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






2. Classified as warm - water or cold - water currents






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






4. Can influence climate by sending tremendous volumes of dust - ash - and smoke into the atmosphere






5. 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






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






7. Comprised of the crust and the rigid uppermost part of the mantle - broken up into tectonic plates (7 major and many minor) - ride on the asthenosphere






8. Some isolated mountains were produced by volcanoes - including many apparently ________ that reach a great height above the ocean floor






9. Giant masses of solid rock that float upon the earth's mantle - These plates move in relation to one another at one of three types of plate boundaries...






10. Around a new or full moon - when the sun - moon - and the earth form a line - the tidal forces due to the sun reinforce those of the moon - The tide's range is at a maximum and is called a spring tide (spring as in 'to jump/leap -' not the season)






11. The process in which one type of rock changes into another






12. 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.






13. The state change where a solid (ice or snow) changes directly to a gas (water vapor)






14. After the moon has waxed through crescent - quarter - and gibbous phases - a ________ appears - At that time - the moon rises at sunset - and we see all of its illuminated side - Then the phase wanes gradually to another new moon






15. Rising air currents take the vapor up into the atmopshere where cooler temperatures cause it to condense into ____






16. Improved land - use practices can limit erosion by using techniques such as...






17. 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






18. Generally forms deep in the mantle as one type of rock changes into another - Due to intense pressure - can show signs of bending and distortion - Examples: schist - marble - gneiss - and slate






19. Faulting and folding






20. The North Pole is in the Arctic Ocean - and thus its temperature extremes are buffered by the water - The result is that the South Pole is consistently _______ during the southern winter than the North Pole during the northern winter






21. Composed of the fragments of other types of rocks - Cover 75 to 80% of the earth's land area - Often deposited in distinct parallel layers - Weather and erosion break down other rock types into sediments - Over time - the sediments become cemented an






22. The science that describes and interprets the earth Fields: - Geomorphology (land forms) - Petrology (rocks) - Stratigraphy (layered rocks) - Paleontology (fossils)






23. Forms south of the Arctic and is cold






24. Huge systems of stars - Milky Way is estimated to have 100 billion stars arranged in a great disk






25. Occur when two plates pull away from each other - Such faults are generally weak and shallow Example: the Mid - Atlantic Range in the Atlantic Ocean






26. The degrees east or west of the prime meridian through Greenwich - England






27. A major determiner of coastal climate






28. Earth movements - The result of forces within the earth - where temperature and pressure differences lead to instability






29. The transformation of water from liquid to gas phases as it moves from the ground or bodies of water into the overlying atmosphere






30. Forms over water and is associated with wet air






31. Some water infiltrates deep into the ground and replenishes ________ - which store huge amounts of freshwater for long periods of time






32. Take up about 1/3 of the earth's land surface - many are formed by rain shadows - Usually have a large diurnal (day) and seasonal temperature range - with high daytime temperatures






33. Occur along plate boundaries






34. A ______________ - such as the Mid - Atlantic Ridge - has examples of volcanoes caused by divergent tectonic plates pulling apart






35. 186000 miles/second






36. Formed from calcium carbonate - also an example of chemical sedimentary rocks - like roock salt - can contain organic or once - living matter and can record the history of that matter's formation in features such as strata - fossil evidence - and rip






37. Sedimentary rocks containing large fragments of other rock material - e.g. Sandstone






38. 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






39. The cold - water current that flows north to south off the _____________ keeps the West Coast fairly cool during the summer - Cold - water currents create cooler temperatures in areas that would otherwise be much warmer






40. Two feldspars (orthoclase and plagioclase) - quartz - olivine - and augite - These five minerals are silicates - built from interlocking silicon and oxygen atoms






41. The source of energy for evaporation is primarily through ___________






42. Water transpired from plants and evaporated from the soil






43. The movement of rainwater as it filters through soil and rocks into the ground - becoming groundwater






44. The layers of sediment deposited in a quiet environment - Common sites of deposition are lakes - deltas at the mouths of rivers - beaches and sandbars along the coast - and (most important) the marine environment






45. Bodies similar to the sun but immensely distant - Closest stars are 4 light - years away






46. There are approx. _____ days between each lunar cycle






47. Deviates by an angle of approximately 23.5 degrees - Thus - at any given time during summer or winter - one part of the planet is more directly exposed to the rays of the sun - This exposure alternates as the earth revolves in its orbit






48. The breakdown of rocks - soils and minerals through atmospheric chemicals or biologically produced chemicals (also known as biological weathering)






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






50. 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