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 sedimentary rock composed primarily of biogenic sediments.






2. The physical & chemical & and biological processes by which rock at or near the Earth's surface is broken down into smaller pieces.






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






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






5. A river that is able to maintain its flow through a desert because of water received from outside the desert.






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






7. The perpendicular or very steep descent of a stream.






8. The relationship between distances in the area being mapped and distances in the map itself.






9. Named after the Roman god of the sea. It is the eighth planet from the Sun.






10. The geologic eon lying between the Archean and Phanerozoic eons & beginning about 2.5 billion years ago and ending about 0.57 billion years ago.






11. 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.






12. A collection of maps.






13. A stone or boulder & glacially transported from place of origin and left in an area of different bedrock composition.






14. The speed at which water flows.






15. Gases (primarily water and carbon dioxide & but also a variety of sulfur and nitrogen compounds and gaseous hydrocarbons) that trap the Sun's heat in the atmosphere.






16. The most recent eon of geologic time beginning 570 million years ago and continuing to the present.






17. Lava extruded beneath water characterized by pillow shapes.






18. Containing moisture.






19. A unit of length used in sea navigation based on the length of 1 minute of arc on a great circle. On Earth & 1 minute of latitude.






20. An area subject to dust storms & especially south central United States .






21. The explosion of a dying giant or supergiant star.






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






23. Forms along a coast as wave erosion cuts through a headland.






24. A process of land degradation initiated by human activity & particularly in the zones along the margins of deserts.






25. A measure of acidity.






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






27. The Earth's crust underlying the ocean basins which is formed at mid-oceanic ridges. It is typically 5 to 10 kilometers thick composed of basalt.






28. 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.






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






30. A low & nearly flat accumulation of sediment deposited at the mouth of a river or stream & commonly triangular or fan-shaped.






31. A depression in the ground formed by the melting of a block of glacier ice buried or partially buried by drift.






32. The effect of water and carbon dioxide absorbing outgoing infrared radiation & raising a system's temperature. The term is generally used with reference to the Earth's temperature & although it can also be applied to other systems & such as greenhous






33. A group of stars that appear to make a pattern in the sky. The Big Dipper is a constellation.






34. Formed when an organism is flattened (compressed) and a thin film of organic material from its body is left in the rock.






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






36. An eon of geologic time extending from about 3.9 billion years to 2.5 billion years ago.






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






38. The theory that states that the present-day continents are the fragmented pieces of preexisting larger landmasses called supercontinents.






39. 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.






40. The prediction that climate will warm as a result of the addition to the atmosphere of humanly produced greenhouse gases.






41. The point on the Earth's surface where a magnetic needle points vertically downward (north magnetic pole) or vertically upward (south magnetic pole).






42. The level of light that penetrates through water.






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






44. The portion of the continental margin that extends as a gently sloping surface from the shoreline seaward to a marked change in slope at the top of the continental slope . Seaward depth averages about 130 m.






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






46. The innermost zone of Earth. It consists of two parts & an outer liquid section and an inner solid section & both chiefly of iron and nickel with about 10 percent lighter elements. It is surrounded by the mantle.






47. An instrument that detects & magnifies & and records vibrations of the Earth & especially earthquakes.






48. A type of volcanic eruption characterized by nuees ardentes and the development of lava domes.






49. The presence of layers in some rocks caused by parallel alignment of minerals.






50. He area from which a stream and its tributaries receives its water.