Geology 001B West Valley College

Historical Geology R. Lopez

Study Questions 13: Proterozoic World

1. What is the time span in m.y. of the Proterozoic Eon and how many millions of years of Earth history does it represnt?

2. What are the time spans of the Neoproterozoic, Mesoproterozoic, Paleoproterozoic?

3. Proterozoic Tectonics are more modern in style than the Archean Greenstone Belts. What are the three points discussed in lecture that point to the more modern style of Proterozoic tectonics.

4. What is orogeny? How does this differ from orogen?

5. What is the age of the Wopmay Orogen? About how long in kilometers is the orogen? What Archean craton province was involved in the Wopmay orogen?

6. What is the key component of all orogenies?

7. What is the Foreland Basin? What does the Foreland Basin eventually become?

8. If the edge of a craton is passive margin, what type of sediments do you expect?

9. On top of these passive margin sediments, what are the first sediments deposited that indicate an approaching, rising mountain belt?

10. After the orogeny occurs, subaerial sediments like alluvial fans, gravels, conglomerates, arkosic breccias are deposited on top. What are these sediments called?

11. What is a Clastic Wedge?

12. What is the age of the Proterozoic Wopmay Orogen in terms of billions of years?

13. What type of margin existed along the Slave Province prior to the Wopmay Orogen?

14. Did these sediments thicken toward the west or east in terms of current geography?

15. Does the Wopmay Orogen record the classic sequence of flysch to Mollasse deposits?

16. What are the two similarities between the Wopmay Orogen and Modern Tectonic Belts?

17. Are stromatolites eukaryote or prokaryote cells?

18. How did eukaryotes develop? What is mitochondrion?

19. What is the origin of this mitochondrion?

20. What evidence is there that mitochondrion developed by the union of two prokaryote cells?

21. How did eukaryotic algae first form? What is a chloroplast?

22. What are acritarchs? How old are they?

23. Radiation in the Neoproterozoic occurred in the last ____ million years of this time.

24. What are the three types of Neoproterozoic fossils? Explain what each of them are and what age rocks they are found in.

25. What is the Edicarian Fauna?

26. What is the Burgass Shale Fauna?