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






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






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






4. Lacking in rainfall & very dry.






5. 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






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






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






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






9. 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.






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






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






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






13. Open pit mining & typically for coal.






14. 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






15. A seismic body wave that involves particle motion & alternating compression and expansion & in the direction of wave propagation. It is the fastest seismic wave. compare S-wave .






16. A steep or vertical cliff & either above or below sea level.






17. Ratio between weight of given volume of material and weight of equal volume of pure water.






18. A worldwide change in sea level & such as caused by melting glaciers.






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






20. Pertaining to or composed of granite & a coarse-grained igneous rock dominated by light-colored minerals & consisting of about 50 percent orthoclase & 25 percent quartz & and balance of feldspars and ferromagnesian silicates. Granite is commonly foun






21. A vent in the surface of the Earth & from which lava & ash & and gases erupt.






22. A seismic body wave that involves particle motion & alternating compression and expansion & in the direction of wave propagation. It is the fastest seismic wave. compare S-wave .






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






24. The science that deals with the study of the planet Earth--the materials of which it is made & the processes that act to change these materials from one form to another & and the history recorded by these materials; the forces acting to deform the ou






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






26. A naturally occurring inorganic solid that has a well-defined chemical composition and in which atoms are arranged in an ordered fashion.






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






28. Rock formed from the accumulation of sediment & Which may consist of fragments and mineral grains of varying sizes from pre-existing rocks & remains or products of animals and plants & the products of chemical action & or mixtures of these.






29. The way in which a rock or mineral breaks in random patterns rather than cleaving






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






31. A reverse fault on which the dip angle of the fault plane is 15 degrees or less.






32. The speed at which water flows.






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






34. 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.






35. The portion of the continental margin that extends as a gently sloping surface from the shoreline seaward to a marked change in slope at the top of the continental slope . Seaward depth averages about 130 m.






36. One of several rock-forming minerals that contain at least 95% silica (quartz). and usually one or more other common elements.






37. A hot & gaseous & self-luminous celestial body & as the Sun.






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






39. The processes (mechanical and chemical) responsible for the wearing away & loosening & and dissolving of materials of the Earth's crust.






40. 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.






41. The two days of the year on which the noon sun is directly overhead at either 23.5






42. A wall built out from the shore & usually at perpendicular to it to trap sand carried by longshore currents .






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






44. Rock formed from the accumulation of sediment & Which may consist of fragments and mineral grains of varying sizes from pre-existing rocks & remains or products of animals and plants & the products of chemical action & or mixtures of these.






45. The first scientist to make systematic use of the telescope in looking at the heavens.






46. A mudflow composed chiefly of pyroclastic material on the flanks of a volcano.






47. 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.






48. The outermost part of the core. It is liquid & about 1 &700 km thick & and separated from the inner & solid core by a transition zone about 565 km thick.






49. A blanket of wind-driven sand with an upper surface about a meter above ground level.






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