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 curved belt of volcanic islands lying above a subduction zone.






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






3. The average weather conditions of an area over many years & as measured by temperature & wind speed & and precipitation.






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






5. A planetary satellite.






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






7. 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.






8. A dense & hot (sometimes incandescent) cloud of volcanic ash and gas produced in a Pelean eruption.






9. Water beneath the Earth's surface.






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






11. 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'.






12. The process of removing metal from ore.






13. The seaward edge of coast between low tide and effective wave action.






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






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






16. 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.






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






18. 1. A low & bowl-shaped area of land surrounded by higher lands. 2. any large depression in which sediments are deposited.






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






20. A commonly used measure of earthquake magnitude & based on a logarithmic scale. Each integral step on the scale represents a tenfold increase in the extent of ground shaking & as recorded on a seismograph.






21. An aggregate of one or more minerals in varying proportions.






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






23. Heat transport by direct transfer of energy from one particle to another & without moving the particle to a new location.






24. The tendency of a moving object to continue in a straight line or a stationary object to remain in place.






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






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






27. Swamp that forms in the low lying flood plain behind a levee.






28. A mound or ridge of sediment deposited by a glacier.






29. 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'.






30. The breaking away of ice from the front of the glacier when it ends in a lake or an ocean. Produces icebergs.






31. All unconsolidated materials above bedrock. Natural earthy materials on the Earth's surface & in places modified or even made by human activity & containing living matter & and supporting or capable of supporting plants out of doors.






32. The solid innermost part of the core with a diameter of a little over 1 &200 km.






33. 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.






34. A waterway from open ocean into a lagoon.






35. A rock that has crystallized from a molten state.






36. No identifiable layers of minerals in a rock sample






37. A post of dripstone growing up from a cave floor.






38. Flat land covered with tall grass and wildflowers.






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






40. A giant structure that contains hundreds of billions of stars.






41. A permeable region of rock or soil through which ground water can move.






42. A community of plants and/or animals and its physical environment & regarded as a unit.






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






44. A tool for measuring the relative clarity of water.






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






46. Till deposited from main body of glacier during ablation.






47. 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.






48. A naturally occurring inorganic solid that has a well-defined chemical composition and in which atoms are arranged in an ordered fashion.






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






50. 1. A steep-walled & usually conical depression at the summit or on the flanks of a volcano & resulting from the explosive ejection of material from a vent. 2. A bowl-shaped depression with a raised & overturned rim produced by the impact of a meteori