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. Takes place when the moon passes between the earth and the sun - with the moon blocking the sunlight for about two minutes - A total ___________ may be seen only from a small zone on the earth






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






3. This upslope wind is called a...






4. Forms over land and is associated with dry air






5. 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)






6. 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






7. 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






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






9. Igneous rock that cools beneath the earth's surface - Examples: plutons - dikes - and batholiths






10. Two feldspars (orthoclase and plagioclase) - quartz - olivine - and augite - These five minerals are silicates - built from interlocking silicon and oxygen atoms






11. Faulting and folding






12. Affected by factors such as weathering and impurities






13. 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






14. Form when dissolved mineral solutions crystalize out of lakes and oceans






15. 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






16. Somewhat cooler disturbances in the photosphere






17. 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






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






19. Typically the tidal mouths of rivers and are often characterized by _____________ or silt carried in from terrestrial runoff - frequently from offshore






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






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






22. 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...






23. The farther from the tropics you are positioned - the ________ the angle of the sun - This causes those locations to be cooler due to the indirect sunlight






24. 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






25. 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






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






27. Can influence climate by sending tremendous volumes of dust - ash - and smoke into the atmosphere






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






29. The result of the buildup of once - living things






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






31. Large - scale movements of the earth's lithosphere - - The theory encompasses the older concepts of continental drift (first half of 20th century) and seafloor spreading (1960s)






32. Some groundwater finds openings in the land surface and emerges as...






33. Darkens the moon as the earth passes between it and the sun - casting a shadow on the moon - may be seen from anywhere the moon is visible - about half of the earth






34. 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






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






36. 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






37. 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






38. Maritime tropical (wet - warm air)






39. 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






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






41. Forms over the Tropics and is warm






42. The runoff produced by melting snow






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






44. 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






45. 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.






46. 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






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






48. The center of the sun may have a temperature of millions of degrees; the visible surface - the ______ - is about 6000






49. 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






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