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






2. A thick layer of soil.






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






4. A sedimentary rock composed of combustible matter derived from the partial decomposition of plant material.






5. 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.






6. Scratches & or small channels & gouged by glacier action. Occur on boulders & pebbles & and bedrock. Striations along bedrock indicate direction of ice movement.






7. The level of light that penetrates through water.






8. Iron & aluminum & magnesium & manganese & and titanium. Ores of the abundant metals only need to be 3 - 5 times as metal-rich as average rock.






9. A blanket of wind-driven sand with an upper surface about a meter above ground level.






10. A small & dust-bearing whirlwind.






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






12. 1. Breach in a natural levee . 2. Deep crevice or open fracture in glacier ice.






13. The surface between the zone of saturation and the zone of aeration.






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






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






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






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






18. A wall built out from the shore & usually at perpendicular to it to trap sand carried by longshore currents .






19. A valley carved by glacier erosion and whose cross-valley profile has steep sides and a nearly flat floor & suggestive of a large letter 'you'.






20. A worldwide change in sea level & such as caused by melting glaciers.






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






22. 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






23. A downward distortion or dimple in the water table that forms as a well pumps water faster than it can flow through the aquifer.






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






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






26. 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.






27. Extending across a continent.






28. The very slow & generally continuous downslope movement of soil and debris under the influence of gravity.






29. A rock changed from its original form and/or composition by heat & pressure &shearing stress & or chemically active fluids & or some combination of them.






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






31. The partial or complete blocking from view of one object by another.






32. The condition of equilibrium & comparable to floating & of units of the lithosphere above the asthenosphere.






33. An individual grain or constituent of a rock.






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






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






36. The peak flow of water that tops the banks of a stream channel.






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






38. A hydrocarbon (coal or petroleum) that can be extracted from the Earth for use as a fuel. Fossil fuels are non-renewable energy sources.






39. The zones of seismic activity long which plates are in contact.






40. Deposition of fine mineral particles (silt) on the beds of streams or lakes.






41. A division of geologic time next shorter than a period. Example: the Pleistocene epoch is in the Quaternary period.






42. Distance over which wave-forming winds blow.






43. An icicle-shaped accumulation of dripstone hanging from cave roof.






44. Any natural concentration of a valuable material in the Earth's crust & whether that material can be extracted profitably or not.






45. An imaginary circle around the earth that represents the halfway mark between the North and South Poles and establishes the boundary between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.






46. Igneous. Antonym of intrusive. Synonym of volcanic. Pertaining to igneous rocks or features formed from lava released on the Earth's surface.






47. The portion of the continental margin that lies between the abyssal plain and the continental slope. The continental rise is underlain by crustal rocks of the ocean basin.






48. 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.






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






50. A disease-causing organism or entity & such as a bacterium or virus.