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. The evaporation of these oceans is how we get most of our __________ - and their temperature determines our climate and wind patterns






2. Forms over land and is associated with dry air






3. A semi - closed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it - and with a free connection to the open sea - Often associated with high levels of biological diversity - They are made up of brackish water - Often given names






4. 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






5. The runoff produced by melting snow






6. 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






7. Characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the same area - Atlanta tropical cyclone activity is generally enhanced during La Nina - Often follows the El Nino - especially when the latter is strong






8. A continuous drill would find gas - oil - and water in that order - The three substances occur in their order of density - with the lightest substance on top and the heaviest on the bottom






9. Air currents move clouds around the globe and cloud particles collide - grow - and fall out of the sky as ________ - Most of it falls back into the oceans or onto land - where the precipitation flows over the ground as surface runoff - portion of run






10. The lateral movement of the plates is typically at speeds of ___ mm annually






11. The precipitation that is intercepted by plant foliage and eventually evaporates back to the atmosphere rather than falling to the ground






12. Result from the earth's axis being tilted to its orbital plane - NOT the result of the variation in the earth's distance to the sun (Because of its elliptical orbit - the earth as a whole is slightly warmer when away from the sun; this is because the






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






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






15. The Pacific Ring of Fire has examples of volcanoes caused by ___________ coming together






16. 1 hour of time






17. Piled in waves and indicate rain or snow






18. Igneous rock that forms on the earth's surface - Examples obsidian - basalt - and pumice






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






20. The earth is believed to be about ___ billion years old






21. 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






22. Defined by geometrically subdividing the earth's spheroid into 24 lunes (wedge - shaped sections) - bordered by meridians - each 15






23. Forms over water and is associated with wet air






24. Characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific - warm current of nutrient - poor tropical water - heated by its eastward passage in the Equatorial Current - replaces the cold - nutrient - rich surface water of th






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






26. 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)






27. 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.






28. (or summer time zones) include an offset (typically +1 hour) for daylight saving time






29. 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






30. Not all runoff flows into rivers; much of it infiltrates into the ground through...






31. The outermost part of the earth's interior is made up of two layers...






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






33. 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






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






35. - The materials left over after the rock breaks down combine with organic material - The mineral content is determined by the parent material; thus - a soil derived from a single rock type can often be deficient in one or more minerals for good ferti






36. On maps - the characteristics of an air mass are represented by two letters: The lowercase letter represents ________ - and the uppercase letter represents temperature






37. Less than 1% of the earth; this relatively thin zone (5 to 25 miles) contains the only rocks we can study - even in the deepest mines or drill holes






38. The science of the atmosphere and weather






39. 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






40. Zero degrees latitude - generally has a tropical climate (warm and wet); at the extreme northern and southern latitudes (polar regions) - the climate is very cold and dry






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






42. Used to arrange strata in a standard order - Used to measure the amount of radioactive decay in minerals and calculate the time at which the rock formed






43. Human civilization has lasted only _____ years






44. Volcanoes can be caused by '____________'; these so - called hotspots - as in Hawaii - can occur far from plate boundaries






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






46. Two high waters and two low waters each day - in most locations - tides are semidiurnal






47. The degrees north or south of the equator






48. 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






49. The center of the sun may have a temperature of millions of degrees; the visible surface - the ______ - is about 6000






50. Most sediments were deposited in beds that were originally horizontal - and any tilting is due to later earth movements