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 famous scientist who proposed that the Sun was the center of the solar system not the Earth. (Heliocentrism)






2. Sediments produced directly by the life processes of plants or animals.






3. Containing moisture.






4. Large area of extremely flat ocean floor lying near a continent and generally over 4 km in depth.






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






6. The amount of material a stream carries in suspension.






7. The explosion of a dying giant or supergiant star.






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






9. Glacial drift composed of rock fragments that range from clay to boulder size and randomly arranged without bedding.






10. 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 .






11. The process by which ocean floors spread laterally from crests of main ocean ridges. As material moves laterally from the ridge & new material replaces it along the ridge crest by welling upward from the mantle.






12. (Latin- Terra & Greek- Gaia) Earth is named after the ancient Germanic Goddess of the soil. It is the third planet from the Sun.






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






14. A type of volcanic eruption characterized by nuees ardentes and the development of lava domes.






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






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






17. The precipitation that runs directly off the surface to stream or body of standing water.






18. The partial or complete blocking from view of one object by another.






19. Geologic time expressed in years before the present.






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






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






22. A cyclical pattern of movement in a fluid body such as the ocean & the atmosphere & or the Earth's mantle & driven by density variations which in turn are the result of differences in temperature from one part of the fluid to another.






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






24. A rock that has crystallized from a molten state.






25. No identifiable layers of minerals in a rock sample






26. A coral reef separated from the mainland by a lagoon.






27. A protective wall built offshore and usually parallel to the shore.






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






29. Igneous. Antonym of intrusive. Synonym of volcanic. Pertaining to igneous rocks or features formed from lava released on the Earth's surface.






30. The perpendicular or very steep descent of a stream.






31. Igneous. Antonym of intrusive. Synonym of volcanic. Pertaining to igneous rocks or features formed from lava released on the Earth's surface.






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






33. A hydrocarbon (coal or petroleum) that can be extracted from the Earth for use as a fuel. Fossil fuels are non-renewable energy sources.






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






35. 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.






36. That portion of the Earth below the crust and reaching to about 2 &780 km & where a transition zone of about 100 km thickness separates it from the core.






37. Living on land.






38. A natural depression in the surface of the land caused by the collapse of the roof of a cavern or subterranean passage & generally occurring in limestone regions.






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






40. 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.






41. 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.






42. All unconsolidated materials above bedrock. Natural earthy materials on the Earth's surface & in places modified or even made by human activity & containing living matter & and supporting or capable of supporting plants out of doors.






43. 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.






44. Sediment formed by chemical precipitation from water. Example: halite precipitated as the result of the evaporation of sea water.






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






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






47. Gases (primarily water and carbon dioxide & but also a variety of sulfur and nitrogen compounds and gaseous hydrocarbons) that trap the Sun's heat in the atmosphere.






48. All of space and everything in it.






49. That portion of the resources for a valuable mineral commodity that can be extracted from the Earth at a profit today.






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