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 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.






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






3. A large area of flat or nearly flat land.






4. Lava extruded beneath water characterized by pillow shapes.






5. A supercontinent that existed from the the end of the Permian to the Jurassic & 300 to 200 million years ago & assembled from large continents like Euramerica & Gondwana & and Siberia & as well as smaller landmasses like the Cathaysian and Cimmerian






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






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






8. A natural open space underground & large enough for a person to enter. Most commonly occur by the dissolution of soluble rocks & generally limestone.






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






10. 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 .






11. An ingredient in a food or other substance that nourishes or promotes growth.






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






13. An era of geologic time lasting from 570 to 245 million years ago.






14. An ingredient in a food or other substance that nourishes or promotes growth.






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






16. A cyclical pattern of movement in a fluid body such as the ocean & the atmosphere & or the Earth's mantle & driven by density variations which in turn are the result of differences in temperature from one part of the fluid to another.






17. Highly mafic igneous volcanic rock & typically fine-grained and dark in color; rough volcanic equivalent of gabbro. Basalt is the most abundant volcanic rock in the Earth's crust.






18. Applies to igneous rocks that cool on the surface of the Earth & including beneath water; typically with small crystals due to the rapidity of cooling. Synonym of extrusive. Antonym of plutonic.






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






20. Glacial drift composed of rock fragments that range from clay to boulder size and randomly arranged without bedding.






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






22. A system involving continuous interaction of the solid Earth & the atmosphere & the oceans and living things.






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






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






25. A lake in an abandoned meander.






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






27. Deserts formed by blocking moisture-bearing winds with mountain barriers.






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






29. Containing moisture.






30. The two days of the year on which the noon sun is directly overhead at either 23.5






31. The part of the crust that directly underlies the continents and continental shelves. Averages about 35 km in thickness & but may be over 70 km thick under largest mountain ranges.






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






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






34. 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'.






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






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






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






38. An era of geologic time lasting from 570 to 245 million years ago.






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






40. The height of a place above sea level.






41. 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






42. 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






43. 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'.






44. A term applied to large areas of basaltic lava presumably extruded from fissures.






45. Lacking in rainfall & very dry.






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






47. A coral reef separated from the mainland by a lagoon.






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






49. A depression in the ground formed by the melting of a block of glacier ice buried or partially buried by drift.






50. The process of one plate descending beneath another.