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. Molten rock & containing dissolved gases and suspended solid particles. At the Earth's surface & magma is known as lava.






2. A seismic body wave that involves particle motion from side to side & perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation. S-waves are slower than P-waves and cannot travel through a liquid.






3. 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.






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






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






6. The process by which building stone & usually in blocks or sheets & is extracted from the Earth. radiation -- (Electromagnetic radiation) -- energy that travels through space in the form of waves without the intervention of matter & as in the transp






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






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






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






10. Deserts formed by blocking moisture-bearing winds with mountain barriers.






11. Distance over which wave-forming winds blow.






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






13. An accumulation of wind driven sand into a distinctive shape.






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






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






16. A hot & gaseous & self-luminous celestial body & as the Sun.






17. A time of unusual winds and currents in the Pacific Ocean . El Nino generally causes warmer-than-normal sea surface temperatures and increased rainfall and storm activity.






18. Gases that can be dissociated by solar radiation & which releases chlorine & which in turn destroys ozone.


19. The physical & chemical & and biological processes by which rock at or near the Earth's surface is broken down into smaller pieces.






20. The closest star to Earth besides the sun. It is approximately 4 light years away.






21. Either the northern or southern half of the Earth as divided by the equator & or the eastern or western half as divided by a meridian.






22. Highly mafic igneous volcanic rock & typically fine-grained and dark in color; rough volcanic equivalent of gabbro. Basalt is the most abundant volcanic rock in the Earth's crust.






23. The areas of & in & or constituting a city.






24. Flat land covered with tall grass and wildflowers.






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






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






27. A chuck of rock or dust in space.






28. A flat & dry plain covered with short grass.






29. A hot & gaseous & self-luminous celestial body & as the Sun.






30. A valley caused by extension of the Earth's crust. Its floor forms as a portion of the crust moves downward along normal faults.






31. The processes (mechanical and chemical) responsible for the wearing away & loosening & and dissolving of materials of the Earth's crust.






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






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






34. Formed when an organism is flattened (compressed) and a thin film of organic material from its body is left in the rock.






35. 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.






36. 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.






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. An individual grain or constituent of a rock.






39. A glaciated valley now flooded by the sea.






40. A delta formed at both sides of a tidal inlet.






41. The point on the Earth's surface that is directly above the focus of an earthquake.






42. 1. A mass of sand & gravel & or alluvium deposited on the bed of a stream & sea & or lake & or at the mouth of a stream 2. A unit of pressure & approximately equal to atmospheric pressure at sea level.






43. A substance that produces positively charged hydrogen ions (H+) when dissolved in water.






44. A large area of flat or nearly flat land.






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






46. A device built to study distant objects by making them appear closer.






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






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






49. The top of a wave.






50. An earthquake that follows and has its epicenter near a larger earthquake.