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. Cirrus - Stratus - Cumulonimbus - Altostratus






2. A warm - water current that carries warm water from the Tropics to the Arctic regions of the North Atlantic Ocean - This accounts for higher temperatures and higher humidity on the Eastern Seaboard during the summer






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






4. 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






5. Nearest galaxy - about 20 million light - years away






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






7. 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






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






9. 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






10. Can thaw and melt - and the ensuing water flows overland as snowmelt






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






12. 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






13. The rising of the earth's ocean surface caused by the tidal forces of the moon and the sun acting on the oceans






14. Loose collections of ice - dust - and small rocky particles - measuring a few kilometers or tens of kilometers across






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






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






17. 186000 miles/second






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






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






20. The degrees north or south of the equator






21. 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






22. The fossiliferous strata record is only the last __% of the earth's history






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






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






25. The tendency of a moving object to stay in a straight line or a stationary object to remain in place - Without _______ - a planet would be pulled into the sun






26. 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






27. Maritime polar (wet - cold air)






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






29. Distance to closest stars can be calculated by measuring the _________ - a slight shift in apparent position against the background of more distant stars as the earth travels around the sun






30. Smooth layers of low clouds that indicate a chance of drizzle or snow






31. Believed to originate at a much greater distance from the Sun - in a cloud (the Oort cloud) consisting of debris left over from the condensation of solar nebula - Comets are thrown from the outer planets or nearby stars - or as a result of collisions






32. The atmosphere is a __________ - and so small changes to one part of the system can grow to have large effects on the system as a whole - This makes it difficult to accurately predict weather more than a few days in advance






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






34. 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

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






36. Water transpired from plants and evaporated from the soil






37. This scale assigns a fixed number to 10 reference materials. Talc (1) is the softest and diamond (10) is the hardest

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






39. Further caused by the elliptical orbit of the earth - Earth reaches perihelion (the point in its orbit closest to the sun) in January - and it reaches aphelion (farthest point from the sun) in July - Also depend on factors such as proximity to oceans






40. Some infiltration stays close to the land surface and can seep back into surface - water bodies (and the ocean) as...






41. The flow of water underground - in the vadose zone and aquifers - Subsurface water may return to the surface (as a spring or by being pumped) or eventually seep into the oceans






42. Common: wind - clouds - rain - snow - fog - dust storms - Less common: natural disasters such as tornadoes - hurricanes - and ice storms






43. A major determiner of coastal climate






44. Large - scale movements of the earth's lithosphere - - The theory encompasses the older concepts of continental drift (first half of 20th century) and seafloor spreading (1960s)






45. Rocks are placed into groups according to how they form...






46. Forms over the Tropics and is warm






47. Some groundwater finds openings in the land surface and emerges as...






48. Center: 3000

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49. 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






50. The resulting dust layer would act as a shield - blocking out much of the sun's rays - This would result in lower global temperatures and a general _____ of the earth