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. A zone in the Earth between 400 and 670 km below the surface separating the upper mantle from the lower mantle.






2. Mountains & characterized by extensive folding and thrust faulting & that form at convergent plate boundaries on continents.






3. The resistance of a mineral to scratching & as measured by the Mohs scale.






4. The straightening and/or deepening of a river channel.






5. A sea wave produced by any large-scale & short duration disturbance on the seafloor & commonly a shallow submarine earthquake but possibly also a submarine slide or volcanic eruption.






6. A seismic body wave that involves particle motion & alternating compression and expansion & in the direction of wave propagation. It is the fastest seismic wave. compare S-wave .






7. The two days of the year on which neither hemisphere is tilted toward or away from the sun.






8. The effect of water and carbon dioxide absorbing outgoing infrared radiation & raising a system's temperature. The term is generally used with reference to the Earth's temperature & although it can also be applied to other systems & such as greenhous






9. 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.






10. A cavity in a lava & formed by the entrapment of a gas bubble during solidification of the lava.






11. Deposits of wind-borne dust.






12. The processes (mechanical and chemical) responsible for the wearing away & loosening & and dissolving of materials of the Earth's crust.






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






14. The partial or complete blocking from view of one object by another.






15. Verifying assessments made from satellite data by doing direct & 'on-the ground' measurements.






16. 1. Breach in a natural levee . 2. Deep crevice or open fracture in glacier ice.






17. A measure of the size of an earthquake in terms of the damage it causes.






18. The Earth's crust underlying the ocean basins which is formed at mid-oceanic ridges. It is typically 5 to 10 kilometers thick composed of basalt.






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






20. A rock changed from its original form and/or composition by heat & pressure &shearing stress & or chemically active fluids & or some combination of them.






21. The two days of the year on which the noon sun is directly overhead at either 23.5






22. A cyclical pattern of movement in a fluid body such as the ocean & the atmosphere & or the Earth's mantle & driven by density variations which in turn are the result of differences in temperature from one part of the fluid to another.






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






24. The rock beneath the soil.






25. A collection of maps.






26. The innermost zone of Earth. It consists of two parts & an outer liquid section and an inner solid section & both chiefly of iron and nickel with about 10 percent lighter elements. It is surrounded by the mantle.






27. A stone or boulder & glacially transported from place of origin and left in an area of different bedrock composition.






28. Named after the Roman god of the sea. It is the eighth planet from the Sun.






29. The elevation at which snow persists throughout the year.






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






31. A supercontinent that existed from the Jurassic to Early Tertiary after splitting from Pangea; composed of Laurentia & Baltica & Avalonia & (modern North America & Scandinavia & Greenland & Western and Central Europe); eventually fragmented into Eur






32. Living in water.






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






34. The primary division of geologic time which are & from oldest to youngest & the Hadean & Archean & Proterozoic & and Phanerozoic eons.






35. The zone below the zone of aeration in which all pore spaces are filled with water.






36. A slide involving a downward and usually sudden movement of newly detached segments of bedrock sliding or slipping over an inclined surface of weakness such as a bedding plane & fault plane & or joint surface.






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






38. A commonly used scale of earthquake intensity.






39. Ratio between weight of given volume of material and weight of equal volume of pure water.






40. 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.






41. The primary division of geologic time which are & from oldest to youngest & the Hadean & Archean & Proterozoic & and Phanerozoic eons.






42. The reserves of a valuable mineral commodity plus all other mineral deposits that may eventually become available & even those that are presumed to exist but have not yet been discovered and those that are not economically or technologically exploita






43. The green pigment in the cells of many plants that enables them to use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates in the process called photosynthesis.






44. The perpendicular or very steep descent of a stream.






45. The physical & chemical & and biological processes by which rock at or near the Earth's surface is broken down into smaller pieces.






46. A small & dust-bearing whirlwind.






47. A layer of sedimentary rock; plural is strata.






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






49. A commonly used measure of earthquake magnitude & based on a logarithmic scale. Each integral step on the scale represents a tenfold increase in the extent of ground shaking & as recorded on a seismograph.






50. A valley caused by extension of the Earth's crust. Its floor forms as a portion of the crust moves downward along normal faults.