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 giant structure that contains hundreds of billions of stars.






2. That portion of the Earth below the crust and reaching to about 2 &780 km & where a transition zone of about 100 km thickness separates it from the core.






3. Where two plates collide to form mountains.






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






5. Heat transport by moving particles & and the thermal energy that they carry & to a new location.






6. 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.






7. Objects revolving around the sun that are too small and too numerous to be considered planets.






8. A major drainage divide separating the drainage to one ocean from another.






9. A supercontinent that existed from the Jurassic to Early Tertiary after splitting from Pangea; composed of Laurentia & Baltica & Avalonia & (modern North America & Scandinavia & Greenland & Western and Central Europe); eventually fragmented into Eur






10. An eon of geologic time extending from about 3.9 billion years to 2.5 billion years ago.






11. The process by which ocean floors spread laterally from crests of main ocean ridges. As material moves laterally from the ridge & new material replaces it along the ridge crest by welling upward from the mantle.






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






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






14. Deep steep-sided depression in the ocean floor caused by the subduction of oceanic crust beneath either other oceanic crust or continental crust.






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






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






17. Any form of water & such as rain & sleet & or snow & that falls to Earth's surface.






18. 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.






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






20. 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.






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






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






23. A depression in the ground formed by the melting of a block of glacier ice buried or partially buried by drift.






24. 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.






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






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






27. A process of erosion in which wind carries off particles of dust and sand.






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






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






30. An individual grain or constituent of a rock.






31. Either the northern or southern half of the Earth as divided by the equator & or the eastern or western half as divided by a meridian.






32. Lava extruded beneath water characterized by pillow shapes.






33. A river that is able to maintain its flow through a desert because of water received from outside the desert.






34. A collection of maps.






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






36. The part of the crust that directly underlies the continents and continental shelves. Averages about 35 km in thickness & but may be over 70 km thick under largest mountain ranges.






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






38. The current geologic era & which began 66.4 million years ago and continues to the present.






39. A substance that produces positively charged hydrogen ions (H+) when dissolved in water.






40. A ridge of high water associated with a hurricane and which floods over the shore .






41. A floating ice sheet extending across water from a land-based glacier.






42. 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.






43. 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.






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






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






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






47. A narrow strip of land that has water on either side and connects two larger bodies of water.






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






49. The very small particles of dirt & soot & and other pollutants that are present in the air.






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