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






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






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






4. A large & basin-shaped volcanic depression & more or less circular in form. Typically steep-sided & found at the summit of a shield volcano.






5. A measure of the size of an earthquake in terms of the damage it causes.






6. The portion of the continental margin that lies between the abyssal plain and the continental slope. The continental rise is underlain by crustal rocks of the ocean basin.






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






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






9. A process by which salts accumulate in soil.






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






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






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






13. The theory that states that the present-day continents are the fragmented pieces of preexisting larger landmasses called supercontinents.






14. A measure of acidity.






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






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






17. Where one plate slides beneath another plate as the two are pushed together & a subduction zone.






18. He area from which a stream and its tributaries receives its water.






19. A fracture or zone of fractures along the boundaries of tectonic plates where movement has taken place.






20. Large area of extremely flat ocean floor lying near a continent and generally over 4 km in depth.






21. 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.






22. The initial point within the Earth that ruptures in an earthquake & directly below the epicenter. The point within the Earth which is the center of an earthquake & at which strain energy is first released and converted to elastic wave energy.






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






24. A guide to reading a map that typically contains distance scales & arrows indicating direction & and/or explanations of symbols used.






25. Produced as a wave steepens and falls forward as the wave nears the shore.






26. The condition of equilibrium & comparable to floating & of units of the lithosphere above the asthenosphere.






27. The rise and fall of sea level caused by the gravitational pull of the Sun and Moon on the Earth.






28. Living on land.






29. The distance between two successive wave crests or troughs.






30. The physical & chemical & and biological processes by which rock at or near the Earth's surface is broken down into smaller pieces.






31. A coral reef attached directly to the mainland.






32. An accumulation of wind driven sand into a distinctive shape.






33. A sea level change due to change in load on Earth's crust.






34. An area in which a large number of windmills have been erected to generate electrical power.






35. 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.






36. A coral reef attached directly to the mainland.






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






38. The perpendicular or very steep descent of a stream.






39. A deposit of partly decayed plant remains in a very wet environment; marsh or swamp deposit of plant remains containing more than 50 percent carbon.






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






41. The initial point within the Earth that ruptures in an earthquake & directly below the epicenter. The point within the Earth which is the center of an earthquake & at which strain energy is first released and converted to elastic wave energy.






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






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






44. All of space and everything in it.






45. A chuck of rock or dust in space.






46. The outermost layer of the Earth & varying in thickness from about 10 kilometers (6 miles) below the oceans & to 65 kilometers (about 40 miles) below the continents; represents less than 1 percent of the Earth's volume.






47. The process of mountain building.






48. He area from which a stream and its tributaries receives its water.






49. An abandoned meander .






50. Heat extracted from the Earth for use as an power source.