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. A waterway from open ocean into a lagoon.






2. A roughly circular reef with an occasional small & low & coral sand island surrounding a shallow lagoon.






3. The process of mountain building.






4. An eruption of lava that takes place from a fracture & usually without producing a cone.






5. A glaciated valley now flooded by the sea.






6. A small ice sheet.






7. 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.






8. The mass of an object divided by its volume.






9. The upper horizons in a soil & through which gravitational moisture travels & removing soluble decomposition products.






10. The attractive force between two objects; its magnitude depends on their masses and the distance between them.






11. An era of time during the Phanerozoic eon lasting from 245 million years ago to 66.4 million ago.






12. An abandoned meander .






13. The process of mountain building.






14. That portion of the resources for a valuable mineral commodity that can be extracted from the Earth at a profit today.






15. The formation & advance and retreat of glaciers and the results of these activities.






16. A substance that produces negatively charged hydroxide ions ( OH- ) in water and reacts with acids to form salts.






17. An earthquake that follows and has its epicenter near a larger earthquake.






18. An artificial hill formed by the debris of successive human settlements.






19. A natural open space underground & large enough for a person to enter. Most commonly occur by the dissolution of soluble rocks & generally limestone.






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






21. Synonym of intrusive. Antonym of volcanic. Applies to igneous rocks formed beneath the surface of the Earth; typically with large crystals due to the slowness of cooling.






22. Any object that revolves around another object in space.






23. The initial point within the Earth that ruptures in an earthquake & directly below the epicenter. The point within the Earth which is the center of an earthquake & at which strain energy is first released and converted to elastic wave energy.






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






25. A coral reef separated from the mainland by a lagoon.






26. Pertaining to clastic material formed by volcanic explosion or aerial expulsion from a volcanic vent.






27. In the geologic time scale a unit of time less than an era and greater than an epoch. Example: The Tertiary period was the earliest period in the Cenozoic era and included & among others & the Eocene epoch.






28. Of or relating to or containing basalt & a dark & dense & extrusive rock that has a silica content of 40% to 50% and makes up most of the ocean floor.






29. Elongated rises on the ocean floor where basalt periodically erupts & forming new oceanic crust.






30. The arrangement of rock units in the proper chronological order from youngest to oldest.






31. A small & dust-bearing whirlwind.






32. In the geologic time scale a unit of time less than an era and greater than an epoch. Example: The Tertiary period was the earliest period in the Cenozoic era and included & among others & the Eocene epoch.






33. A vent in the surface of the Earth & from which lava & ash & and gases erupt.






34. Sediments produced directly by the life processes of plants or animals.






35. A steep or vertical cliff & either above or below sea level.






36. A time of unusual winds and currents in the Pacific Ocean . El Nino generally causes warmer-than-normal sea surface temperatures and increased rainfall and storm activity.






37. A molecule composed of three atoms of oxygen and mostly found in the stratosphere. Though beneficial in the upper atmosphere & at ground level & ozone is called photochemical smog & and is a respiratory irritant and considered a pollutant.






38. A detailed mathematical description of the cause-and-effect relationships between events that can be used to predict or explain other such events.






39. The attractive force between two objects; its magnitude depends on their masses and the distance between them.






40. A cyclical pattern of movement in a fluid body such as the ocean & the atmosphere & or the Earth's mantle & driven by density variations which in turn are the result of differences in temperature from one part of the fluid to another.






41. An instrument that merely indicates the occurrence of an earthquake.






42. Pluto is named after the Roman god of the Underworld. No longer considered a planet.






43. An isolated & steep-sided & rocky mass or island just offshore from a rocky headland & usually on a shore platform.






44. Refers to rock or sediments made up primarily of broken fragments of pre-existing rocks or minerals.






45. Rock formed from the accumulation of sediment & Which may consist of fragments and mineral grains of varying sizes from pre-existing rocks & remains or products of animals and plants & the products of chemical action & or mixtures of these.






46. The reflection of light on a given mineral's surface & classified by intensity and quality.






47. Verifying assessments made from satellite data by doing direct & 'on-the ground' measurements.






48. The environment where a particular plant or animal is normally found.






49. Mercury is named after the Roman messenger of the gods. It is the closest to the Sun.






50. A seismic body wave that involves particle motion from side to side & perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation. S-waves are slower than P-waves and cannot travel through a liquid.