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






2. The area bordering a stream over which water spreads when the stream tops its channel banks.






3. The dust-sized & sharp-edged & glassy particles resulting from an explosive volcanic eruption.






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






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






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






7. The low spot between two successive waves.






8. The area immediately below the ground surface within which pore spaces are partially filled with water and partially filled with air.






9. A thick layer of soil.






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






11. Water beneath the Earth's surface.






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






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






14. Plutonic. Antonym of extrusive. Pertaining to igneous rocks or features formed by the emplacement of magma in pre-existing rocks.






15. 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






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






17. 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.






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






19. Containing moisture.






20. Surficial mining & in which the valuable rock is exposed by removal of overlying rock or soil.






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






22. A lake of lava & usually basaltic & in a volcanic caldera.






23. A period of dryness & that when prolonged & causes damage to crops; a shortage of water.






24. Any seismic wave that travels through the body of Earth & rather than along its surface.






25. A device built to study distant objects by making them appear closer.






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






27. The primary division of geologic time which are & from oldest to youngest & the Hadean & Archean & Proterozoic & and Phanerozoic eons.






28. A sedimentary rock composed primarily of biogenic sediments.






29. 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.






30. A pillar formed as a stalactite and stalagmite meet.






31. A segment of an active fault zone that has not experienced a major earthquake during a time period when most other segments of the zone have. They are generally regarded as having a higher potential for future earthquakes.






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






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






34. A landscape that develops from the action of ground water in areas of easily soluble rocks. It is usually characterized by caves & underground drainage and sinkholes.






35. The areas of & in & or constituting a city.






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






37. 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.






38. The green pigment in the cells of many plants that enables them to use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates in the process called photosynthesis.






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






40. The outermost layer of the Earth & varying in thickness from about 10 kilometers (6 miles) below the oceans & to 65 kilometers (about 40 miles) below the continents; represents less than 1 percent of the Earth's volume.






41. Deserts in zones of descending air between 25 degrees and 30 degrees north and south latitude.






42. The current geologic era & which began 66.4 million years ago and continues to the present.






43. 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.






44. 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.






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






46. A type of thermal spring which ejects water intermittently with considerable force.






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






48. The processes (mechanical and chemical) responsible for the wearing away & loosening & and dissolving of materials of the Earth's crust.






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






50. A planetary satellite.