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






2. 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






3. Center: 3000


4. Occurs when the moon sets at sunset - Then the moon is between the earth and the sun - so we see only the dark half of the moon






5. Occur along plate boundaries






6. Occur when two plates slip past each other - Such faults are generally moderate and are relatively shallow Example: The San Andreas Fault






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






8. Featherlike clouds that indicate fair weather






9. The breakdown of rocks - soils and minerals through direct contact with atmospheric conditions such as heat - water - ice - and pressure






10. The strength of gravity in our solar system depends on both the masses of the celestial objects and the _______ between them






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






12. 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






13. Forms over water and is associated with wet air






14. The degrees north or south of the equator






15. 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






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






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






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






19. 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






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






21. 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






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






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






24. 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






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






26. 4 terrestrials: Mercury - Venus - Mars - Earth 4 gas giants: Jupiter - Saturn - Uranus - Neptune At least 5 dwarf planets: Ceres - Pluto - Makemake - Haumea - Eris






27. 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






28. One tidal cycle per day






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






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






31. 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






32. 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






33. An opening - or rupture - in a planet's surface or crust - which allows hot molten rock - ash - and gases to escape from below the surface - Volcanic activity involving the extrusion of rock tends to form mountains or features like mountains over a p






34. 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






35. 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






36. 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






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






38. 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






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






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. Under solar conditions - gases are undergoing _____ to heavier elements with the increase of prodigious quantities of energy






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






43. Runoff and groundwater are stored as ________ in lakes






44. Seasons are marked by changes in the amount of sunlight - which in turn often cause cycles of dormancy in plants and hibernation in animals - These effects vary with latitude and with proximity to bodies of water






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






46. 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






47. The strong temperature contrast between polar and tropical air gives rise to the ________






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






49. Piled in waves and indicate rain or snow






50. 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