Test your basic knowledge |

Subject : science
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
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  • Match each statement with the correct term.
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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. Occurs within the asthenosphere - actively drags plates along and attributes partially for the mechanism shifting the plates along the Earth's surface.






2. Subsoil - ions and clay leached and transported down from above accumulate here. As a result - new minerals form - and clay fills open spaces. Part of the zone of accumulation.






3. Deeper sublayer of the mantle - depth of 660km to 2900km.






4. A single layer of sediment or sedimentary rock with a recognizable top and bottom.






5. Rigid outer layer of Earth - 100-150km thick. Consists of the crust plus the uppermost part of the mantle.






6. Mineral class; consist of a metal cation bonded to the anionic group. Many form by precipitation out of water at or near the Earth's surface. Example - gypsum.






7. Type of volcanic eruption; produce mainly lava flows - yield low-viscosity basaltic lavas.






8. The distance that the world's deepest mine-shaft penetrates into the Earth beneath South Africa.






9. Type of volcano; most are adjacent to the Pacific - larger in size - interbedded lavas and pyroclastics - consist of alternating layers of lava and tephra - most violent type of activity - may produce nuee ardente or lahars.






10. Successive turbidity currents deposit successive graded beds - creating this sequence of strata.






11. Type of magma; low in silica - fluid - crystallize at high temperatures.






12. A reaction during which an element loses electrons - commonly takes place when elements combine with oxygen.






13. A process occurring when the sea level rises - the coast migrates inland. Through this - an extensive layer of beach forms.






14. A process occurring when sea level falls - the coast migrates seaward.






15. Some rocks develop their magnetization - their ability to produce a magnetic field - at the time that the rocks themselves formed. Such rocks - preserve a record of the Earth's magnetic field at known times in the past.






16. A nearly horizontal - tabletop-shaped tabular intrusion - parallel to layering within the earth.






17. Type of sedimentary soil/rock; Calcite in a pedocal soil accumulates in the B-horizon and may cement soil together - creating this solid mass.






18. Type of volcanic eruption; takes place when water gains access to the hot rock around the magma chamber and suddenly transforms into steam - a pyroclastic eruption involving the reaction of water with magma.






19. On a gem are the ground and polished surfaces made with a certain type of machine.






20. Carbon-containing compounds that either occur in living organisms - or have characteristics that resemble the molecules within living organisms. Examples - oil - protein - plastic - fat - and rubber.






21. Natural bond connecting rocks; mineral material that precipitates from water and fills the space between grains.






22. Sphere; Surface water along with groundwater - Earth consists of 70% surface water (oceans - lakes - and streams).






23. Solids composed of metal atoms (such as iron - aluminum - copper - and tin). Within this type of solid - outer electrons are able to flow freely.






24. Distinguishing feature of magma; Because not all minerals melt by the same amount under given conditions - and because chemical reactions take place during melting - the magma that forms as a rock begins to melt does not have the same composition as






25. Fluid basaltic lava extruded from crustal fractures called fissures.






26. When silt and clay accumulate in the flat areas bordering a stream - lagoon - or delta - the silt when lithified becomes this type of sediment. And the mud - when lithified - becomes another type of sediment - also known as shale.






27. Type of igneous rock composition; composed of light-colored silicates - very rich in felsic (feldspar and silica). Major constituent of continental crust.






28. A solid in which atoms are not arranged in an orderly pattern. Forms when a liquid freezes so fast that atoms do not have time to organize into an orderly pattern.






29. Center of the Earth - consists mainly of iron alloy.






30. A fine spray of lava instantly freezes to form fine particles of glass.






31. A term used for all the physical - chemical - and biological processes that transform sediment into sedimentary rock and that alter characteristics of sedimentary rock one the rock has formed.






32. Form from grains that break off preexisting rock and become cemented together - or from minerals that precipitate out of a water solution.






33. The ocean floor is diced up by narrow bands of vertical fractures. Lie roughly at right angles to mid-ocean ridges - effectively segmenting the ridges into small pieces.






34. The absorption of water into the crystal structure of minerals - causes some minerals to expand.






35. Physical property of a mineral; different minerals fracture in different ways - depending on the internal arrangement of atoms. If a mineral breaks to form distinct planar surfaces that have a specific orientation in relation to the crystal structure






36. The display of the pattern of atoms or ions within a mineral. Meaning that the shape of one part of a mineral is a mirror image of the shape of another part.






37. Process where a convergent boundary ceases to exist when a piece of buoyant lithosphere - such as a continent or island arc - moves into the subduction zone. Yield some of the most spectacular mountains/mountain ranges on the planet including the Him






38. Aggregates of mineral crystals or grains - and masses of natural glass; a coherent - naturally occurring solid - consisting of an aggregate of minerals or a mass of glass.






39. The removal of soil by running water or by wind.






40. Mineral class; the fundamental component within these types of minerals in the Earth's crust is the silicon-oxygen tetrahedron anionic group - a silicon atom surrounded by four oxygen atoms that are arranged to define the corners of a tetrahedron - a






41. Irregular or blob-shaped intrusions that range in size from tens of meters across to tens of kilometers across.






42. A type of carbonate rock; rocks formed from the calcite or aragonite skeletons of organisms form this biochemical sedimentary rock.






43. A distinctive sequence of strata traced across a fairly large region. For example - a region may contain a succession of alternating sandstone and shale beds deposited by rivers - overlain by beds of marine limestone deposited later.






44. Type of sedimentary rock; rocks whose grains are stuck together by cement.






45. Distinguishing feature of magma; the process where different magmas formed in different locations from different sources may come in contact within a magma chamber prior to freezing. Thus the originally distinct magmas mix to create a new - different






46. Type of igneous rock composition; composed of dark silicates and calcium-rich feldspar - referred to as mafic (magnesium and iron). Make up the ocean floor/volcanic islands.






47. Sedimentary rocks consisting of carbon-rich relicts of plants.






48. Highest soil horizon; consists almost entirely of organic matter and contains barely any mineral matter. Surface level has 'litter' and deeper it contains 'humus'. Part of the zone of leaching.






49. The distance of the deepest well ever drilled - hole in northern Russia. Penetrates only about 0.03% of the Earth.






50. A proposition in 1960 - by Princeton University professor Harry Hess - that continents drift apart because new ocean floor forms between them by this process.