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. 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






2. Water transpired from plants and evaporated from the soil






3. Maritime polar (wet - cold air)






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






5. 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






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






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






8. The runoff produced by melting snow






9. Faulting and folding






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






11. 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






12. Condensed water vapor that falls to the earth's surface - Most precipitation occurs as rain - but also includes snow - hail - fog drip - graupel - and sleet






13. 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)






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






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






16. How much matter is in the object






17. 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






18. An individual weighing 200 lbs on Earth would weigh more on a _______________ - Weight is a function of gravity






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






20. 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






21. Tides may be...






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






23. 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






24. One tidal cycle per day






25. 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






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






27. 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






28. Forms over land and is associated with dry air






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






30. Cause pressure differences - A hot surface heats the air above it and the air expands - lowering the air pressure and its density






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






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






33. Comprises one global - interconnected body of salt water often (though generally recognized as several separate oceans) - A continuous body of water with relatively free interchange among its parts






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






35. 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






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






37. 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






38. Refers to the long - term weather patterns of a large geographical area and takes into account temperature - humidity - and precipitation






39. Large - dark clouds that indicate thunderstorms






40. A major determiner of coastal climate






41. 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






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






43. Sometimes called minor planets or planetoids - Bodies






44. Human civilization has lasted only _____ years






45. Younger beds were originally deposited above older beds






46. 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






47. 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






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






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






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