Test your basic knowledge |

Earth Science

Subject : science
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Refers to rock or sediments made up primarily of broken fragments of pre-existing rocks or minerals.






2. The amount of dissolved salt in water.






3. Any accumulation of material & by settling from water or air & chemical precipitation & evaporation from solution & etc.






4. The line that separates one drainage basin from another.






5. A planetary satellite.






6. A vent on the seafloor from which hydrothermal fluids are emitted. Upon mixing with seawater and cooling & the fluids precipitate a cloud of fine-grained sulfide minerals that resembles a cloud of black smoke.






7. A minor tremor that precedes an earthquake. An increase in seismicity may signal that a major release of strain energy is about to occur.






8. Similar to a groin but built to keep sand out of a harbor entrance.






9. A giant structure that contains hundreds of billions of stars.






10. A volcano in the shape of a flattened cone & broad and low & built by very fluid flows of basaltic lava.






11. A fracture or zone of fractures along the boundaries of tectonic plates where movement has taken place.






12. The internal resistance to flow in a liquid.






13. A plate boundary in which plates on opposite sides of the boundary move past each other in opposite directions. The San Andreas fault of California is a good example.






14. Evidence in rock of the presence of past life & such as a dinosaur bone & an ancient clam shell & or the footprint of a long-extinct animal as well as life history artifacts.






15. The uprush of a wave onto the beach followed by the return flow of the water down the beach slope in the intervals between waves.






16. Destruction of the ozone layer caused by the release of CFC's (chlorofluorocarbons) into the atmosphere which react chemically with ozone and break it down into different gases.






17. Lava extruded beneath water characterized by pillow shapes.






18. A layer of sedimentary rock; plural is strata.






19. A steep-sided rounded extrusion of highly viscous lava squeezed out from a volcano and forming a dome-shaped or bulbous mass above and around the volcanic vent. The structure generally develops inside a volcanic crater.






20. Any porous and permeable rock that yields oil or natural gas.






21. The breaking away of ice from the front of the glacier when it ends in a lake or an ocean. Produces icebergs.






22. Weathering processes that are the result of chemical reactions. Example: the transformation of orthoclase to kaolinite.






23. Living parts of the environment that can renew or replace themselves.






24. An astronomical instrument for measuring angles & primarily altitude of celestial bodies to determine latitude.






25. The distance between two successive wave crests or troughs.






26. A study designed to collect critical data to be used for comparison or as a control in a later study.






27. An accumulation of wind driven sand into a distinctive shape.






28. To change back and forth uncertainly.






29. Pertaining to or composed of granite & a coarse-grained igneous rock dominated by light-colored minerals & consisting of about 50 percent orthoclase & 25 percent quartz & and balance of feldspars and ferromagnesian silicates. Granite is commonly foun






30. The remains of an extremely massive star pulled into a small volume by the force of gravity.






31. The closest star to Earth besides the sun. It is approximately 4 light years away.






32. The amount of material a stream carries in suspension.






33. The process of mountain building.






34. The process of removing metal from ore.






35. A natural depression in the surface of the land caused by the collapse of the roof of a cavern or subterranean passage & generally occurring in limestone regions.






36. Ratio between weight of given volume of material and weight of equal volume of pure water.






37. Shapes & like mountains or hills that make up the Earth's surface.






38. Any solid material that has settled out of a state of suspension in liquid.






39. A seismic body wave that involves particle motion & alternating compression and expansion & in the direction of wave propagation. It is the fastest seismic wave. compare S-wave .






40. The layer of gases (air) & that surrounds a planet or moon.






41. Occurs at the intersection of the water table with the ground surface.






42. A coral reef attached directly to the mainland.






43. Water that flows across watersheds during and immediately after severe rainstorms. In populated areas & stormwater runoff is often water that cannot be handled by existing sewer systems. Stormwater runoff is the leading source of water pollution in t






44. The elevation at which snow persists throughout the year.






45. Glacial deposits laid down directly by glaciers or laid down in lakes & ocean & or streams as result of glacial activity.






46. An atmospheric shield providing the Earth with protection from ultra-violet rays which can cause sun burn & skin cancer and the destruction of the delicate plant life which supports the planet's food chain.






47. A broad & deep & generally straight furrow carved in bed rock by the abrasive action of debris embedded in a moving glacier. Larger and deeper than a glacial striation.






48. A method of sediment transport in which the turbulence of a fluid is able to keep particles supported in the fluid.






49. Materials that are found in nature that are useful or necessary for people to live.






50. (Latin- Terra & Greek- Gaia) Earth is named after the ancient Germanic Goddess of the soil. It is the third planet from the Sun.