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 substance that produces negatively charged hydroxide ions ( OH- ) in water and reacts with acids to form salts.






2. A device built to study distant objects by making them appear closer.






3. The method of locating an epicenter by determining how far it lies from three widely separated seismographs.






4. A unit of length used in sea navigation based on the length of 1 minute of arc on a great circle. On Earth & 1 minute of latitude.






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






6. 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.






7. Extending across a continent.






8. A small & dust-bearing whirlwind.






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






10. The very slow & generally continuous downslope movement of soil and debris under the influence of gravity.






11. The relationship between distances in the area being mapped and distances in the map itself.






12. A molecule composed of three atoms of oxygen and mostly found in the stratosphere. Though beneficial in the upper atmosphere & at ground level & ozone is called photochemical smog & and is a respiratory irritant and considered a pollutant.






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






14. A person who makes maps.






15. Pertaining to clastic material formed by volcanic explosion or aerial expulsion from a volcanic vent.






16. 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.






17. 1. Breach in a natural levee . 2. Deep crevice or open fracture in glacier ice.






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






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






20. The Earth's crust underlying the ocean basins which is formed at mid-oceanic ridges. It is typically 5 to 10 kilometers thick composed of basalt.






21. 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.






22. Sediments produced directly by the life processes of plants or animals.






23. A waterway from open ocean into a lagoon.






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






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






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






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






28. A slide involving a downward and usually sudden movement of newly detached segments of bedrock sliding or slipping over an inclined surface of weakness such as a bedding plane & fault plane & or joint surface.






29. 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.






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






31. The formation & advance and retreat of glaciers and the results of these activities.






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






33. Imaginary lines on a map or globe that measure distance in degrees east or west of the prime meridian. Longitude lines extend vertically & from pole to pole on a globe.






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






35. An earthquake that follows and has its epicenter near a larger earthquake.






36. 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.






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






38. The rock beneath the soil.






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






40. 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.






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






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






43. A large area with common features that set it apart from other areas.






44. The attractive force between two objects; its magnitude depends on their masses and the distance between them.






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






46. 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






47. Molten rock & containing dissolved gases and suspended solid particles. At the Earth's surface & magma is known as lava.






48. A landscape that develops from the action of ground water in areas of easily soluble rocks. It is usually characterized by caves & underground drainage and sinkholes.






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






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