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






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. The most recent eon of geologic time beginning 570 million years ago and continuing to the present.






4. The remains of an extremely massive star pulled into a small volume by the force of gravity.






5. The two days of the year on which the noon sun is directly overhead at either 23.5






6. Enormous & thick sheets of rock that are part of the Earth's upper mantle that move and adjoin each other along zones of seismic activity. Many tectonic plates extend underneath both continents and sea floor.






7. A sedimentary rock composed primarily of biogenic sediments.






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






9. 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.






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






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






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






13. The speed at which water flows.






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






15. A cavity in a lava & formed by the entrapment of a gas bubble during solidification of the lava.






16. A volcano that is composed of alternating layers of lava and pyroclastic material & along with abundant dikes and sills. Viscous & intermediate lava may flow from a central vent. Example: Mt. Fuji in Japan.






17. 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.






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






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






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






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






22. The production of living matter by organisms that make food using sunlight or chemicals. Usually expressed as grams of carbon per square meter per year.






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






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






25. The relationship between distances in the area being mapped and distances in the map itself.






26. Mercury is named after the Roman messenger of the gods. It is the closest to the Sun.






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






28. The seaward edge of coast between low tide and effective wave action.






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






30. Surficial mining & in which the valuable rock is exposed by removal of overlying rock or soil.






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






32. A community of plants and/or animals and its physical environment & regarded as a unit.






33. Imaginary lines on a map or globe that measure distance in degrees north or south of the equator. Latitude lines extend horizontally & from east to west on a globe.






34. Living parts of the environment that can renew or replace themselves.






35. The area immediately below the ground surface within which pore spaces are partially filled with water and partially filled with air.






36. A lake of lava & usually basaltic & in a volcanic caldera.






37. The line that separates one drainage basin from another.






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






39. A narrow strip of land that has water on either side and connects two larger bodies of water.






40. A lake in an abandoned meander.






41. The principle that states the processes operating to change the Earth in the present also operated in the past.






42. Distance over which wave-forming winds blow.






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






44. Till deposited from main body of glacier during ablation.






45. A broad & deep & generally straight furrow carved in bed rock by the abrasive action of debris embedded in a moving glacier. Larger and deeper than a glacial striation.






46. A guide to reading a map that typically contains distance scales & arrows indicating direction & and/or explanations of symbols used.






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






48. 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.






49. A volcano that is composed of alternating layers of lava and pyroclastic material & along with abundant dikes and sills. Viscous & intermediate lava may flow from a central vent. Example: Mt. Fuji in Japan.






50. The part of the crust that directly underlies the continents and continental shelves. Averages about 35 km in thickness & but may be over 70 km thick under largest mountain ranges.