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. Plutonic. Antonym of extrusive. Pertaining to igneous rocks or features formed by the emplacement of magma in pre-existing rocks.






2. An individual grain or constituent of a rock.






3. The top of a wave.






4. The closest star to Earth besides the sun. It is approximately 4 light years away.






5. Temporary accumulations of sediments that collect between low and high water marks.






6. A coral reef attached directly to the mainland.






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






8. Turbulent stream water flow down a steep gradient & but not as steep as in a waterfall.






9. A vertical conduit through the Earth's crust below a volcano & through Which magma has passed.






10. A ball of ice and dust & whose orbit is a long & narrow ellipse.






11. The outermost layer of the Earth & varying in thickness from about 10 kilometers (6 miles) below the oceans & to 65 kilometers (about 40 miles) below the continents; represents less than 1 percent of the Earth's volume.






12. A period of dryness & that when prolonged & causes damage to crops; a shortage of water.






13. An eon of geologic time extending from about 3.9 billion years to 2.5 billion years ago.






14. Sediment formed by chemical precipitation from water. Example: halite precipitated as the result of the evaporation of sea water.






15. The amount of dissolved salt in water.






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






17. Evidence in rock of the presence of past life & such as a dinosaur bone & an ancient clam shell & or the footprint of a long-extinct animal as well as life history artifacts.






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






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






20. Pertaining to or composed of granite & a coarse-grained igneous rock dominated by light-colored minerals & consisting of about 50 percent orthoclase & 25 percent quartz & and balance of feldspars and ferromagnesian silicates. Granite is commonly foun






21. Elongated rises on the ocean floor where basalt periodically erupts & forming new oceanic crust.






22. The theory of Plate Tectonics states that the Earth's crust is fragmented into a dozen or more large and small pieces floating on a semi-molten mantle.






23. A method of sediment transport in which the turbulence of a fluid is able to keep particles supported in the fluid.






24. The relationship between distances in the area being mapped and distances in the map itself.






25. A floating ice sheet extending across water from a land-based glacier.






26. A flat & dry plain covered with short grass.






27. Imaginary lines on a map or globe that measure distance in degrees north or south of the equator. Latitude lines extend horizontally & from east to west on a globe.






28. Mars is named after the Roman god of war. It is the fourth planet from the Sun.






29. Fossils formed when water containing minerals leaks into a mold. The minerals harden to form a copy of the original structure or organism.






30. The theory that states that the present-day continents are the fragmented pieces of preexisting larger landmasses called supercontinents.






31. 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.






32. A mound or ridge of sediment deposited by a glacier.






33. A narrow strip of land along the margin of the ocean extending inland for a variable distance from low water mark.






34. Large area of extremely flat ocean floor lying near a continent and generally over 4 km in depth.






35. A large ridge or mound-like structure within a body of water that is built by calcareous organisms such as corals & red algae & and bivalves.






36. The line separating land and water.






37. No identifiable layers of minerals in a rock sample






38. A Hawaiian term for a basaltic lava flow with a smooth & or ropy surface.






39. The portion of the continental margin that lies between the abyssal plain and the continental slope. The continental rise is underlain by crustal rocks of the ocean basin.






40. Banks of sand and silt along stream bank built by deposition in small increments during successive floods.






41. Applies to igneous rocks that cool on the surface of the Earth & including beneath water; typically with small crystals due to the rapidity of cooling. Synonym of extrusive. Antonym of plutonic.






42. That part of the continental margin that lies between the continental shelf and the continental rise. Slope relatively steep & 3o - 6o. The continental slope is underlain by crustal rocks of the continent.






43. The study of earthquakes & and of the structure of the Earth by both natural and artificially generated seismic waves.






44. An astronomical instrument for measuring angles & primarily altitude of celestial bodies to determine latitude.






45. An area subject to dust storms & especially south central United States .






46. The very small particles of dirt & soot & and other pollutants that are present in the air.






47. A group of stars that appear to make a pattern in the sky. The Big Dipper is a constellation.






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






49. A process of land degradation initiated by human activity & particularly in the zones along the margins of deserts.






50. A planetary satellite.