vaivish1723 wrote:
One of the more reliable methods of determining regional climatic conditions in prehistoric periods is to examine plant pollen trapped in glacial ice during ancient times. By comparing such pollen samples with spores taken from modern vegetation, scientists can figure out approximately what the weather was like at the time of pollen deposition. Furthermore, by submitting the prehistoric samples to radiocarbon dating techniques, we can also determine when certain climatic conditions were prevalent in that portion of the globe.
Which one of the following may be inferred from the information in the passage?
(A) The earth has undergone several glacial periods.
(B) Radiocarbon dating can be corroborated by glacial evidence.
(C) Similarities between prehistoric and contemporary climates do not exist.
(D) Pollen deposition is a fairly continuous process.
(E) Certain flora are reliably associated with particular climatic conditions.
(A) We know info is extracted from current glaciers, we can't infer anything about "glacial periods".
(B) No, glacial evidence tell us the TYPE of climate, whereas carbon dating tell us WHEN that climate was prevalent.
(C) We don't know whether similarities exist, we only know the climates of the different periods can be compared.
(D) We don't know how "continuous" pollen is, we don't know how often we find it in the glaciers.
(E) By POE, this is the only choice left. We know we can determine climate by examining frozen prehistoric pollen from plants, so certain plants must be reliable indicators of what type of climate/weather existed in a given region.