The final exam is approaching (Tuesday, December 10th, 12:45 to 3:00 pm in our classroom), covering new material taught beginning Tuesday, October 15th, and drawing on the earlier material (time scale, any general evolutionary trends) as needed 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.  Total 115 points.

I.    Definitions

 1.  Please write out the geologic periods  in the time scale in order (oldest on the bottom, youngest at the top), 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.  Spelling Counts!  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)

Chengjiang Fauna

tiering

CH₄

Burgess Shale Fauna

¹⁸O/¹⁶O

Holocene

Azolla Event

lignin

¹³C/¹²C

H₂S

Deccan Traps

Chicxulub Crater

Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM)

Siberian Traps

II. Short Answer:   Please choose any 3 of these 5 questions and answer with a short (1 paragraph) response.  Based on class lectures and assigned readings, explain:         15 points ea. (45 total)

1.   One of our questions from book discussion days on Brian Switek's "Written in Stone" will be asked.

2.   What are the major working hypotheses for the cause(s) of the Permian-Triassic extinction event?
 

3.  What are the major working hypotheses for the cause(s) of the Cretaceous-Tertiary (Paleogene) extinction event?

4.  The Holocene Epoch was once thought to be a quiet, uneventful interglacial epoch.  What fossil evidence indicates that it was(is) a time of significant environmental global change?
 
 5.  The PETM and early Eocene Warmth are distinctly tracked with the fossil record.  Discuss two lines of fossil evidence that indicate the onset, rise and end of this global warming event of the early Eocene.

III.  Essay Answer:  Please choose 1 of these 3 questions and answer with a one page essay response.    20 points ea. (20 total)  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 a record from forams tell us anything about past climate?)

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 30 -35 m.y.a.,  15 m.y.a,  4 m.y.a, and the last 3 million years.  What has been the effect on climate and the biosphere of these events?

3.  How do these two equations link activity in the terrestrial biosphere to the changes in atmospheric  oxygen concentration in the late Paleozoic (Devonian through Permian)? 

                                2Fe₂O₃ + 8SO₄^2- + 16H   ↔  15O₂ + 4FeS₂ + 8H₂O

                                          CO₂ + H₂O  ↔     CH₂O  + O₂