| 1. |
Which of the following techniques could be used to date pottery?
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a) |
fission track dating |
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b)
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potassium-argon dating |
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c) |
thermoluminescence dating |
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d) |
all of the above |
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| 2. |
Which of the following techniques can be used to date mollusk shells
and egg shells? |
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a)
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radiocarbon dating |
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b)
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fission track dating |
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c)
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electron spin resonance dating |
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d)
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a and c |
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e)
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all of the above |
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| 3. |
Radiometric dating techniques are all based on knowledge of:
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a)
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the rate at which certain isotopes decay |
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b)
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known half-lives for certain isotopes |
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c)
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how to measure the amount of certain isotopes remaining in a sample
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d)
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all of the above |
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| 4. |
Which of the following dating techniques is radiometric?
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a)
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carbon-14 |
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b)
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potassium-argon |
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c)
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fission track |
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d)
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all of the above |
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| 5. |
If you were excavating a site that lacks any ancient organic matter
but has a strata of volcanic ash that you believed was about 2-3 million years old, what
dating technique would you most likely employ? |
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a)
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potassium-argon |
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b)
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radiocarbon |
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c)
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amino acid racemization |
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d)
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all of the above |
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| 6. |
If an isotope of some element has a half-life of 15,000 years,
approximately how much of the isotope atoms in a dating sample will remain after 30,000
years? |
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a)
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1/2 |
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b)
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1/4 |
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c)
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1/8 |
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d)
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nothing |
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| 7. |
Which of the following techniques can date wood and feathers?
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a)
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radiocarbon dating |
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b)
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thermoluminescence dating |
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c)
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electron spin resonance dating |
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d)
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all of the above |
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| 8. |
Which of the following statements is true of carbon-14?
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a)
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It is produced by X-rays bombarding nitrogen-14 atoms in the atmosphere.
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b)
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Humans get it from the plants and animals that they eat.
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c)
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The amount of carbon-14 in your body will progressively increase following death.
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d)
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all of the above |
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| 9. |
Radiocarbon dates for samples that have had prolonged exposure to
the gasses coming out of car exhaust systems usually are: |
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a)
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too young |
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b)
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too old |
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c)
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more accurate |
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| 10. |
Which of the following isotopes has the shortest half-life?
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a)
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carbon-14 |
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b)
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potassium-40 |
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c)
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uranium-238 |
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| 11. |
Which of the following statements is true concerning potassium-argon
dating? |
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a)
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It is used to date charcoal and other organic matter.
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b)
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It can date things that are 3,000,000 years old.
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c)
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It is not a radiometric dating technique. |
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d)
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all of the above are true |
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| 12. |
The oldest radiocarbon dates that potentially can be obtained with
the accelerator mass spectrometry method go back to about ____________ years ago.
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a)
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8,000 |
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b)
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40,000 |
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c)
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100,000 |
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d)
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300,000 |
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| 13. |
Which of the following statements is true about fission track
dating? |
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a)
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Glass can be dated with this technique. |
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b)
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It is a radiometric technique based on the fact that lead-206 decays and produces
uranium-238. |
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c)
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This method can only date things that go back in time to about 1/2 million years.
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d)
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all of the above are true |
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| 14. |
Which of the following statements is true of thermoluminescence and
electron spin resonance dating? |
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a)
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Neither destroys or alters the sample in the dating process.
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b)
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They are both radiometric techniques. |
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c)
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They both are based on the weight change of samples when they are heated.
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d)
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all of the above are true |
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| 15. |
Which of the following statements is true?
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a)
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Cosmic radiation does not enter the Earth's atmosphere at a constant rate.
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b)
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There is no danger of contaminating radiocarbon dating samples by handling them with
bare hands. |
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c)
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Most plants and animals have C-14 in their bodies. However, humans do not.
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d)
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Radiocarbon dating is not often used because it can only date organic matter which
rarely survives in the ground. |
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| 16. |
Which of the following dating techniques could date something that
is older than 100,000 years? |
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a)
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radiocarbon dating |
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b)
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dendrochronology |
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c)
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electron spin resonance |
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d)
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b and c |
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