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Test your basic knowledge |
Geology
Start Test
Study First
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. Magma is less dense than surrounding rock - and thus is buoyant. Magma is less dense both because rock expands as it melts and because magma tends to contain smaller proportions of heavy elements. Also - magma rises because the weight of overlying ro
Granitic composition
Conglomerate
Why magma rises
Hot spots
2. Low-viscosity (basaltic) lava flows out of a volcano easily - whereas high-viscosity (andesitic and rhyolitic) lava can clog and build pressure within a volcano. Basaltic eruptions are typically effusive and produce shield volcanoes - whereas rhyolit
Volcanic pipes/necks
The effect of viscosity on eruptive style
Evaporites
Mineral
3. A plate boundary at which two plates move apart from one another by process of sea-floor spreading. Mid-ocean ridges or simply a ridge. New crust is formed at ridges through the buoyant rising of magma from beneath the surface and solidifies to creat
Salt wedging
Bed
Magma
Divergent plate boundary
4. Farther down from a zone of leaching - new mineral crystals precipitate directly out of the water or form when the water reacts with debris - this the region where the new minerals and clay collect.
Asthenosphere
Transition zone
Zone of accumulation
Coal
5. Refers to the arrangement of grains in a rock; that is - the way the grains connect each other and whether inequant grains are aligned parallel to one another.
E-horizon
pahoehoe
Alloy
Rock texture
6. Mineral crystal formation type; form from a solidification of a melt - meaning the freezing of a liquid.
Melting
Alloy
Intermediate
Chemical sedimentary rocks
7. Rocks whose crystals interlock with each other.
Basaltic composition
Crystalline
Divergent plate boundary
Effusive eruptions
8. The force that subducting plates apply to oceanic lithosphere at a convergent boundary - arises simply because lithosphere formed 10 million years ago is denser than asthenosphere - so it can sink into the asthenosphere. Thus once an oceanic plate st
Metamorphic rocks
Slab-pull force
Hardness
E-horizon
9. Type of lava flow; mafic - low viscosity - extremely hot - flows very quickly.
Basaltic lava flows
Basaltic magma
collision
Diagenesis
10. Contributes to formation of soil; occurs when rainwater percolates through the debris and carries dissolved ions and clay flakes downward - This is the region where the downward transport occurs.
Composite cone (stratovolcano)
Zone of leaching
Cement
Convective flow
11. Process that occurs after the sediment has been buried - pressure cause by the overburden squeezes out water and air that had been trapped between clasts - and the clasts press together tightly.
Compaction
Cementation
Fracture zones
pahoehoe
12. Core division; from a depth of 5155km down to Earth's center at 6371km. A radius of about 1220km - is solid iron-nickel alloy - can reach temperature of 4700 degrees C. Solid in nature because of subjection to greater pressure - keeps atoms from wand
Hydrolysis
Silicate minerals
triple junction
Inner core
13. 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.
A-horizon
Symmetry
Zone of leaching
Turbidity current
14. Outer surface level of Earth; composed of granite - basalt - and gabbro. Continental: mostly about 35-40km thick . Oceanic: about 7-10km thick. Oxygen - by far the most abundant element.
Oxidation
Crust
Continental drift hypothesis
Alloy
15. A sediment-filled depression; in an area where the lithosphere has subsided.
Bathymetry
Laterite
Oxidation
Sedimentary Basins
16. Mineral group; feldspars - quartz - muscovite - clay minerals.
Soil erosion
Viscosity
Light silicates
O-horizon
17. Type of soil; forms from sediment that has been carried in from elsewhere. Include those formed from deposits left by rivers - glaciers - or wind.
B-horizon
Five steps of clastic sedimentary rock formation
Continental rift
Transported soil
18. The absorption of water into the crystal structure of minerals - causes some minerals to expand.
Subsidence
Erosion
Hydration
Convergent plate boundary
19. Created from preexisting rocks which undergo changes - such as the growth of new minerals in response to pressure and heat - and/or as a result of squashing - stretching - or shear.
Felsic - intermediate - mafic - ultramafic
Quartz sandstone
Explosive eruptions
Metamorphic rocks
20. Sedimentary rock composed of clay.
Solid-state diffusion
Agrillaceous rocks
Diagenesis
Metamorphic foliation
21. Two different minerals which have the same composition but have different crystal structures.
Chemical sedimentary rocks
Special properties of minerals
Quartz sandstone
Polymorphs
22. Refers to the chemical reactions that alter or destroy minerals when rock comes in contact with water solutions or air.
Chemical sedimentary rocks
Chemical weathering
Dunes
Melts
23. A process occurring when sea level falls - the coast migrates seaward.
Topography
Magnetic declination
Regression
Quartz sandstone
24. Hot basaltic lava that erupts with such low viscosity that it can flow tens to hundreds of kilometers across the landscape.
Evaporites
Pyroclastic debris
Magnetic reversals
Flood basalts
25. A mineral's growth that is uninhibited - has well-formed crystal faces.
Rocks
Euhedral crystal
O-horizon
Turbidity current
26. 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.
O-horizon
Basaltic composition
Heat transfer
Extrusive igneous rock
27. Develops because mid-ocean ridges lie at a higher elevation than the adjacent abyssal plains of the ocean. The surface of the sea floor overall slopes away from the ridge axis. Gravity causes the elevated lithosphere at the ridge axis to push on the
Extrusive igneous rock
Ridge-push force
Gabbro
Stoping
28. An organic sedimentary rock; black - combustible rock consisting of over 50% carbon.
Light silicates
Plates
Coal
Magnetic reversals
29. A single layer of sediment or sedimentary rock with a recognizable top and bottom.
Bed
Siltstone and mudstone
Mafic
Batholiths
30. Magma type; contains about 52% to 66% silica. Name indicates that these magmas have a composition between that of felsic and mafic magma.
Intermediate
Dipole
Weathering
Magma's speed of flow
31. A pluton formation theory; a process during Which magma assimilates wall rock - and blocks of wall rock break off and sink into the magma.
Stoping
Area of igneous activity
Conchoidal fractures
Alloy
32. A type of soil consisting of about 10-30% clay and the rest silt and sand. Pores remain between grains so that water and air can pass through and roots can easily penetrate.
Hot-spot track
Loam
Oxides
Graded bed
33. Rock formations still attached to the Earth's crust.
Why magma rises
Lithosphere
Bedrock
Lapilli
34. The most common minerals in the Earth. Contain silica (SiO2) mixed in varying proportions with other elements (typically iron - magnesium - aluminum - calcium - potassium - and sodium).
Granitic composition
Glassy igneous rocks
Plates
Silicate minerals
35. Type of soil; forms directly from underlying bedrock.
Residual soil
Root wedging
Laccolith
Factors of magma cooling time
36. A layer of sediment in which grain size varies from coarse at the bottom to fine at the top.
Superplumes
Sandstone
Salt wedging
Graded bed
37. Breaks intact rocks into unconnected grains or chunks - collectively called debris or detritus. Grain size from largest to smallest: boulders - cobbles - pebbles - sand - silt - mud/clay.
Metamorphic rocks
Diagenesis
Physical weathering
Fragmental igneous rocks
38. The way in which the atoms are packed together within a mineral by chemical bonds. Five difference types of bonding can occur - covalent - ionic - metallic - Van der Waal's - and hydrogen.
Metamorphic foliation
650-1100 degrees C
Crystal structure
Compaction
39. 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.
ravertine
Phreatomagmatic eruptions
Area of igneous activity
Bathymetry
40. Molten rock that has flowed out onto Earth's surface.
650-1100 degrees C
Silicate minerals
Lava
Volatiles
41. Rocks that consist of mineral crystals that intergrow when the melt solidifies - interlocking structure. Examples - granite and rhyolite.
Metamorphic foliation
Crystalline igneous rocks
Coal
Oxidation
42. Elongate submarine mountain ranges whose peaks lie only about 2-2.5km below sea level. Consist of a ridge axis - are roughly symmetrical - and can include escarpments - axial troughs - and valleys. Examples - Mid-Atlantic Ridge - East Pacific Rise -
Metamorphic rocks
Ripples
Columnar jointing
Mid-ocean ridges
43. The transformation of loose sediment into solid rock.
Continental drift evidence
Lithification
Outer core
Pyroclastic flows
44. Blocks of rock that are solid and durable but composed of rough quartz sand grains cemented together.
Magnetic anomaly
Melting
Transported soil
Sandstone
45. A single - continuous (uninterrupted) piece of a crystalline solid bounded by flat surfaces called crystal faces that grew naturally as the mineral formed. Come in a variety of shapes - cubes - trapezoids - pyramids - octahedrons - hexagonal columns
Soil Horizons
Crystal
Gem
Arkose
46. A sedimentary bed that has developed a reddish color. The red comes from a film of iron oxide (hematite) that forms on grain surfaces.
Dike
Transform plate boundary
Redbeds
Mantle
47. When different rocks in an outcrop undergo weathering at different rates.
Magnetic declination
Clastic
Paleomagnetism
Differential weathering
48. The distance that the world's deepest mine-shaft penetrates into the Earth beneath South Africa.
3.5km (2 miles)
Precipitation
Igneous rocks
Transported soil
49. Natural cracks that form in rocks due to removal of overburden or due to cooling.
Rocks
12km
Jointing
Chert
50. Mineral class; consist of pure masses of a single metal - with metallic bonds. Copper and gold can appear in this way.
Granite
Native metals
Volcanic blocks/bombs
Igneous rocks