Exam 17: Earth History

The rate of plate motion was probably slower in the Archean.

Pangaea was formed from tectonic plates and ____________________.

Describe the first phase of the Cordilleran orogeny.

The Early Cretaceous sedimentation in the Gulf Coastal region was related to a (transgressive/regressive) ____________________ seaway.

The giant batholiths of the Sierra, Idaho, and Coast Range were emplaced during the:

Name the two periods into which the Cenozoic is divided.

The ____________________ forms the core of North America and is now tectonically inactive.

The craton can be divided into two components, which are a(n):

What do cyclothems represent?

Archean and Proterozoic greenstone belts formed in similar tectonic settings.

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

What were three major mobile belts in North America in the Paleozoic?

The breakup of Pangaea began during the ____________________ Period and continued through the ____________________ Period.

What is the North American Cordillera?

The ____________________ orogeny in Europe is a mirror of the Taconic and Acadian orogenies in North America.

The Precambrian comprises what percent of geologic time?

The ____________________ orogeny that occurred in the Cordilleran mobile belt was caused by ____________________.

The batholiths that make up the Sierra Nevada and mountains in southern California, Idaho, and the Coast Range were the result of subduction during the Cordilleran orogeny.

How was the style of plate tectonics different in the Archean than it is today? When did the present style of plate tectonics begin?

The distinctive sedimentary rocks that were deposited in the early-formed Gulf of Mexico were ____________________.