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. 1. A low & bowl-shaped area of land surrounded by higher lands. 2. any large depression in which sediments are deposited.






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






3. 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.






4. As applied to glacier ice & the process by which ice below the snow line is wasted by evaporation and melting.






5. The uprush of a wave onto the beach followed by the return flow of the water down the beach slope in the intervals between waves.






6. The concept of a sequence of events involving the formation & alteration & destruction and reformation of rocks as a result of geologic processes.






7. A molecule composed of three atoms of oxygen and mostly found in the stratosphere. Though beneficial in the upper atmosphere & at ground level & ozone is called photochemical smog & and is a respiratory irritant and considered a pollutant.






8. Uranus is named after the Roman god of the sky. It is the seventh planet from the Sun.






9. Mercury is named after the Roman messenger of the gods. It is the closest to the Sun.






10. 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.






11. The line separating land and water.






12. The distance between two successive wave crests or troughs.






13. 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.






14. The galaxy where Earth is located.






15. The amount of material a stream carries in suspension.






16. 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 .






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






18. 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.






19. The vertical distance between the crest and adjacent trough of a wave.






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






21. A narrow strip of land that has water on either side and connects two larger bodies of water.






22. An area of land that delivers runoff water & sediment & and dissolved substances to surface water bodies & such as rivers or lakes. All watersheds consist of boundaries & a basin and collection areas.






23. A spring whose temperature is 6.5o C or more above mean annual air temperature.






24. The portion of the continental margin that extends as a gently sloping surface from the shoreline seaward to a marked change in slope at the top of the continental slope . Seaward depth averages about 130 m.






25. The outermost part of the core. It is liquid & about 1 &700 km thick & and separated from the inner & solid core by a transition zone about 565 km thick.






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






27. The vertical distance between the crest and adjacent trough of a wave.






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






29. To wash or scrub away.






30. Gases (primarily water and carbon dioxide & but also a variety of sulfur and nitrogen compounds and gaseous hydrocarbons) that trap the Sun's heat in the atmosphere.






31. The pattern of water circulation from the ocean to the atmosphere to the land and back to the ocean.






32. A glaciated valley now flooded by the sea.






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






34. A waterway from open ocean into a lagoon.






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






36. The process by which ocean floors spread laterally from crests of main ocean ridges. As material moves laterally from the ridge & new material replaces it along the ridge crest by welling upward from the mantle.






37. Open pit mining & typically for coal.






38. Similar to a groin but built to keep sand out of a harbor entrance.






39. 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






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






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






42. A pillar formed as a stalactite and stalagmite meet.






43. An eruption of lava that takes place from a fracture & usually without producing a cone.






44. An isolated & steep-sided & rocky mass or island just offshore from a rocky headland & usually on a shore platform.






45. Lava extruded beneath water characterized by pillow shapes.






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






47. A flood that rises and falls very rapidly.






48. 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.






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






50. The closest galaxy to the Milky way. It is approximately 2 million light-years away.