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 deposit of partly decayed plant remains in a very wet environment; marsh or swamp deposit of plant remains containing more than 50 percent carbon.






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






3. 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 .






4. An artificial hill formed by the debris of successive human settlements.






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






6. (Latin- Sol & Greek- Helios)the closest star to Earth. It is a giant ball of gas without any solid surface.






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






8. A division of geologic time next smaller than the eon and larger than a period. Example: The Paleozoic era is in the Phanerozoic eon and includes & among others & the Devonian period.






9. Living in water.






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






11. 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.






12. The study of earthquakes & and of the structure of the Earth by both natural and artificially generated seismic waves.






13. An individual grain or constituent of a rock.






14. A minor tremor that precedes an earthquake. An increase in seismicity may signal that a major release of strain energy is about to occur.






15. 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.






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






17. The line separating land and water.






18. 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.






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






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






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






22. A major drainage divide separating the drainage to one ocean from another.






23. A chuck of rock or dust in space.






24. The theory of Plate Tectonics states that the Earth's crust is fragmented into a dozen or more large and small pieces floating on a semi-molten mantle.






25. 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.






26. The line formed by the intersection of the axial plane of a fold with a bedding plane & marking where the bed shows its maximum curvature.






27. 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.






28. A process of erosion in which wind carries off particles of dust and sand.






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






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






31. Rock formed from the accumulation of sediment & Which may consist of fragments and mineral grains of varying sizes from pre-existing rocks & remains or products of animals and plants & the products of chemical action & or mixtures of these.






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






33. Water that flows across watersheds during and immediately after severe rainstorms. In populated areas & stormwater runoff is often water that cannot be handled by existing sewer systems. Stormwater runoff is the leading source of water pollution in t






34. A volcano in the shape of a flattened cone & broad and low & built by very fluid flows of basaltic lava.






35. The condition of equilibrium & comparable to floating & of units of the lithosphere above the asthenosphere.






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






37. Any molten material that is extrusive or volcanic & or the rock that forms from a molten extrusive. Molten rock that flows at the Earth's surface.






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






39. A method of sediment transport in which the turbulence of a fluid is able to keep particles supported in the fluid.






40. The peak flow of water that tops the banks of a stream channel.






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






42. 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






43. Shapes & like mountains or hills that make up the Earth's surface.






44. 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'.






45. The low spot between two successive waves.






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






47. The tendency of a moving object to continue in a straight line or a stationary object to remain in place.






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






49. Refers to rock or sediments made up primarily of broken fragments of pre-existing rocks or minerals.






50. A comet that passed Earth in 1997 and won't return to the inner solar system until the year 4377.