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 person who makes maps.






2. The level of light that penetrates through water.






3. A depression in the ground formed by the melting of a block of glacier ice buried or partially buried by drift.






4. A statement of relative age in layered rocks: In a series of sedimentary rocks that has not been overturned & the topmost layer is always the youngest and the bottommost layer is always the oldest.






5. The sum of the processes that result in the wearing away or the progressive lowering of the Earth's surface by weathering & erosion & mass wasting & and transportation.






6. 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.






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






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






9. The theory that states that the present-day continents are the fragmented pieces of preexisting larger landmasses called supercontinents.






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






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






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






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






14. Applies to igneous rocks that cool on the surface of the Earth & including beneath water; typically with small crystals due to the rapidity of cooling. Synonym of extrusive. Antonym of plutonic.






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






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






17. The theory of Plate Tectonics states that the Earth's crust is fragmented into a dozen or more large and small pieces floating on a semi-molten mantle.






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






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






20. A thick layer of soil.






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






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






23. 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.






24. Property possessed by certain rocks of breaking with relative ease along parallel planes or nearly parallel surfaces in their crystal structures where the bonds are weakest.






25. 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.






26. 1. Breach in a natural levee . 2. Deep crevice or open fracture in glacier ice.






27. Water that flows across watersheds during and immediately after severe rainstorms. In populated areas & stormwater runoff is often water that cannot be handled by existing sewer systems. Stormwater runoff is the leading source of water pollution in t






28. A building that contains one or more telescopes.






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






30. Materials that are found in nature that are useful or necessary for people to live.






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






32. A commonly used measure of earthquake magnitude & based on a logarithmic scale. Each integral step on the scale represents a tenfold increase in the extent of ground shaking & as recorded on a seismograph.






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






34. The direction & north (normal) or south (reversed) & that a magnetic compass needle points.






35. Any seismic wave that travels through the body of Earth & rather than along its surface.






36. The transformation of a soil from a solid to a liquid state as the result of increased pore pressure.






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






38. Verifying assessments made from satellite data by doing direct & 'on-the ground' measurements.






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






40. A small ice sheet.






41. An area of land that delivers runoff water & sediment & and dissolved substances to surface water bodies & such as rivers or lakes. All watersheds consist of boundaries & a basin and collection areas.






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






43. Soil conditions prevailing in area whose mean annual temperature is 0o C.






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






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






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






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






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






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






50. Deposits of wind-borne dust.