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. 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






2. The remains of an extremely massive star pulled into a small volume by the force of gravity.






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






4. A hydrocarbon (coal or petroleum) that can be extracted from the Earth for use as a fuel. Fossil fuels are non-renewable energy sources.






5. A small & dust-bearing whirlwind.






6. The accumulation of material in layers or beds.






7. 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 .






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






9. The line separating land and water.






10. A vent on the seafloor from which hydrothermal fluids are emitted. Upon mixing with seawater and cooling & the fluids precipitate a cloud of fine-grained sulfide minerals that resembles a cloud of black smoke.






11. 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






12. The principle that states the processes operating to change the Earth in the present also operated in the past.






13. 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.






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






15. A plate boundary in which plates on opposite sides of the boundary move past each other in opposite directions. The San Andreas fault of California is a good example.






16. That portion of the resources for a valuable mineral commodity that can be extracted from the Earth at a profit today.






17. A mudflow composed chiefly of pyroclastic material on the flanks of a volcano.






18. Bent rock strata.






19. A commonly used scale of earthquake intensity.






20. Scratches & or small channels & gouged by glacier action. Occur on boulders & pebbles & and bedrock. Striations along bedrock indicate direction of ice movement.






21. The weak or 'soft' zone in the upper mantle just below the lithosphere & involved in plate movement and isostatic adjustments. It lies 70 to 100 km below the surface and may extend to a depth of 400 km.






22. The line that separates one drainage basin from another.






23. A small ice sheet.






24. A collection of maps.






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






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






27. A community of plants and/or animals and its physical environment & regarded as a unit.






28. 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






29. A thick layer of soil.






30. 1. A steep-walled & usually conical depression at the summit or on the flanks of a volcano & resulting from the explosive ejection of material from a vent. 2. A bowl-shaped depression with a raised & overturned rim produced by the impact of a meteori






31. A statement of relative age in layered rocks: In a series of sedimentary rocks that has not been overturned & the topmost layer is always the youngest and the bottommost layer is always the oldest.






32. A general term for a relatively hard layer of soil at or just below the ground surface & cemented by silica & iron oxide & calcium carbonate & or organic matter.






33. The generally dark & more or less stable part of the organic matter in a soil & so well decomposed that the original sources cannot be identified.






34. 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.






35. The point on the Earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake.






36. The rise and fall of sea level caused by the gravitational pull of the Sun and Moon on the Earth.






37. (Latin- Terra & Greek- Gaia) Earth is named after the ancient Germanic Goddess of the soil. It is the third planet from the Sun.






38. He area from which a stream and its tributaries receives its water.






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






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






41. The tectonic region in which two plates meet.






42. Jupiter is named after the Roman king of the gods. It is the fifth planet from the Sun.






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






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






45. The transformation of a soil from a solid to a liquid state as the result of increased pore pressure.






46. The persistence of wind-formed waves after wind ceases.






47. The prediction that climate will warm as a result of the addition to the atmosphere of humanly produced greenhouse gases.






48. A mudflow composed chiefly of pyroclastic material on the flanks of a volcano.






49. A tool for measuring the relative clarity of water.






50. An instrument that detects & magnifies & and records vibrations of the Earth & especially earthquakes.