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






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






3. An informal term to include all geologic time from the beginning of the Earth to the beginning of the Cambrian period 570 million years ago.






4. That part of the continental margin that lies between the continental shelf and the continental rise. Slope relatively steep & 3o - 6o. The continental slope is underlain by crustal rocks of the continent.






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






6. A volcano in the shape of a flattened cone & broad and low & built by very fluid flows of basaltic lava.






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






8. 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






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






10. A waste material that contaminates air & water & or soil.






11. The internal resistance to flow in a liquid.






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






13. The point on the Earth's surface that is directly above the focus of an earthquake.






14. The process by which ocean floors spread laterally from crests of main ocean ridges. As material moves laterally from the ridge & new material replaces it along the ridge crest by welling upward from the mantle.






15. A building that contains one or more telescopes.






16. A group of islands; an expanse of water with scattered islands.






17. 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.






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






19. Geologic time expressed in years before the present.






20. The naturally occurring material from which a mineral or minerals of economic value can be extracted at a profit.






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






22. A glaciated valley now flooded by the sea.






23. Any porous and permeable rock that yields oil or natural gas.






24. Lava extruded beneath water characterized by pillow shapes.






25. A seismic body wave that involves particle motion from side to side & perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation. S-waves are slower than P-waves and cannot travel through a liquid.






26. A statement of relative age in layered rocks: In a series of sedimentary rocks that has not been overturned & the topmost layer is always the youngest and the bottommost layer is always the oldest.






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






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






29. A supercontinent that existed from the Jurassic to Early Tertiary after splitting from Pangea; composed of Laurentia & Baltica & Avalonia & (modern North America & Scandinavia & Greenland & Western and Central Europe); eventually fragmented into Eur






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






31. A supercontinent that existed from the Jurassic to Early Tertiary after splitting from Pangea; composed of Laurentia & Baltica & Avalonia & (modern North America & Scandinavia & Greenland & Western and Central Europe); eventually fragmented into Eur






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






33. 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.






34. Water that flows across watersheds during and immediately after severe rainstorms. In populated areas & stormwater runoff is often water that cannot be handled by existing sewer systems. Stormwater runoff is the leading source of water pollution in t






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






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






37. A process of erosion in which wind carries off particles of dust and sand.






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






39. The height of a place above sea level.






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






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






42. The top of a wave.






43. A natural depression in the surface of the land caused by the collapse of the roof of a cavern or subterranean passage & generally occurring in limestone regions.






44. A process of land degradation initiated by human activity & particularly in the zones along the margins of deserts.






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






46. A collection of maps.






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






48. The production of living matter by organisms that make food using sunlight or chemicals. Usually expressed as grams of carbon per square meter per year.






49. The resistance of a mineral to scratching & as measured by the Mohs scale.






50. The processes of weathering by which physical actions such as frost wedging break down a rock into fragments & involving no chemical change.