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 hole or basin cut into bedrock of a stream by the abrasive action of pebbles and sand swirled by turbulent stream flow.






2. The upper horizons in a soil & through which gravitational moisture travels & removing soluble decomposition products.






3. Jupiter is named after the Roman king of the gods. It is the fifth planet from the Sun.






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






5. The transformation of a soil from a solid to a liquid state as the result of increased pore pressure.






6. A roughly circular reef with an occasional small & low & coral sand island surrounding a shallow lagoon.






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






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






9. Water beneath the Earth's surface.






10. Saturn is named after the Roman god of the harvest. It is the sixth planet from the Sun.






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






12. A flood that rises and falls very rapidly.






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






14. 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'.






15. Named after the Roman god of the sea. It is the eighth planet from the Sun.






16. Deposition of fine mineral particles (silt) on the beds of streams or lakes.






17. A lake of lava & usually basaltic & in a volcanic caldera.






18. A division of geologic time next shorter than a period. Example: the Pleistocene epoch is in the Quaternary period.






19. In the geologic time scale a unit of time less than an era and greater than an epoch. Example: The Tertiary period was the earliest period in the Cenozoic era and included & among others & the Eocene epoch.






20. The sum of the processes that result in the wearing away or the progressive lowering of the Earth's surface by weathering & erosion & mass wasting & and transportation.






21. The elevation at which snow persists throughout the year.






22. 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.






23. The geologic eon lying between the Archean and Phanerozoic eons & beginning about 2.5 billion years ago and ending about 0.57 billion years ago.






24. (Latin- Terra & Greek- Gaia) Earth is named after the ancient Germanic Goddess of the soil. It is the third planet from the Sun.






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






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






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






28. The presence of layers in some rocks caused by parallel alignment of minerals.






29. Fossils formed when water containing minerals leaks into a mold. The minerals harden to form a copy of the original structure or organism.






30. A disease-causing organism or entity & such as a bacterium or virus.






31. Shapes & like mountains or hills that make up the Earth's surface.






32. A pillar formed as a stalactite and stalagmite meet.






33. A building that contains one or more telescopes.






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






35. A segment of an active fault zone that has not experienced a major earthquake during a time period when most other segments of the zone have. They are generally regarded as having a higher potential for future earthquakes.






36. 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.






37. Weathering processes that are the result of chemical reactions. Example: the transformation of orthoclase to kaolinite.






38. The speed at which water flows.






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






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






41. The acidity in rain due to gases from internal combustion engines and coal- and oil-burning power plants.






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






43. 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.






44. To wash or scrub away.






45. 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.






46. A flood that rises and falls very rapidly.






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






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






49. A flat & dry plain covered with short grass.






50. The weak or 'soft' zone in the upper mantle just below the lithosphere & involved in plate movement and isostatic adjustments. It lies 70 to 100 km below the surface and may extend to a depth of 400 km.