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 internal resistance to flow in a liquid.






2. Deposition of fine mineral particles (silt) on the beds of streams or lakes.






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






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






5. The acidity in rain due to gases from internal combustion engines and coal- and oil-burning power plants.






6. An informal term to include all geologic time from the beginning of the Earth to the beginning of the Cambrian period 570 million years ago.






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






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






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






10. 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'.






11. The seaward edge of coast between low tide and effective wave action.






12. A volcanic mountain on the seafloor. If flat-topped & it is a guyot.






13. Deserts in zones of descending air between 25 degrees and 30 degrees north and south latitude.






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






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






16. The top of a wave.






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






18. The accumulation of material in layers or beds.






19. The height of a place above sea level.






20. Destruction of the ozone layer caused by the release of CFC's (chlorofluorocarbons) into the atmosphere which react chemically with ozone and break it down into different gases.






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






22. An era of time during the Phanerozoic eon lasting from 245 million years ago to 66.4 million ago.






23. A portable time keeper with a mechanism for ensuring accuracy and adjusting itself & used for determining longitude at sea.






24. A broad & mound-like mass of glacier ice that usually spreads radially outward from a central zone.






25. A large & basin-shaped volcanic depression & more or less circular in form. Typically steep-sided & found at the summit of a shield volcano.






26. The process of removing metal from ore.






27. 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.






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






29. Formed when an organism is flattened (compressed) and a thin film of organic material from its body is left in the rock.






30. 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.






31. A continuous well-defined mass of material of sufficient ore content to make extraction economically feasible. compare mineral deposit.






32. An aggregate of one or more minerals in varying proportions.






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






34. 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.






35. 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.






36. The surface between the zone of saturation and the zone of aeration.






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






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






39. Heat transport by direct transfer of energy from one particle to another & without moving the particle to a new location.






40. The arrangement of rock units in the proper chronological order from youngest to oldest.






41. 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.






42. A portable time keeper with a mechanism for ensuring accuracy and adjusting itself & used for determining longitude at sea.






43. A volcano that is composed of alternating layers of lava and pyroclastic material & along with abundant dikes and sills. Viscous & intermediate lava may flow from a central vent. Example: Mt. Fuji in Japan.






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






45. A rigid segment of the Earth's lithosphere that moves horizontally and adjoins other plates along zones of seismic activity. Plates may include portions of both continents and ocean basins.






46. The geologic eon lying between the Archean and Phanerozoic eons & beginning about 2.5 billion years ago and ending about 0.57 billion years ago.






47. A conical volcano formed by the accumulation of pyroclastic debris around a vent.






48. A ridge of high water associated with a hurricane and which floods over the shore .






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






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