Test your basic knowledge |

CSET Earth

Subjects : cset, 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. Both gravity and inertia work together to keep planets in orbit around the sun - Inertia makes a planet travel in a straight line






2. Water returns to the land surface at __________ than where it entered - under the force of gravity or gravity - induced pressures






3. Large - dark clouds that indicate thunderstorms






4. Scientists theorize that massive volcanic eruptions on a global scale contributed to the earth's cooling - resulting in the onset of the...






5. When the moon is at first quarter or third quarter - the sun - earth and moon form a 90- degree (right) angle with the earth at the vertex - The combined effect of this alignment of the sun - earth - and moon results in tidal ranges on the earth - Wh






6. The sun and oceans can also affect the weather of land - If the sun heats ocean waters for a period of time - water can evaporate - Once evaporated into the air - the moisture can spread over nearby land - thus making it cooler


7. The motive force behind land breezes and sea/lake breezes - also known as on - or off - shore winds - Land absorbs and radiates heat faster than water - but water releases heat over a longer period of time






8. A natural flow of water - usually freshwater - traveling toward an ocean - a lake - or another stream






9. The spectra of distant objects display a red shift - which is interpreted as meaning that they are rapidly receding from us - This apparent expansion of the universe has given rise to the big bang theory of cosmology - in which one primeval mass expl






10. Largest zone of the planet (68%); crystalline silicates - rich in magnesium - calcium - and iron; very hot and mainly solid - but local melting to magma is the source of volcanic eruptions






11. An area of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions associated with the plate boundaries surrounding the Pacific Ocean - In a 40000 km horseshoe shape - associated with a nearly continuous series of oceanic trenches - volcanic arcs - and volcanic






12. Affected by factors such as weathering and impurities






13. Almost all familiar weather phenomena occur in the __________ (the lower part of the atmosphere)






14. Paleontology: Fossil evidence indicates the similarity of fossils on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean - Continental 'jigsaw puzzle': The outlines of the continents seem to fit together






15. The tidal force produced by the sun is ____ as large as that produced by the moon






16. Gas giants Jupiter - Saturn - Uranus and Neptune have diameters far larger than Earth's and have far greater masses






17. The variety of ways by which water moves across the land - This includes both surface runoff and channel runoff - As it flows - the water may percolate into the ground - evaporate into the air - become stored in lakes or reservoirs - or be extracted






18. Takes place when the moon passes between the earth and the sun - with the moon blocking the sunlight for about two minutes - A total ___________ may be seen only from a small zone on the earth






19. Due to a combination of differential heating and geometry - hen the sun rises - it is the tops of the mountain peaks which receive first light - and as the day progresses - the mountain slopes take on a greater heat load than the valleys - This resul






20. An opening - or rupture - in a planet's surface or crust - which allows hot molten rock - ash - and gases to escape from below the surface - Volcanic activity involving the extrusion of rock tends to form mountains or features like mountains over a p






21. Thought to originate in the Kuiper Belt - or associated scattered discs - which lie beyond the orbit of Neptune






22. The movement (carrying away or displacement) of solids (sediment - soil - rock - and other particles) - usually by the agents of currents such as wind - water - or ice by downward or down - slope movement in response to gravity






23. Igneous rock that cools beneath the earth's surface - Examples: plutons - dikes - and batholiths






24. Volcanoes are also found in __________ - where the denser oceanic plates are forced under continental plates; this adds massive volumes of water to the mantle - allowing magma to melt more readily and rise to the surface to form volcanoes






25. Continental polar (dry - cold air)






26. Human civilization has lasted only _____ years






27. Traces of ancient life preserved in the strata as shells - footprints - and the like - Soft plant and animal tissues decompose quickly in the presence of decay bacteria - which exist wherever oxygen exists






28. Sun heats water in the oceans - Water evaporates as vapor into the air - Ice and snow can sublimate directly into water vapor...- Over time - the water reenters the ocean - where the water cycle started






29. 186000 miles/second






30. Two types of mountains are formed - depending on how the rock reacts to the tectonic forces






31. Continental tropical (dry - warm air)






32. Form when magma or lava cools and solidifies - Depending on the rate of cooling - can contain visible crystals - while others can appear glassy






33. Tends to move slowly and is replenished slowly - and so it can remain in aquifers for thousands of years






34. Forms over water and is associated with wet air






35. Forms over the Tropics and is warm






36. Theory that the earth's continents were originally united as a supercontinent - Pangaea - Established by Alfred Wegener in the early 1900s






37. The difference between levels of ocean water at high and low tides






38. Solar Atmosphere is divided into the inner chromosphere with explosive prominences and the outer corona - a glowing halo visible only during a total eclipse - Constantly emitting particles as a...






39. Natural chemical compounds that are the crystals that make up rocks - Each has a specific composition or narrow range of composition






40. Forms over land and is associated with dry air






41. Maritime tropical (wet - warm air)






42. Faulting and folding






43. A land form that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area - with a peak - Usually produced by the movement of lithospheric plates






44. Travels around the earth each month - - Distance from the earth averages 237000 miles - Has rugged topography formed billions of years ago by volcanic eruptions and meteorite impacts - Mass is 1/6th that of Earth






45. The sun is not at the center of the disk - but out toward the perimeter - and is revolving around the ________






46. Test the item against materials of known hardness; for example - use your fingernail or the graphite in a pencil to attempt to scratch the items. This process should result in assigning a relative hardness to the unknown items.






47. Spiral - elliptical - and irregular form are speckled throughout the visible universe - Largest telescope has detected galaxies to its limit of several billion light - years






48. Stars with the highest ___________ appear blue - while stars with the lowest surface temperature appear red






49. Method of using the present to interpret the past - Processes occurring today are observed carefully and their effects are measured - Then - geologists assume that similar effects in ancient rocks were caused by processes similar to those of the pres






50. Occur twice a year - when the tilt of the earth's axis is oriented neither from nor to the sun - causing the sun to be located vertically above a point on the equator - The name derived from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night) - because at the e