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. The acidity in rain due to gases from internal combustion engines and coal- and oil-burning power plants.






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






3. A minor tremor that precedes an earthquake. An increase in seismicity may signal that a major release of strain energy is about to occur.






4. A mass of ice & formed by the recrystallization of snow & that flows forward & or has flowed at some time in the past.






5. A thickened elevated region of Earth's crust that is mainly (but not entirely) above sea level.






6. 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'.






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






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






9. In a stream & the volume of water passing through a channel in a given time.






10. The reflection of light on a given mineral's surface & classified by intensity and quality.






11. Open pit mining & typically for coal.






12. The line separating land and water.






13. A sedimentary rock made up of chemical sediments. Example: rock salt.






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






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






16. The height of a place above sea level.






17. The vertical distance between the crest and adjacent trough of a wave.






18. 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.






19. An area of land that delivers runoff water & sediment & and dissolved substances to surface water bodies & such as rivers or lakes. All watersheds consist of boundaries & a basin and collection areas.






20. Occurs at the intersection of the water table with the ground surface.






21. Mountains & characterized by extensive folding and thrust faulting & that form at convergent plate boundaries on continents.






22. The height of a place above sea level.






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






24. A measure of the strength of an earthquake based on the amount of movement recorded by a seismograph . compare Richter scale.






25. 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.






26. A large amount of gas and dust in space & spread out in an immense volume.






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






28. Woodland that usually gets at least 100 inches of rain each year.






29. The theory of Plate Tectonics states that the Earth's crust is fragmented into a dozen or more large and small pieces floating on a semi-molten mantle.






30. The layer of gases (air) & that surrounds a planet or moon.






31. An isolated & steep-sided & rocky mass or island just offshore from a rocky headland & usually on a shore platform.






32. Lava extruded beneath water characterized by pillow shapes.






33. A collection of maps.






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






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






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






37. A method of sediment transport in which the turbulence of a fluid is able to keep particles supported in the fluid.






38. A division of geologic time next smaller than the eon and larger than a period. Example: The Paleozoic era is in the Phanerozoic eon and includes & among others & the Devonian period.






39. A seismic body wave that involves particle motion & alternating compression and expansion & in the direction of wave propagation. It is the fastest seismic wave. compare S-wave .






40. The point on the Earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake.






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






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






43. A sedimentary rock composed primarily of biogenic sediments.






44. The way in which a rock or mineral breaks in random patterns rather than cleaving






45. A mass of ice & formed by the recrystallization of snow & that flows forward & or has flowed at some time in the past.






46. 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.






47. 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.






48. A general term for a relatively hard layer of soil at or just below the ground surface & cemented by silica & iron oxide & calcium carbonate & or organic matter.






49. Living parts of the environment that can renew or replace themselves.






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