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 collection of maps.






2. The precipitation that runs directly off the surface to stream or body of standing water.






3. The pattern of water circulation from the ocean to the atmosphere to the land and back to the ocean.






4. 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






5. A conical volcano formed by the accumulation of pyroclastic debris around a vent.






6. The weak or 'soft' zone in the upper mantle just below the lithosphere & involved in plate movement and isostatic adjustments. It lies 70 to 100 km below the surface and may extend to a depth of 400 km.






7. 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.






8. A delta formed at both sides of a tidal inlet.






9. A famous scientist who proposed that the Sun was the center of the solar system not the Earth. (Heliocentrism)






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






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






12. A soft compact calcite & CaCO3 & with varying amounts of silica & quartz & feldspar & or other mineral impurities & generally gray-white or yellow-white and derived chiefly from fossil seashells.






13. An ingredient in a food or other substance that nourishes or promotes growth.






14. A cavity in a lava & formed by the entrapment of a gas bubble during solidification of the lava.






15. A broad & mound-like mass of glacier ice that usually spreads radially outward from a central zone.






16. One of several rock-forming minerals that contain at least 95% silica (quartz). and usually one or more other common elements.






17. The low spot between two successive waves.






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






19. A narrow & steep-walled depression in the ocean floor & much deeper than the adjacent ocean and associated with a subduction zone.






20. A device containing a free-swinging magnetic needle that is attracted to Earth's magnetic North Pole. Used to determine direction of travel.






21. A narrow strip of land that has water on either side and connects two larger bodies of water.






22. The part of the crust that directly underlies the continents and continental shelves. Averages about 35 km in thickness & but may be over 70 km thick under largest mountain ranges.






23. The study of earthquakes & and of the structure of the Earth by both natural and artificially generated seismic waves.






24. An area in which a large number of windmills have been erected to generate electrical power.






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






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






27. Objects revolving around the sun that are too small and too numerous to be considered planets.






28. The line separating land and water.






29. Fossils formed when water containing minerals leaks into a mold. The minerals harden to form a copy of the original structure or organism.






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






31. A rigid segment of the Earth's lithosphere that moves horizontally and adjoins other plates along zones of seismic activity. Plates may include portions of both continents and ocean basins.






32. A flat & dry plain covered with short grass.






33. The height of a place above sea level.






34. A system that uses a constellation of 24 satellites & their ground stations & and individual GPS receivers to accurately locate points on Earth.






35. A measure of the size of an earthquake in terms of the damage it causes.






36. A Hawaiian term for a basaltic lava flow with a smooth & or ropy surface.






37. The rigid outer shell of the Earth. It includes the crust and uppermost mantle and is on the order of 100 km in thickness.






38. The very small particles of dirt & soot & and other pollutants that are present in the air.






39. The zone below the zone of aeration in which all pore spaces are filled with water.






40. 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.






41. A narrow & elongate region in which one lithospheric plate descends relative to another.






42. A large ridge or mound-like structure within a body of water that is built by calcareous organisms such as corals & red algae & and bivalves.






43. A large & basin-shaped volcanic depression & more or less circular in form. Typically steep-sided & found at the summit of a shield volcano.






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






45. A reverse fault on which the dip angle of the fault plane is 15 degrees or less.






46. A conical volcano formed by the accumulation of pyroclastic debris around a vent.






47. The height of a place above sea level.






48. 1. A mass of sand & gravel & or alluvium deposited on the bed of a stream & sea & or lake & or at the mouth of a stream 2. A unit of pressure & approximately equal to atmospheric pressure at sea level.






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






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