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 process of chemical or physical breakdown of earth rocks - soils - and their minerals






2. 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...






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






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






5. (in descending order of size) the Pacific Ocean - the Atlantic Ocean - the Indian Ocean - the Southern Ocean and the Arctic Ocean






6. The transformation of water vapor to liquid water droplets in the air - producing clouds and fog






7. Officially defined as sustained sea surface temperature anomalies of magnitude greater than 0.5






8. 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






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






10. Human civilization has lasted only _____ years






11. Some precipitation falls as ____ and can accumulate as ice caps and glaciers - which can store water for thousands of years






12. Weather occurs primarily due to density (temperature and moisture) differences between one location and another - These differences can occur due to the angle of the sun at any particular spot - which varies by latitude from the tropics






13. Texture is important in classifying ______ sedimentary rocks






14. Occur when two plates push together - Such faults are strong and relatively deep - Where the strongest earthquakes occur Example: mountain building in the Himalayas and the Andes






15. 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






16. The major mountains tend to occur in __________ - indicating tectonic plate boundaries and activity






17. 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






18. Different visual appearance; when discovered - comets show a perceptible coma while asteroids do not






19. 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






20. 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






21. 4 terrestrials: Mercury - Venus - Mars - Earth 4 gas giants: Jupiter - Saturn - Uranus - Neptune At least 5 dwarf planets: Ceres - Pluto - Makemake - Haumea - Eris






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






23. 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






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






25. Tides may be...






26. Faulting and folding






27. 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)






28. 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






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






30. Divided into two main types: large - low- density gas giants and smaller - rocky terrestrials - There are at least 341 identified _______ - 8 of which are in the Solar System






31. 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






32. How much matter is in the object






33. Piled in waves and indicate rain or snow






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






35. 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...






36. 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






37. 186000 miles/second






38. 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






39. The science of the atmosphere and weather






40. A region of the earth that has uniform standard time - usually referred to as the local time - divided into standard and daylight saving (or summer)






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






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






43. Volcanoes are generally found where ________ are diverging or converging






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






45. Travels in an orbit that is slightly elliptical (oval) - and so the distance from the sun ranges from 91.5 to 94.5 million miles - Its daily rotation deforms the earth to a flattened spheroid - with a polar radius slightly less than the equatorial ra






46. Maritime polar (wet - cold air)






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






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






49. Hotspot volcanoes are also found elsewhere in the Solar System - especially on...






50. Large - dark clouds that indicate thunderstorms