the effect on climate of these events?

3.  What is the evidence indicating a methane (clathrate/gas hydrate) release during Eocene time?

4. The Holocene Epoch was once thought to be a quiet and uneventful time in Earth’s most recent history.  What fossil evidence suggests that this is not the case?