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 naturally occurring inorganic solid that has a well-defined chemical composition and in which atoms are arranged in an ordered fashion.






2. A vent in the surface of the Earth & from which lava & ash & and gases erupt.






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






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






5. The solid innermost part of the core with a diameter of a little over 1 &200 km.






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






7. Any of various minerals prized for beauty & durability & and rarity. A few noncrystalline materials of organic origin (e.g. & pearl & red coral & and amber) also are classified as gemstones.






8. 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






9. A unit of length used in sea navigation based on the length of 1 minute of arc on a great circle. On Earth & 1 minute of latitude.






10. A substance that produces negatively charged hydroxide ions ( OH- ) in water and reacts with acids to form salts.






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






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






13. 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.






14. A division of geologic time next shorter than a period. Example: the Pleistocene epoch is in the Quaternary period.






15. The production of living matter by organisms that make food using sunlight or chemicals. Usually expressed as grams of carbon per square meter per year.






16. A curved belt of volcanic islands lying above a subduction zone.






17. A measure of the strength of an earthquake based on the amount of movement recorded by a seismograph . compare Richter scale.






18. 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.






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






20. 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






21. The upper horizons in a soil & through which gravitational moisture travels & removing soluble decomposition products.






22. Heat extracted from the Earth for use as an power source.






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






24. A region of high heat flow on the Earth's surface & thought to lie above a mantle plume .






25. In the geologic time scale a unit of time less than an era and greater than an epoch. Example: The Tertiary period was the earliest period in the Cenozoic era and included & among others & the Eocene epoch.






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






27. A planetary satellite.






28. An area where fresh water comes into contact with seawater & usually in a partly enclosed coastal body of water; a mix of fresh and salt water where the current of a stream meets the tides.






29. Forms along a coast as wave erosion cuts through a headland.






30. 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.






31. A general term including both oil and natural gas.






32. The very slow & generally continuous downslope movement of soil and debris under the influence of gravity.






33. 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'.






34. A geometrical form taken by a mineral & giving external expression to orderly internal atomic arrangement.






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






36. A geometrical form taken by a mineral & giving external expression to orderly internal atomic arrangement.






37. A narrow & steep-walled depression in the ocean floor & much deeper than the adjacent ocean and associated with a subduction zone.






38. Any place where bedrock is visible on the surface of the Earth.






39. Surficial mining & in which the valuable rock is exposed by removal of overlying rock or soil.






40. Living on land.






41. A type of thermal spring which ejects water intermittently with considerable force.






42. A naturally occurring inorganic solid that has a well-defined chemical composition and in which atoms are arranged in an ordered fashion.






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






44. 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.






45. 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.






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






47. A lake of lava & usually basaltic & in a volcanic caldera.






48. A curved belt of volcanic islands lying above a subduction zone.






49. A collection of maps.






50. Bent rock strata.