Exam

Name___________________________________

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.
1) Which statement concerning sedimentary rocks is not true?
A) They were originally deposited at depth below the bottom of the sea.
B) They probably show some evidence of stratification.
C) They are composed of materials derived from weathering and erosion of other rocks.
D) They may contain fossils that provide clues about ancient life forms.

1)

2) How do unconsolidated sediments originate?

A) from the rock cycle by interrupted transmission
B) by spontaneous decomposition in place of underlying rocks
C) by weathering, erosion, transport, and deposition

2)

3) How does a sediment become transformed into a sedimentary rock?

A) by compaction and dewatering , followed by cementation
B) by destruction of all bedding and original depositional features
C) by processes of polymorphism
D) by multiple cycles of redeposition

3)

4) What percentage of the earth's crust is composed of sedimentary rocks?

A) 5%
B) 75%
C) 25%

4)
D) 15%

5) Sedimentary rocks account for about what percentage of the Earth's outermost 10 kilometres of
rock (first percentage). Also, what percentage of the Earth's continental area is covered by
sedimentary rocks (second percentage)?
A) 65%; 10%
B) 3.5%; 100%
C) 5%; 75%
D) 85%; 100%

5)

6) The process of turning a sediment into a sedimentary rock is called ________.

A) lithification
B) conglomeration
C) crystallization
D) redeposition

6)

7) Diagenesis occurs at temperatures below ________ in the outer few kilometres of Earth's crust.
A) 200
B) 10
C) 100
D) 50

7)

8) The type of diagenesis that occurs in the transformation of aragonite to calcite is ________.
A) decarbonation
B) recrystallization
C) dehydration
D) weathering

8)

9) Compaction is a very important part of the lithification process for which of the following
sediments?
A) cobble
B) mud
C) gravel
D) sand

9)

10) Which type of sediment undergoes the most compaction as it lithifies to sedimentary rocks?
A) desert dune sand
B) reef limestone
C) coarse gravel
D) marine mud

10)

11) How are cements formed in sedimentary rocks?

A) From decomposition of buried organic matter.
B) They are injected as a slurry as dense fluids are forced through the sediments.
C) Most are introduced as dissolved substances in pore waters.
D) They are always present in the original sediment but they take a while to react.

11)

12) What are the most common cementing agents in sedimentary rocks?
A) clays and bitumen
B) Ca(OH)2

12)

C) CaO

D) calcite, silica, and iron oxides

13) Which of the following is not a common cementing agent for sandstones?
A) fluorite
B) quartz
C) calcite

D) iron oxides

13)

14) ________ cement produces bright-red and yellow colors in some sandstone.
A) Clay
B) Quartz
C) Calcite

D) Iron oxide

14)

15) What do orange red or brown colours indicate in sedimentary rocks?

A) high organic matter contents
B) deposition below water in a swamp or muddy estuary
C) original deposition on a beach
D) an oxidizing environment to produce iron (ferric) oxides or hydroxides

15)

16) What do dense crystalline rocks and shales have in common?

A) They are usually made out of sediment sized rock fragments.
B) They both have low porosity and will be impermeable to oil or water.
C) The are both deposited in fresh water rivers and lakes.
D) They are both too stupid to pass a geology test!

16)

17) Which characteristic is absolutely necessary for a sedimentary rock to have potential as a possible
reservoir rock for oil or gas?
A) clastic texture
B) good stratification
C) chemical origin
D) high porosity

17)

18) In what setting would you expect to find massive, unsorted, poorly bedded deposits ranging in
size from boulders to clays?
A) high latitude or high altitude glacial settings
B) channels deposits from the middle portions of rivers
C) eolian deposits from deserts with large dune fields
D) sediments from lagoons and estuaries on a temperate coastline

18)

19) Hot regions having basins with limited input and restricted circulation tend to have ________
deposits.
A) evaporite
B) limestone reef and bank
C) sandy beach
D) glacial dropstone

19)

20) What setting is suggested by a circular region about 40 km across with predominant shales, a thick
sandy delta sequence at one end and both of them surrounded by a thin rim of sandy, well sorted
beach deposits?
A) glacial location of a former ice cap
B) meandering river deposits
C) small marine basin in the middle of the ocean
D) lake

20)

21) The dominant sediment of tidal flats would likely be ________.

A) muds and silts with some organic content
B) turbidites with graded bedding
C) sands and broken shell fragments
D) cobbles and other very coarse grained sediments

21)

22) Beaches, bars, deltas, lagoons, and tidal flats are all ________ environments.
A) transitional
B) alcoholic
C) continental

22)
D) marine

23) What kind of depositional environment (facies) makes linear sand bodies?
A) bars, spits, and barrier islands
B) atolls
C) lagoons
D) deltas

23)

24) In what environment are deltas typically formed and why are they formed there?
A) around the middles of large lakes far from shore; there is no farther for the sediments to go
B) transitional; decrease in slope (gradient) and sediment carrying power
C) in desert environments in the middles of continents far from the mountains; there is no water
or wind left to carry sediment any farther
D) in submarine river systems because of the "delta" shape of the seafloor basins

24)

25) How wide is a typical continental shelf?

A) > 1800 km
B) 8000 km

25)
C) 80 km

D) 10 km

26) Where would you expect the thickest deposits of biogenic ooze to occur?
A) on the deep ocean floor
B) limestone reefs and banks
C) in tropical rainforests
D) sandy beaches

26)

27) Where would you expect turbidites to form?

A) limestone reefs and banks
C) at the base of the continental slope

27)
B) out the rear end of a dinosaur
D) on sandy beaches

28) Laterally shifting depositional environments with time always produce ________.
A) evaporites
B) major earthquakes
C) unloading as more sediments accumulate
D) vertical facies successions

28)

29) The aspect, thickness, and appearance of a rock unit, and reflecting its environmental conditions of
origin, is collectively referred to as its ________.
A) lithology
B) facies
C) agglomerate properties
D) stratal index

29)

30) Other than detrital, what other origin can sediments have?
A) they were put there by the Devil to confuse us
B) accumulation from inorganic precipitation or organic deposition
C) erosion and transport

30)

31) Which major component of detrital sedimentary rocks only rarely occurs as a primary mineral in
igneous rocks?
A) ferromagnesian minerals
B) clays
C) quartz
D) carbonates

31)

32) Which common mineral of igneous rocks is the most abundant mineral in detrital sedimentary
rocks?
A) calcite
B) biotite
C) orthoclase
D) quartz

32)

33) Zircon and tourmaline are dense, highly insoluble, physically tough, chemically stable, minor
minerals of igneous and metamorphic rocks. In which sedimentary rock might you expect to find
these minerals concentrated?
A) limestone representing lithified coral-reef carbonates
B) evaporite deposits of gypsum and salt
C) a thin, upper, mudstone portion of a thick wacke bed with graded bedding
D) sandstone lithified from quartz-rich beach sand

33)

34) Detrital grains of which mineral(s) are extremely rare in detrital sediments? Why?
A) quartz; it is very hard and insoluble
B) clays; they are rare in soils and regolith
C) feldspars; they occur only in granites
D) calcite; it is soft and relatively soluble

34)

35) What proportion of sedimentary rocks do the mudstones and shales comprise?
A) 50%
B) 95%
C) 25%
D) 5%

35)

36) Which sediment gets lithified to become sandstone?

A) gravel
B) clay and fine silt
C) sand
D) all clay sized sediment

36)

37) Which sediment gets lithified to become shale?

A) clay and fine silt
C) all clay sized sediment

37)
B) gravel
D) sand

38) Which sediment gets lithified to become conglomerate?

A) gravel
B) sand
C) all clay sized sediment
D) clay and fine silt

38)

39) Which sediment gets lithified to become mudstone?

A) clay and fine silt
B) gravel
C) sand
D) all clay sized sediment

39)

40) What rock type would be made from angular rock fragments >70 mm in size?
A) shale/mudstone
B) breccia
C) siltstone
D) sandstone

40)

41) What rock type would be made mostly from particles 0.5 to 2.0 mm with a few larger rounded
grains >4 mm in size?
A) granular shale
B) pebbly sandstone
C) Fred Flintstone
D) conglomeratic mudstone

41)

42) What rock type would be made from rounded grains of various rock types ranging from 1 to 250
mm?
A) conglomeratic mudstone
B) pebbly mudstone
C) lithic sandstone
D) conglomeratic sandstone

42)

43) What rock type would be made mostly from particles 1/256 mm and has lots of thin flat laminae
and a reddish colour?
A) carbonaceous mudstone
B) ferruginous shale
C) calcareous siltstone
D) Wilma Flintstone

43)

44) Black shales contain abundant ________ and were probably deposited in a/an ________
environment.
A) carbon, anoxic
B) calcium carbonate, tropical marine
C) iron oxides, swampy
D) glass fragments, volcanic

44)

45) What sedimentary rock type most commonly contains terrestrial plant fossils?
A) massive sandstones
B) dark organic rich shales
C) silty limestone
D) quartzite breccia

45)

46) Shales are usually described as weak because they are ________.
A) too thinly bedded to use for building stone
B) so porous and permeable
C) devoid of quartz
D) only compacted but not well cemented

46)

47) Shales are distinguished from other mudrocks by their ________.

A) fossil content
B) fissility
C) colour

47)
D) sand content

48) What economic value do shales have, such as the Queenston Formation below the Niagara
escarpment?
A) high oil contents
B) cut dimension stone for buildings
C) fine grained detrital gold
D) raw materials for brick making, pottery or tiles

48)

49) Of sedimentary rocks, what proportion are sandstones?

A) 20%
B) 75%
C) 2%

49)
D) 50%

50) What clues about their environments of deposition do all sandtones have?
A) particle composition, shape, and sorting
B) fossils and bedding planes
C) fluid type (oil or water)
D) cement types

50)

51) Which type of sand depositional environment would probably have the best degree of sorting?
A) delta face
B) river bar
C) dune
D) beach face

51)

52) What does poor sorting indicate in a sediment?

A) a big velocity increase during deposition
B) short transport distance and/or very rapid deposition
C) that the particles are not the same shape but all the same size
D) there was no environment of deposition

52)

53) What does the degree of rounding indicate in a sediment?

A) the velocity of transport
B) where the minerals originally came from
C) the distance travelled or duration of time involved in sediment transport
D) whether the sediment was deposited in a stream or the ocean

53)

54) What does a sand that is: very well rounded, well sorted, and quartz rich suggest?
A) that it had a very high velocity of transport
B) that it has travelled a short distance and hasn't had time to get contaminated
C) that it has travelled a great distance in a uniform flow or has had more than one cycle of
weathering, transport, and deposition.
D) that it was derived from a young mountain belt with lots of granite

54)

55) What does a sand that contains significant amounts of sand sized rock fragments, blocky feldspar,
and angular prismatic grains of ferromagnesian minerals suggest?
A) that it was derived from uplifted and eroded older sedimentary rocks
B) that it has travelled a short distance and was likely deposited very close to the source of the
particles
C) that it has travelled a great distance in a uniform flow or has had more than one cycle of
weathering, transport, and deposition.
D) that it had a very low velocity of transport and likely a shallow stream gradient

55)

56) Which type of sandstone contains abundant detrital feldspar grains?

A) wacke
B) orthoquartzite
C) pegmatitic

56)
D) arkose

57) Which type of sandstone contains abundant feldspar, suggesting that the sand was derived by
weathering and erosion of granitic bedrock?
A) lignitic
B) quartz-rich
C) oolitic
D) arkose

57)

58) Which of the following rocks is lithified from sediment that was deposited in deep water and was
essentially unmodified by post-depositional current action?
A) wacke with graded bedding
B) well-sorted, quartz sandstone
C) reddish mudstone with mud cracks
D) cross-bedded dune sandstone

58)

59) Which type of sandstone contains abundant, clayey, matrix material?

A) cherty
B) arkose
C) wacke

59)
D) brownstone

60) What is a wacke?

A) a dark, organic-rich, chemical sedimentary rock containing small crystals of halite
B) a limestone with abundant, sand-sized, quartz grains
C) a dark-grey, calcite-rich mudstone or shale containing pyrite
D) a sandstone with immature lithic sand grains embedded in a clay-rich matrix

60)

61) What is the main difference between a conglomerate and a sedimentary breccia?
A) Breccia clasts are the size of baseballs; conglomerate clasts are larger.
B) Breccia has a compacted, clay-rich matrix; conglomerate has no matrix.
C) Breccia clasts are angular; conglomerate clasts are rounded.
D) A breccia is well stratified; a conglomerate is poorly stratified.

61)

62) Which of the following sedimentary rocks would you expect to have originally been deposited by
fast-moving streams?
A) mudstone
B) oolitic limestone
C) conglomerate
D) wacke

62)

63) Most chemical sediments derive from ________.

A) accumulations of organic matter
B) detrital minerals that are a single pure inorganic compound
C) the soluble products of weathering, carried in solution to a warm, evaporating basin
D) industrial waste from multi-national corporations

63)

64) What do most limestones, gypsum, rock salts like halite or potash (sylvite), and chert have in
common?
A) They are all formed by orgasms on the ocean floor.
B) They are all directly pertinent to the global carbon cycle.
C) They are all considered chemical or biochemical sediments.
D) They are all organic precipitates.

64)

65) What kind of rock are most dripstones and stalactites in caves?
A) limestone
B) chert
C) opal

65)
D) gypsum

66) What proportion of sedimentary rocks are "limestones"?

A) 50%
B) 20%
C) 10%

D) 5%

66)

67) Which of the following is the most common type of chemical sedimentary rock?
A) quartz sandstone
B) limestone
C) chert
D) phosphate rock

67)

68) Which of the following sedimentary rocks is usually biochemical in origin?

A) wacke
B) sandstone
C) limestone

68)
D) bedded salt

69) Where do carbonate reefs form?

A) in the arctic
B) where rivers drain tropical rain forest and bury lots of clastic sediment and biomass
C) from hotsprings deposits in the deep sea
D) in the tropics between -30 and +30 Latitude

69)

70) Which of the following is not a limestone?

A) travertine
B) coquina

70)
C) chalk

D) arkose

71) How does carbon dioxide enter the atmosphere?

A) volcanic activity
B) burning fossil fuels
C) weathering of carbonate rock by acidic rainfall
D) respiration by living plants and animals
E) all of the above

71)

72) What is the main sink of carbon in the oceans?

A) chemical and biochemical precipitation of limestone in tropical waters
B) photosynthesis and burial of biomass as organic sediments
C) respiration of marine phytoplankton
D) submarine chemical weathering of volcanic and detrital rocks
E) both A and B above

72)

73) What do you call a porous rock made entirely of coarse shell fragments?
A) phosphate rock
B) "ball park breccia"
C) coquina
D) chert

73)

74) Which limestone consists mainly of tiny, marine fossils composed of calcite?
A) dolostone
B) chert
C) chalk

74)
D) coquina

75) Which of the following is a form of calcium carbonate found in cave formations and hot springs
deposits?
A) lignite
B) travertine
C) chert
D) gypsum

75)

76) ________ is a form of calcium carbonate.

A) Travertine
B) Chert

76)
C) Gypsum

D) Lignite

77) Which one of the following is not a chemical sedimentary rock or evaporite?
A) bedded gypsum
B) shale
C) oolitic limestone
D) cherty dolostone

77)

78) Oolitic limestone is most likely to form in what type of depositional environment?
A) acidic, organic-rich waters in freshwater swamps and bogs
B) deep, marine waters below most wave action
C) shallow, clear, marine waters with vigorous current activity
D) quiet, muddy, lagoons and bays

78)

79) How does most calcium-magnesium carbonate rock form?

A) by direct precipitation from seawater but dolomite selectively dissolves so most carbonate
sedimentary rocks are limestone
B) in salt lakes and evaportite basins of continental interiors
C) from volcanic hot springs in the deep sea
D) by diagenetic replacement of Ca by Mg in limestone

79)

80) What is the chemical formula for dolomite, the major mineral in dolostones?
A) CaMg(CO3 )2
B) NaCl
C) CaSO4 2H2 O

80)

D) SiO2

81) Jasper, Flint and Agate are all ________, more commonly called ________.
A) microcrystalline calcium carbonate, chalk
B) small towns in Alberta, Hicksville
C) microcrystalline silica, chert
D) fine grained detrital silica, quartz

81)

82) Flint, chert, and jasper are microcrystalline forms of which mineral?
A) calcite; CaCO3
B) hematite; Fe2O3
C) halite; NaCl
D) quartz; SiO2

82)

83) A cherty limestone would contain which major constituents?

A) silica; calcite
B) iron oxide; calcite
C) clay minerals
D) silica; iron oxide

83)

84) Which of the following is a microcrystalline form of silica?

A) chert
B) oolitic breccia
C) dolostone

84)
D) chalk

85) Which of the following best describes bedded gypsum and halite?
A) varieties of dolostone
B) varieties of coal and peat
C) detrital sedimentary rocks
D) evaporites; chemical sedimentary rocks

85)

86) Which minerals or sedimentary rocks are not likely to occur in association with bedded rock salt?
A) conglomerate and wacke
B) sylvite and halite
C) limestone and gypsum
D) gypsum and dolomite

86)

87) Which of the following minerals are listed in order of increasing solubility in seawater (from least
soluble to most soluble)?
A) calcite, halite, sylvite
B) halite, calcite, quartz
C) sylvite, calcite, quartz
D) calcite, quartz, halite

87)

88) Which of the following describes the correct order for relative solubility of minerals in sedimentary
rocks?
A) Evaporate minerals, quartz, and calcite all have the same relative solubility.
B) Evaporate minerals are more soluble than quartz and less soluble than calcite.
C) Evaporate minerals are more soluble than calcite and quartz.
D) Evaporate minerals are less soluble than quartz and calcite.

88)

89) Which of the following applies to the basic constituents of halite, gypsum, and sylvite?
A) transported as dissolved ions; deposited as detrital mud
B) transported and deposited as mud-sized particles
C) transported as detrital mud; deposited by evaporation
D) transported as dissolved ions; deposited by evaporation

89)

90) What is the usual order, first to last, for the precipitation of the following evaporite minerals from
concentrated seawater?
A) sylvite, halite, gypsum
B) gypsum, halite, sylvite
C) sylvite, gypsum, halite
D) halite, sylvite, gypsum

90)

91) Which three elements are further concentrated in a residual brine after NaCl is crystallized?
A) calcium and titanium
B) calcium and sulfur
C) iron and chlorine
D) potassium and magnesium

91)

92) The correct order for increasing carbon content and coal rank is: ________.
A) bituminous, lignite, anthracite, peat
B) anthracite, lignite, peat, bituminous
C) lignite, peat, bituminous, anthracite
D) peat, lignite, bituminous, anthracite

92)

93) Coal beds originate in what type of depositional environment?

A) deep, marine basins below wave action
B) shallow lakes in a dry, desert region
C) freshwater coastal swamps and bogs
D) channels of fast-moving streams

93)

94) What physical and chemical processes transform lignite to bituminous coal?
A) heating to crack off water and volatile gases and pressure for compaction
B) weathering and further transport
C) mining it then drying it in the sun
D) coking in industrial ovens without oxygen

94)

95) The largest Canadian deposits and mining operations for bituminous coal occur in ________.
A) Alberta, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia
B) Iqaluit
C) offshore from Newfoundland
D) Ontario

95)

96) Detrital sedimentary rocks are mainly classified (named) on what basis?
A) compositions of soluble minerals
B) degree of compaction and lithification
C) grain sizes of the detrital particles
D) colours of the cementing minerals

96)

97) Nonclastic textures are most common in which of the following sedimentary rocks?
A) cherty conglomerates
B) limestones
C) boulder breccias
D) sandstones

97)

98) What is probably the single most important, original, depositional feature in all sedimentary rocks?
A) bedding or stratification
B) compaction of the mud and clay
C) cementation of the sand grains
D) degree of lithification

98)

99) What does a sediment layer bounded by two bedding planes indicate?
A) a geologic catastrophe
B) a long hiatus
C) a single episode of sedimentation
D) a succession of three or more different facies

99)

100) What does the upper bedding plane on a sediment layer indicate?
A) a single episode of sedimentation
B) an end to that cycle of sedimentation or a hiatus in deposition
C) a geologic catastrophe
D) a succession of three or more different facies

100)

101) A horizontally bedded succession of thick, well sorted sands, containing moderately dipping layers
between the flatlying upper and lower surfaces of each bed are called ________.
A) oscillation ripple marks indicating reversing tidal currents
B) cross-beds and indicate dunes, deltas, or migrating channels
C) graded beds and indicate deep water turbidity currents off the continental slope
D) current ripple marks caused by reversing current directions or tides

101)

10

102) A succession of beds where each is a tabular massive layer with more coarse material at its base
and fines near the top is called ________.
A) cross-beds and indicates dunes, deltas, or migrating channels
B) hummocky cross stratification and indicates a deposit formed by storm enhanced waves or
currents
C) graded beds and indicates deep water turbidity currents off the continental slope
D) current ripple marks caused by reversing current directions or tides

102)

103) Which of the following sedimentary features would typically be found in shales but not in
sandstones?
A) cross stratification
B) bedding
C) ripple marks
D) mud cracks

103)

104) Which of the following sedimentary features can each be used to determine paleocurrent
directions?
A) mud cracks and ripple marks
B) ripple marks and cross stratification
C) grain size sorting and ripple marks
D) fossils and mud cracks

104)

105) A succession of beds containing small scale asymmetric ripples that alternate their orientations are
likely to be ________.
A) oscillation ripple marks from gentle wave action in a shallow near shore environment
B) current ripple marks caused by reversing current directions or tides
C) hummocks and indicates a deposit formed by storm enhanced waves or currents
D) cross-beds and indicates dunes, deltas, or migrating channels

105)

106) An irregular pile of laminated sandy beds which are lens shaped in two directions and have low
angle cross stratifications are called called ________.
A) current ripple marks and indicate uniform tidal currents
B) hummocky cross stratification and indicates a deposit formed by storm enhanced waves or
currents
C) graded beds and indicates deep water turbidity currents off the continental slope
D) oscillation ripple marks from gentle wave action in a shallow near shore environment

106)

107) Which indirect fossil features are most likely to cut across and disrupt bedding (stratification) in
the host sedimentary rock?
A) burrows; muddy, fine-grained sandstone
B) dinosaur footprints; sandy conglomerate
C) turbidite casts; wacke
D) carbonized leaves; clayey lakebeds

107)

108) Which of the following is fossilized resin from evergreen trees?

A) coprolite
B) amber
C) saprolite

108)

109) What is amber?

A) petrified wood
B) lignite coal
C) the fossilized remnant of evergreen tree resins
D) insect coprolites

11

D) burnt umber
109)

110) Fossil insects are sometimes preserved in what material?

A) polished gastroliths
B) carbonized wood
C) amber
D) petrified wood

110)

111) Which of the following would retain the most detailed impressions of fossilized organisms?
A) quartz-rich sand deposited in a shallow beachfront environment
B) an ancient, rainforest lateritic soil buried by basalt lava flows
C) very fine-grained volcanic ash deposited in an ancient lake
D) gravel and sand stream deposits laid down during flash floods

111)

112) The soft bodied fossils of the Burgess Shale were preserved by ________ as thin carbon films, due
to the selective loss of more volatile components.
A) replacement
B) carbonization
C) carbonation
D) petrification

112)

113) What material would be best suited to preserve original organic tissues?
A) muds and silts
B) sands
C) breccias and conglomerates
D) amber, permafrost, or tar

113)

114) Which of the following is most likely to be preserved as a carbonized impression?

A) a dinosaur bone
B) a leaf
C) an oyster shell
D) a buried log

114)

115) Carbonized fossils of Opabina, Ottoia, and Wiwaxia would have to come from the ________.
A) Devonian reefs of the Western Canada Basin
B) Precambrian Ediacaran Fauna such as at Mistaken Point, Newfoundland
C) Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale of Yoho Park, British Columbia
D) Cretaceous continental shales like those at Drumheller, Alberta

115)

116) The oldest multicellular organisms from the ________ are known only as imprints and have no
hard body parts for any of the fauna.
A) Precambrian Ediacaran Fauna
B) Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale
C) Permo-Triassic massive extinction event
D) Azoic Acasta Gneiss

116)

117) Consider the small delicate Early Cenozoic ancestors of the modern horse. Which part of these
animals was most commonly preserved as fossils?
A) hair
B) vertebrae
C) skull
D) teeth

117)

118) The simple addition of mineral matter to living things with open pores like bone or wood is called
________.
A) carbonization
B) petrification
C) replacement
D) putrification

118)

119) Fossilization by ________ preserves the most delicate structures by selectively substituting the
original living matter with a mineral substance, one molecule at a time. This accounts for: sponges
made of calcite, foraminifera made of pyrite, or coprolites made of apatite.
A) putrification
B) petrification
C) carbonization
D) replacement

119)

12

120) Which one of the following is commonly preserved in the fossil record as moulds?
A) sea lion baculums
B) leaves
C) mammal teeth
D) brachiopods
E) dinosaur bones

120)

121) How is a fossil cast or mould formed?

A) Soft mud surrounds a broken dinosaur bone and hardens to a mudstone cast.
B) Silica fills in all open spaces in the original organic structure.
C) A mineral such as quartz , calcite, pyrite or apatite is precipitated in the space left by
dissolution of an original shell or other hard part.
D) An impression of the organism is formed by a thin film of carbon.

121)

122) A fossil shell is filled with mud. The shell dissolves, leaving an impression of its inside surface on
the shell-filling lump of mudstone. What type of fossil is this?
A) a carbonized impressionist film
B) an internal mould
C) an external cast
D) an original hard part

122)

123) Which of the following organisms would have used pebble- to cobble-sized gastroliths?
A) Cambrian trilobites
B) Eocene mammals
C) Avian influenza infected factory farm chickens from the Fraser Valley
D) Devonian sharks
E) Jurassic or Cretaceous dinosaurs

123)

124) The geologist's technical term for a fossilized piece of excrement is a ________.
A) gastrolith
B) burrow cast
C) coprolite
D) marbled meadow-muffin

124)

TRUE/FALSE. Write 'T' if the statement is true and 'F' if the statement is false.
125) Once sedimentary particles are eroded they maintain a constant size and shape.

125)

126) Diagenesis mainly occurs in the uppermost few kilometres of the crust.

126)

127) Calcite is the original mineral precipitated as the hard parts of shells and corals.

127)

128) Mudrocks have generally been compacted by up to 40% compared to their original sedimentary
thickness and form.

128)

129) Water is gradually expelled from compacting clay and mud sediments.

129)

130) By studying and interpreting sedimentary rocks, geologists can make paleogeographic maps of
bygone environments.

130)

131) Eolian sediments are deposited directly beneath ice sheets.

131)

132) Deltas form in transitional environments.

132)

13

133) Shallow warm seas lacking major detrital sediment input from land tend to deposit carbonate
muds and sands.

133)

134) The environment has little or no role in controlling the type of sedimentary deposits.

134)

135) A vertical succession of sedimentary facies such as limestone mud to clastic shale to crossbedded
sand could be caused by a lateral migration of environments such as moving the shoreline or
dropping the sea level.

135)

136) During transport, currents of water or air sort sedimentary particles by their grain sizes.

136)

137) Clays and muddy sediments lithify to form shales and mudstones.

137)

138) A feldspar-rich sandstone is called arkose.

138)

139) Wackes are typically better sorted than sandstones lithified from ancient beach sands.

139)

140) The chemical sedimentary rock, conglomerate, is composed of gravel-size, rounded, calcite oolites.

140)

141) Boulder conglomerates suggest deposition by strong winds in a desert.

141)

142) Clastic particles in a sedimentary breccia are rounded and are about the same size as fine-grained
sand.

142)

143) Conglomerates and breccias are low energy deposits because there was insufficient energy to
move such large rocks away.

143)

144) Many limestones are of biochemical origin.

144)

145) Chalk, coquina, and ancient coral reefs are primarily composed of microcrystalline quartz.

145)

146) Throughout geologic time, corals have been the main reef-building organism?

146)

147) The principle form of carbon in the atmosphere is as industrial soot particles.

147)

148) The mineral dolomite, which is the major mineral of the sedimentary rock dolostone, is a
carbonate of calcium and magnesium.

148)

149) Flint, jasper, and travertine are microcrystalline forms of calcite.

149)

150) Interbedded cherts with banded iron formations, or with volcanic ash deposits, are taken to mean
that the Precambrian oceans had more dissolved silica or more volcanism.

150)

151) Peat is thought to be the original material from which coals are formed.

151)

152) Lignite occurs in the prairie provinces and is actively mined and produced in Saskatchewan.

152)

14

153) The only Canadian deposits of Anthracite occur in mountainous fold belts of British Columbia and
Yukon.

153)

154) Detrital sedimentary rocks are classified according to clastic particle size; chemical sedimentary
rocks are named according to their mineral composition.

154)

155) Detrital sedimentary rocks have clastic textures.

155)

156) No chemical rocks can have a clastic texture.

156)

157) Mud cracks in a shale or mudstone indicate that the mud or clay was deposited in deep waters of
an offshore marine environment.

157)

158) Well-preserved fossil insects are sometimes found in amber, a fossil tree resin.

158)

159) An internal mould is a fossil replica of the inside surface of a shell that had filled with mud or
mineral cement like calcite or silica.

159)

160) A gastrolith is a petrified gallstone of a dinosaur, reptile or bird.

160)

15

Answer Key
Testname: UNTITLED2

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
13)
14)
15)
16)
17)
18)
19)
20)
21)
22)
23)
24)
25)
26)
27)
28)
29)
30)
31)
32)
33)
34)
35)
36)
37)
38)
39)
40)
41)
42)
43)
44)
45)
46)
47)
48)
49)
50)

A
C
A
A
C
A
A
B
B
D
C
D
A
D
D
B
D
A
A
D
A
A
A
B
C
A
C
D
B
B
B
D
D
D
A
C
C
A
A
B
B
D
B
A
B
D
B
D
A
A
16

Answer Key
Testname: UNTITLED2

51)
52)
53)
54)
55)
56)
57)
58)
59)
60)
61)
62)
63)
64)
65)
66)
67)
68)
69)
70)
71)
72)
73)
74)
75)
76)
77)
78)
79)
80)
81)
82)
83)
84)
85)
86)
87)
88)
89)
90)
91)
92)
93)
94)
95)
96)
97)
98)
99)
100)

C
B
C
C
B
D
D
A
C
D
C
C
C
C
A
C
B
C
D
D
E
E
C
C
B
A
B
C
D
A
C
D
A
A
D
A
A
C
D
B
D
D
C
A
A
C
B
A
C
B
17

Answer Key
Testname: UNTITLED2

101)
102)
103)
104)
105)
106)
107)
108)
109)
110)
111)
112)
113)
114)
115)
116)
117)
118)
119)
120)
121)
122)
123)
124)
125)
126)
127)
128)
129)
130)
131)
132)
133)
134)
135)
136)
137)
138)
139)
140)
141)
142)
143)
144)
145)
146)
147)
148)
149)
150)

B
C
D
B
B
B
A
B
C
C
C
B
D
B
C
A
D
B
D
D
C
B
E
C
FALSE
TRUE
FALSE
TRUE
TRUE
TRUE
FALSE
TRUE
TRUE
FALSE
TRUE
TRUE
TRUE
TRUE
FALSE
FALSE
FALSE
FALSE
FALSE
TRUE
FALSE
FALSE
FALSE
TRUE
FALSE
TRUE
18

Answer Key
Testname: UNTITLED2

151)
152)
153)
154)
155)
156)
157)
158)
159)
160)

TRUE
TRUE
TRUE
TRUE
TRUE
FALSE
FALSE
TRUE
TRUE
FALSE

19