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






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






3. Affected by factors such as weathering and impurities






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. Center: 3000


6. Erosion in many places is increased by human land use - Poor land - use practices include deforestation - overgrazing - unmanaged construction activity - and road building






7. The transformation of water from liquid to gas phases as it moves from the ground or bodies of water into the overlying atmosphere






8. Mountains blocking the path of precipitation to the desert






9. Forms over the Tropics and is warm






10. 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






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






12. 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






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






14. 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






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






16. 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






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






18. Some isolated mountains were produced by volcanoes - including many apparently ________ that reach a great height above the ocean floor






19. 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






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






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






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






23. Forms over water and is associated with wet air






24. Younger beds were originally deposited above older beds






25. Classified as warm - water or cold - water currents






26. 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






27. Temperature - pressure - and composition






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






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






30. Test the item against materials of known hardness; for example - use your fingernail or the graphite in a pencil to attempt to scratch the items. This process should result in assigning a relative hardness to the unknown items.






31. Featherlike clouds that indicate fair weather






32. 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






33. 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






34. 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






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






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






37. Occurs at the instant when the sun's position in the sky is at its greatest angular distance on the other side of the equatorial plane from the observer's hemisphere - Depending on the shift of the calendar - the winter solstice occurs some time betw






38. Forms over land and is associated with dry air






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






40. Paleontology: Fossil evidence indicates the similarity of fossils on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean - Continental 'jigsaw puzzle': The outlines of the continents seem to fit together






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






42. 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






43. 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






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






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






46. Characterized by similar temperatures and moisture levels






47. 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






48. 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...






49. 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






50. 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