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. Any place where bedrock is visible on the surface of the Earth.






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






3. A hydrocarbon (coal or petroleum) that can be extracted from the Earth for use as a fuel. Fossil fuels are non-renewable energy sources.






4. A steep or vertical cliff & either above or below sea level.






5. The direction & north (normal) or south (reversed) & that a magnetic compass needle points.






6. A comet that passed Earth in 1997 and won't return to the inner solar system until the year 4377.






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






8. A time of unusual winds and currents in the Pacific Ocean . El Nino generally causes warmer-than-normal sea surface temperatures and increased rainfall and storm activity.






9. Synonym of intrusive. Antonym of volcanic. Applies to igneous rocks formed beneath the surface of the Earth; typically with large crystals due to the slowness of cooling.






10. 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.






11. A hot & gaseous & self-luminous celestial body & as the Sun.






12. A conical volcano formed by the accumulation of pyroclastic debris around a vent.






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






14. Distance over which wave-forming winds blow.






15. The region of a shore that is covered at high tide and exposed at low tide.






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






17. The outermost part of the core. It is liquid & about 1 &700 km thick & and separated from the inner & solid core by a transition zone about 565 km thick.






18. Turbulent stream water flow down a steep gradient & but not as steep as in a waterfall.






19. The generally dark & more or less stable part of the organic matter in a soil & so well decomposed that the original sources cannot be identified.






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






21. 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.






22. 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.






23. 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.






24. Any molten material that is extrusive or volcanic & or the rock that forms from a molten extrusive. Molten rock that flows at the Earth's surface.






25. 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






26. One of several rock-forming minerals that contain at least 95% silica (quartz). and usually one or more other common elements.






27. A spring whose temperature is 6.5o C or more above mean annual air temperature.






28. The process by which building stone & usually in blocks or sheets & is extracted from the Earth. radiation -- (Electromagnetic radiation) -- energy that travels through space in the form of waves without the intervention of matter & as in the transp






29. The uprush of a wave onto the beach followed by the return flow of the water down the beach slope in the intervals between waves.






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






31. The uprush of a wave onto the beach followed by the return flow of the water down the beach slope in the intervals between waves.






32. 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.






33. A Hawaiian term for a lava flow that has a rough & jagged surface.






34. A collection of maps.






35. A study designed to collect critical data to be used for comparison or as a control in a later study.






36. A study designed to collect critical data to be used for comparison or as a control in a later study.






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






38. The concept of a sequence of events involving the formation & alteration & destruction and reformation of rocks as a result of geologic processes.






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






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






41. The color of a mineral in its powdered form obtained from scraping a sample on a ceramic plate






42. A small & dust-bearing whirlwind.






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






44. A layer of sedimentary rock; plural is strata.






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






46. A building that contains one or more telescopes.






47. The process by which an unconsolidated deposit of sediments is converted in to solid rock.






48. The low spot between two successive waves.






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






50. The first scientist to make systematic use of the telescope in looking at the heavens.