Test your basic knowledge |

Earth Science

Subject : 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. Objects revolving around the sun that are too small and too numerous to be considered planets.






2. (Greek-Aphrodite)named after the Roman goddess of love. It is the planet closest in size to Earth and the second planted from the Sun.






3. The breaking away of ice from the front of the glacier when it ends in a lake or an ocean. Produces icebergs.






4. The point on the Earth's surface that is directly above the focus of an earthquake.






5. The line formed by the intersection of the axial plane of a fold with a bedding plane & marking where the bed shows its maximum curvature.






6. A device built to study distant objects by making them appear closer.






7. The production of living matter by organisms that make food using sunlight or chemicals. Usually expressed as grams of carbon per square meter per year.






8. Swamp that forms in the low lying flood plain behind a levee.






9. A building that contains one or more telescopes.






10. Till deposited from main body of glacier during ablation.






11. The top of a wave.






12. An icicle-shaped accumulation of dripstone hanging from cave roof.






13. A reverse fault on which the dip angle of the fault plane is 15 degrees or less.






14. A dense & hot (sometimes incandescent) cloud of volcanic ash and gas produced in a Pelean eruption.






15. A glaciated valley now flooded by the sea.






16. A permeable region of rock or soil through which ground water can move.






17. A large area of flat or nearly flat land.






18. The zones of seismic activity long which plates are in contact.






19. A unit of length used in sea navigation based on the length of 1 minute of arc on a great circle. On Earth & 1 minute of latitude.






20. A valley carved by glacier erosion and whose cross-valley profile has steep sides and a nearly flat floor & suggestive of a large letter 'you'.






21. A river that is able to maintain its flow through a desert because of water received from outside the desert.






22. The southern portion of the late Paleozoic supercontinent known as Pangea. It means & literally 'Land of the Gonds' (a people of the Indian subcontinent).The supercontinent existed from Cambrian to Jurassic time & mainly composed of South America &






23. An atmospheric shield providing the Earth with protection from ultra-violet rays which can cause sun burn & skin cancer and the destruction of the delicate plant life which supports the planet's food chain.






24. Occurs at the intersection of the water table with the ground surface.






25. The production of living matter by organisms that make food using sunlight or chemicals. Usually expressed as grams of carbon per square meter per year.






26. Rock formed from the accumulation of sediment & Which may consist of fragments and mineral grains of varying sizes from pre-existing rocks & remains or products of animals and plants & the products of chemical action & or mixtures of these.






27. Living in water.






28. A giant structure that contains hundreds of billions of stars.






29. Living on land.






30. Water that flows across watersheds during and immediately after severe rainstorms. In populated areas & stormwater runoff is often water that cannot be handled by existing sewer systems. Stormwater runoff is the leading source of water pollution in t






31. Synonym of intrusive. Antonym of volcanic. Applies to igneous rocks formed beneath the surface of the Earth; typically with large crystals due to the slowness of cooling.






32. A seismic body wave that involves particle motion from side to side & perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation. S-waves are slower than P-waves and cannot travel through a liquid.






33. Any form of water & such as rain & sleet & or snow & that falls to Earth's surface.






34. A large area with common features that set it apart from other areas.






35. The reflection of light on a given mineral's surface & classified by intensity and quality.






36. The great circle on the Earth's surface passing through The North and South Poles & which is considered 0 degrees longitude. The prime meridian passes through Greenwich & England & and is used as a reference point for measuring longitude east and w






37. A mass of ice & formed by the recrystallization of snow & that flows forward & or has flowed at some time in the past.






38. The rigid outer shell of the Earth. It includes the crust and uppermost mantle and is on the order of 100 km in thickness.






39. An atmospheric shield providing the Earth with protection from ultra-violet rays which can cause sun burn & skin cancer and the destruction of the delicate plant life which supports the planet's food chain.






40. The point on the Earth's surface where a magnetic needle points vertically downward (north magnetic pole) or vertically upward (south magnetic pole).






41. The science that deals with the study of the planet Earth--the materials of which it is made & the processes that act to change these materials from one form to another & and the history recorded by these materials; the forces acting to deform the ou






42. Produced as a wave steepens and falls forward as the wave nears the shore.






43. Surficial mining & in which the valuable rock is exposed by removal of overlying rock or soil.






44. A soft compact calcite & CaCO3 & with varying amounts of silica & quartz & feldspar & or other mineral impurities & generally gray-white or yellow-white and derived chiefly from fossil seashells.






45. A landscape that develops from the action of ground water in areas of easily soluble rocks. It is usually characterized by caves & underground drainage and sinkholes.






46. An abandoned meander .






47. The area immediately below the ground surface within which pore spaces are partially filled with water and partially filled with air.






48. A comet that passed Earth in 1997 and won't return to the inner solar system until the year 4377.






49. Any seismic wave that travels through the body of Earth & rather than along its surface.






50. A worldwide change in sea level & such as caused by melting glaciers.