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 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






2. Enormous & thick sheets of rock that are part of the Earth's upper mantle that move and adjoin each other along zones of seismic activity. Many tectonic plates extend underneath both continents and sea floor.






3. A famous scientist who proposed that the Sun was the center of the solar system not the Earth. (Heliocentrism)






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






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






6. 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.






7. 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.






8. A region of high heat flow on the Earth's surface & thought to lie above a mantle plume .






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






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






11. The point on the Earth's surface where a magnetic needle points vertically downward (north magnetic pole) or vertically upward (south magnetic pole).






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






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






14. The surface between the zone of saturation and the zone of aeration.






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






16. Imaginary lines on a map or globe that measure distance in degrees north or south of the equator. Latitude lines extend horizontally & from east to west on a globe.






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






18. The great circle on the Earth's surface passing through The North and South Poles & which is considered 0 degrees longitude. The prime meridian passes through Greenwich & England & and is used as a reference point for measuring longitude east and w






19. A large amount of gas and dust in space & spread out in an immense volume.






20. The rock beneath the soil.






21. A planetary satellite.






22. Highly mafic igneous volcanic rock & typically fine-grained and dark in color; rough volcanic equivalent of gabbro. Basalt is the most abundant volcanic rock in the Earth's crust.






23. A period of dryness & that when prolonged & causes damage to crops; a shortage of water.






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






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






26. 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.






27. Glacial drift composed of rock fragments that range from clay to boulder size and randomly arranged without bedding.






28. An isolated & steep-sided & rocky mass or island just offshore from a rocky headland & usually on a shore platform.






29. Woodland that usually gets at least 100 inches of rain each year.






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






31. Sediment formed by chemical precipitation from water. Example: halite precipitated as the result of the evaporation of sea water.






32. The precipitation that runs directly off the surface to stream or body of standing water.






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






34. A group of stars that appear to make a pattern in the sky. The Big Dipper is a constellation.






35. A soft compact calcite & CaCO3 & with varying amounts of silica & quartz & feldspar & or other mineral impurities & generally gray-white or yellow-white and derived chiefly from fossil seashells.






36. The initial point within the Earth that ruptures in an earthquake & directly below the epicenter. The point within the Earth which is the center of an earthquake & at which strain energy is first released and converted to elastic wave energy.






37. Highly mafic igneous volcanic rock & typically fine-grained and dark in color; rough volcanic equivalent of gabbro. Basalt is the most abundant volcanic rock in the Earth's crust.






38. The process by which a binding & or cementing & agent is precipitated in spaces among individual particles of a deposit. Common cementing agents are calcite & quartz & and dolomite.






39. Any of various minerals prized for beauty & durability & and rarity. A few noncrystalline materials of organic origin (e.g. & pearl & red coral & and amber) also are classified as gemstones.






40. Glacial drift composed of rock fragments that range from clay to boulder size and randomly arranged without bedding.






41. The speed at which water flows.






42. He area from which a stream and its tributaries receives its water.






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






44. 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.






45. Gases (primarily water and carbon dioxide & but also a variety of sulfur and nitrogen compounds and gaseous hydrocarbons) that trap the Sun's heat in the atmosphere.






46. A low & nearly flat accumulation of sediment deposited at the mouth of a river or stream & commonly triangular or fan-shaped.






47. A system that uses a constellation of 24 satellites & their ground stations & and individual GPS receivers to accurately locate points on Earth.






48. Where two plates collide to form mountains.






49. The accumulation of material in layers or beds.






50. The seaward edge of coast between low tide and effective wave action.