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. 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.






2. A term applied to large areas of basaltic lava presumably extruded from fissures.






3. A zone in the Earth between 400 and 670 km below the surface separating the upper mantle from the lower mantle.






4. (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.






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






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






7. Deposits of wind-borne dust.






8. A geometrical form taken by a mineral & giving external expression to orderly internal atomic arrangement.






9. The environment where a particular plant or animal is normally found.






10. The elevation at which snow persists throughout the year.






11. The arrangement of rock units in the proper chronological order from youngest to oldest.






12. Water beneath the Earth's surface.






13. The prediction that climate will warm as a result of the addition to the atmosphere of humanly produced greenhouse gases.






14. A flood that rises and falls very rapidly.






15. The point on the Earth's surface where a magnetic needle points vertically downward (north magnetic pole) or vertically upward (south magnetic pole).






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






17. A thick layer of soil.






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






19. An instrument that merely indicates the occurrence of an earthquake.






20. A hole or basin cut into bedrock of a stream by the abrasive action of pebbles and sand swirled by turbulent stream flow.






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






22. Lava extruded beneath water characterized by pillow shapes.






23. A tool for measuring the relative clarity of water.






24. Containing moisture.






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






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






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






28. The way in which a rock or mineral breaks in random patterns rather than cleaving






29. A device containing a free-swinging magnetic needle that is attracted to Earth's magnetic North Pole. Used to determine direction of travel.






30. 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.






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






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






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






34. A rigid segment of the Earth's lithosphere that moves horizontally and adjoins other plates along zones of seismic activity. Plates may include portions of both continents and ocean basins.






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






36. To wash or scrub away.






37. The distance between two successive wave crests or troughs.






38. Pertaining to clastic material formed by volcanic explosion or aerial expulsion from a volcanic vent.






39. A waterway from open ocean into a lagoon.






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






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






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






43. The height of a place above sea level.






44. 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.






45. A flood that rises and falls very rapidly.






46. Where two plates are moving in opposite directions as in a mid-ocean ridge.






47. The first scientist to make systematic use of the telescope in looking at the heavens.






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






49. A group of islands; an expanse of water with scattered islands.






50. An eon of geologic time extending from about 3.9 billion years to 2.5 billion years ago.