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 reserves of a valuable mineral commodity plus all other mineral deposits that may eventually become available & even those that are presumed to exist but have not yet been discovered and those that are not economically or technologically exploita






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






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






4. Forms along a coast as wave erosion cuts through a headland.






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






6. The height of a place above sea level.






7. 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






8. A commonly used scale of earthquake intensity.






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






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






11. A process by which salts accumulate in soil.






12. An instrument used to measure the speed of wind.






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






14. A process of land degradation initiated by human activity & particularly in the zones along the margins of deserts.






15. An area where fresh water comes into contact with seawater & usually in a partly enclosed coastal body of water; a mix of fresh and salt water where the current of a stream meets the tides.






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






17. A delta formed at both sides of a tidal inlet.






18. The southern portion of the late Paleozoic supercontinent known as Pangea. It means & literally 'Land of the Gonds' (a people of the Indian subcontinent).The supercontinent existed from Cambrian to Jurassic time & mainly composed of South America &






19. 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.






20. The line formed by the intersection of the axial plane of a fold with a bedding plane & marking where the bed shows its maximum curvature.






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






22. The processes of weathering by which physical actions such as frost wedging break down a rock into fragments & involving no chemical change.






23. 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.






24. An eruption of lava that takes place from a fracture & usually without producing a cone.






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






26. Igneous. Antonym of intrusive. Synonym of volcanic. Pertaining to igneous rocks or features formed from lava released on the Earth's surface.






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






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






29. The amount of dissolved salt in water.






30. Elongated rises on the ocean floor where basalt periodically erupts & forming new oceanic crust.






31. A volcano that is composed of alternating layers of lava and pyroclastic material & along with abundant dikes and sills. Viscous & intermediate lava may flow from a central vent. Example: Mt. Fuji in Japan.






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






33. The arrangement of rock units in the proper chronological order from youngest to oldest.






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






35. A tool for measuring the relative clarity of water.






36. 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.






37. A commonly used scale of earthquake intensity.






38. A building that contains one or more telescopes.






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






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






41. Where two plates are moving in opposite directions as in a mid-ocean ridge.






42. A ball of ice and dust & whose orbit is a long & narrow ellipse.






43. The two days of the year on which neither hemisphere is tilted toward or away from the sun.






44. A statement of relative age in layered rocks: In a series of sedimentary rocks that has not been overturned & the topmost layer is always the youngest and the bottommost layer is always the oldest.






45. No identifiable layers of minerals in a rock sample






46. The tendency of a moving object to continue in a straight line or a stationary object to remain in place.






47. A plate boundary in which plates on opposite sides of the boundary move past each other in opposite directions. The San Andreas fault of California is a good example.






48. A type of volcanic eruption characterized by nuees ardentes and the development of lava domes.






49. An instrument that merely indicates the occurrence of an earthquake.






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