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






2. The great circle on the Earth's surface passing through The North and South Poles & which is considered 0 degrees longitude. The prime meridian passes through Greenwich & England & and is used as a reference point for measuring longitude east and w






3. To preserve & or to avoid wasteful use.






4. 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.






5. An abandoned meander .






6. That part of the continental margin that lies between the continental shelf and the continental rise. Slope relatively steep & 3o - 6o. The continental slope is underlain by crustal rocks of the continent.






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






8. Similar to a groin but built to keep sand out of a harbor entrance.






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






10. The primary division of geologic time which are & from oldest to youngest & the Hadean & Archean & Proterozoic & and Phanerozoic eons.






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






12. 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.






13. The closest galaxy to the Milky way. It is approximately 2 million light-years away.






14. A Hawaiian term for a basaltic lava flow with a smooth & or ropy surface.






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






16. A supercontinent that existed from the the end of the Permian to the Jurassic & 300 to 200 million years ago & assembled from large continents like Euramerica & Gondwana & and Siberia & as well as smaller landmasses like the Cathaysian and Cimmerian






17. 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.






18. An instrument that detects & magnifies & and records vibrations of the Earth & especially earthquakes.






19. Bent rock strata.






20. Temporary accumulations of sediments that collect between low and high water marks.






21. The method of locating an epicenter by determining how far it lies from three widely separated seismographs.






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






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






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






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






26. Pluto is named after the Roman god of the Underworld. No longer considered a planet.






27. Shapes & like mountains or hills that make up the Earth's surface.






28. A worldwide change in sea level & such as caused by melting glaciers.






29. 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 .






30. A post of dripstone growing up from a cave floor.






31. The uprush of a wave onto the beach followed by the return flow of the water down the beach slope in the intervals between waves.






32. The area bordering a stream over which water spreads when the stream tops its channel banks.






33. A Hawaiian term for a basaltic lava flow with a smooth & or ropy surface.






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






35. The very slow & generally continuous downslope movement of soil and debris under the influence of gravity.






36. A steep or vertical cliff & either above or below sea level.






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






38. 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.






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






40. The naturally occurring material from which a mineral or minerals of economic value can be extracted at a profit.






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






42. The reflection of light on a given mineral's surface & classified by intensity and quality.






43. 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.






44. The two days of the year on which neither hemisphere is tilted toward or away from the sun.






45. The weak or 'soft' zone in the upper mantle just below the lithosphere & involved in plate movement and isostatic adjustments. It lies 70 to 100 km below the surface and may extend to a depth of 400 km.






46. Deep steep-sided depression in the ocean floor caused by the subduction of oceanic crust beneath either other oceanic crust or continental crust.






47. The vertical distance between the crest and adjacent trough of a wave.






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






49. The pattern of water circulation from the ocean to the atmosphere to the land and back to the ocean.






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