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 soft compact calcite & CaCO3 & with varying amounts of silica & quartz & feldspar & or other mineral impurities & generally gray-white or yellow-white and derived chiefly from fossil seashells.






2. An area in which a large number of windmills have been erected to generate electrical power.






3. A coral reef attached directly to the mainland.






4. Lacking in rainfall & very dry.






5. Lava extruded beneath water characterized by pillow shapes.






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






7. An astronomical instrument for measuring angles & primarily altitude of celestial bodies to determine latitude.






8. A rock changed from its original form and/or composition by heat & pressure &shearing stress & or chemically active fluids & or some combination of them.






9. 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.






10. 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.






11. The method of locating an epicenter by determining how far it lies from three widely separated seismographs.






12. (Greek-Aphrodite)named after the Roman goddess of love. It is the planet closest in size to Earth and the second planted from the Sun.






13. The processes of weathering by which physical actions such as frost wedging break down a rock into fragments & involving no chemical change.






14. An instrument used to measure the speed of wind.






15. Imaginary lines on a map or globe that measure distance in degrees east or west of the prime meridian. Longitude lines extend vertically & from pole to pole on a globe.






16. 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.






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






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






19. 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.






20. A broad & deep & generally straight furrow carved in bed rock by the abrasive action of debris embedded in a moving glacier. Larger and deeper than a glacial striation.






21. Iron & aluminum & magnesium & manganese & and titanium. Ores of the abundant metals only need to be 3 - 5 times as metal-rich as average rock.






22. 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.






23. A narrow strip of land along the margin of the ocean extending inland for a variable distance from low water mark.






24. Any form of water & such as rain & sleet & or snow & that falls to Earth's surface.






25. A blanket of wind-driven sand with an upper surface about a meter above ground level.






26. A segment of an active fault zone that has not experienced a major earthquake during a time period when most other segments of the zone have. They are generally regarded as having a higher potential for future earthquakes.






27. 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.






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






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






30. A system involving continuous interaction of the solid Earth & the atmosphere & the oceans and living things.






31. Mountains & characterized by extensive folding and thrust faulting & that form at convergent plate boundaries on continents.






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






33. A wall built out from the shore & usually at perpendicular to it to trap sand carried by longshore currents .






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






35. The amount of dissolved salt in water.






36. The low spot between two successive waves.






37. The layer of gases (air) & that surrounds a planet or moon.






38. 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.






39. Mars is named after the Roman god of war. It is the fourth planet from the Sun.






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






41. 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.






42. An ingredient in a food or other substance that nourishes or promotes growth.






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






44. The sudden fall of one or more large pieces of a rock from a cliff.






45. 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.






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






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






48. Lacking in rainfall & very dry.






49. The area bordering a stream over which water spreads when the stream tops its channel banks.






50. 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.