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






2. The level of light that penetrates through water.






3. Distance over which wave-forming winds blow.






4. A blanket of wind-driven sand with an upper surface about a meter above ground level.






5. The mass of an object divided by its volume.






6. The point on the Earth's surface that is directly above the focus of an earthquake.






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






8. The straightening and/or deepening of a river channel.






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






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






11. A large volume of dust-sized particles lifted high into the atmosphere.






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






13. A layer of sedimentary rock; plural is strata.






14. A Hawaiian term for a lava flow that has a rough & jagged surface.






15. 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.






16. 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.






17. The accumulation of material in layers or beds.






18. A supercontinent that existed from the Jurassic to Early Tertiary after splitting from Pangea; composed of Laurentia & Baltica & Avalonia & (modern North America & Scandinavia & Greenland & Western and Central Europe); eventually fragmented into Eur






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






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






21. 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.






22. The outermost layer of the Earth & varying in thickness from about 10 kilometers (6 miles) below the oceans & to 65 kilometers (about 40 miles) below the continents; represents less than 1 percent of the Earth's volume.






23. A narrow & steep-walled depression in the ocean floor & much deeper than the adjacent ocean and associated with a subduction zone.






24. A small & dust-bearing whirlwind.






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






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






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






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






29. The breaking away of ice from the front of the glacier when it ends in a lake or an ocean. Produces icebergs.






30. A time of unusual winds and currents in the Pacific Ocean . El Nino generally causes warmer-than-normal sea surface temperatures and increased rainfall and storm activity.






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






32. A valley caused by extension of the Earth's crust. Its floor forms as a portion of the crust moves downward along normal faults.






33. An area subject to dust storms & especially south central United States .






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






35. Lacking in rainfall & very dry.






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






37. 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.






38. The outermost layer of the Earth & varying in thickness from about 10 kilometers (6 miles) below the oceans & to 65 kilometers (about 40 miles) below the continents; represents less than 1 percent of the Earth's volume.






39. A landscape that develops from the action of ground water in areas of easily soluble rocks. It is usually characterized by caves & underground drainage and sinkholes.






40. A slide involving a downward and usually sudden movement of newly detached segments of bedrock sliding or slipping over an inclined surface of weakness such as a bedding plane & fault plane & or joint surface.






41. Deposits of wind-borne dust.






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






43. The tectonic region in which two plates meet.






44. The green pigment in the cells of many plants that enables them to use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates in the process called photosynthesis.






45. Open pit mining & typically for coal.






46. The height of a place above sea level.






47. A low & nearly flat accumulation of sediment deposited at the mouth of a river or stream & commonly triangular or fan-shaped.






48. A river that is able to maintain its flow through a desert because of water received from outside the desert.






49. Bent rock strata.






50. 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.