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 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.






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






3. 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.






4. Lava extruded beneath water characterized by pillow shapes.






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






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






7. The region of a shore that is covered at high tide and exposed at low tide.






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






9. The level of light that penetrates through water.






10. A large area with common features that set it apart from other areas.






11. The part of the crust that directly underlies the continents and continental shelves. Averages about 35 km in thickness & but may be over 70 km thick under largest mountain ranges.






12. A natural open space underground & large enough for a person to enter. Most commonly occur by the dissolution of soluble rocks & generally limestone.






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






14. Heat transport by moving particles & and the thermal energy that they carry & to a new location.






15. The rock beneath the soil.






16. 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






17. A roughly circular reef with an occasional small & low & coral sand island surrounding a shallow lagoon.






18. 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.






19. A guide to reading a map that typically contains distance scales & arrows indicating direction & and/or explanations of symbols used.






20. The generally dark & more or less stable part of the organic matter in a soil & so well decomposed that the original sources cannot be identified.






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






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






23. A glaciated valley now flooded by the sea.






24. Occurs at the intersection of the water table with the ground surface.






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






26. Lies half way between the north and south magnetic poles.






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






28. The straightening and/or deepening of a river channel.






29. 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.






30. The galaxy where Earth is located.






31. 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.






32. The current geologic era & which began 66.4 million years ago and continues to the present.






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






34. 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.






35. 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.






36. The mass of an object divided by its volume.






37. 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.






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






39. Objects revolving around the sun that are too small and too numerous to be considered planets.






40. The oldest eon in Earth history & extending from the origin of the Earth to about 3.9 billion years ago.






41. A mound or ridge of sediment deposited by a glacier.






42. 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.






43. A type of disintegration in which jointed rock is forced apart by the expansion of water as it freezes in fractures.






44. A waterway from open ocean into a lagoon.






45. Woodland that usually gets at least 100 inches of rain each year.






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






47. 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.






48. 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.






49. A dense & hot (sometimes incandescent) cloud of volcanic ash and gas produced in a Pelean eruption.






50. The attractive force between two objects; its magnitude depends on their masses and the distance between them.