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






2. Continental tropical (dry - warm air)






3. 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






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






5. 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






6. Continental polar (dry - cold air)






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






8. The best determiner of climate - as it is consistently and directly correlated with temperature - other factors: Rain shadows - as well as water currents - elevation and so forth






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






10. 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






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






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






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






14. 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






15. 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






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






17. Formed by sodium chloride






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






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






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






21. Somewhat cooler disturbances in the photosphere






22. 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






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






24. 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






25. 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






26. Theory that the earth's continents were originally united as a supercontinent - Pangaea - Established by Alfred Wegener in the early 1900s






27. 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...






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






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






30. 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






31. The variety of ways by which water moves across the land - This includes both surface runoff and channel runoff - As it flows - the water may percolate into the ground - evaporate into the air - become stored in lakes or reservoirs - or be extracted






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






33. 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






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






35. Runoff and groundwater are stored as ________ in lakes






36. 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






37. 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)






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






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






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






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






42. 1 hour of time






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






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






45. Maritime tropical (wet - warm air)






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






47. 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






48. Forms over land and is associated with dry air






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






50. 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