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. Type of soil; forms in tropical regions where abundant rainfall drenches the land during the rainy season - and the soil dries during the dry season.






2. A mafic rock with small grains. Extrusive - aphanitic igneous rock.






3. A plate boundary at which one plate slips along the side of another plate. No new plate is formed and no old plate is consumed. But the grinding between the plates generates frequent and destructive earthquakes.






4. The compiled data from many marine cruises which defined a distinctive - striped and alternating bands of paleomagnetism.






5. Magma type; contains only about 38% to 45% silica. Extreme form of mafic magma.






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






7. During this process - water chemically reacts with minerals and breaks them down - working faster in slightly acidic water.






8. 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






9. Physical property of a mineral; refers to the way a mineral surface scatters light. Metallic versus non-metallic in nature.






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






11. Consists of rock and sediment that has been modified by physical and chemical interaction with organic material and rainwater - over time - to produce a substrate that can support the growth of plants.






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






13. Type of lava flow; mafic - low viscosity - extremely hot - flows very quickly.






14. A column of very hot rock that flows upward until it reaches the base of the lithosphere. In this model - such deep-mantle plumes form because heat rising from the Earth's core is warming rock at the base of the mantle. A possible explanation to the






15. During the final stages of cooling - lava flows contract and may fracture into roughly hexagonal columns.






16. Materials that easily transform into gas at the relatively low temperatures found at the Earth's surface.






17. The resistance to flow of magma. Reflects its distinct silica content - for silica tends to polymerize - meaning it links up to form long - chainlike molecules whose presence slows down the flowing ability of magma. Thus felsic magmas flow less easil






18. The record of paleomagnetism revealed that the location of Earth's magnetic poles had been changing through geologic time. This 'wandering' meant that Earth's magnetic poles do not move with respect to fixed continents. Rather - continents move relat






19. Blocks of rock that are solid and durable but composed of rough quartz sand grains cemented together.






20. If a stoped block does not melt entirely - but rather becomes surrounded by new igneous rock - it becomes this; xeno - meaning foreign.






21. 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.






22. Lava flow; associated with felsic magma - consists of ash and pumice fragments - material is propelled from the vent at a high speed.






23. The bottom portion of the upper mantle - the interval lying between 400km and 660km deep. Here within the Earth - the character of the mantle undergoes a series of abrupt changes.






24. Refers to the processes that break up and corrode solid rock - eventually transforming it into sediment. Physical and chemical variations.






25. A thick accumulation of sediment (10-15km) - the surface of this sediment layer is this broad - shallow region.






26. Process occurring after sediment has been compacted - can then be bounded together to make coherent sedimentary rock. Binding material consists of minerals (commonly quartz or calcite).






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






28. Physical features of the land surface represented by changes in elevation.






29. Physical property of a mineral; represents the density of a mineral - as specified by the ratio between the weight of a volume of the mineral and the weight of an equal volume of water a 4 degrees C.






30. Fracture type; smoothly curving - clamshell-shaped surfaces; typically formed in quartz.






31. Magma type; contains about 52% to 66% silica. Name indicates that these magmas have a composition between that of felsic and mafic magma.






32. The combination of processes that separate rock or regolith from its substrate and carry it away. Involves abrasion - plucking - scouring - and dissolution - and is caused by air - water or ice.






33. Tree roots that grow into joints can push those joints open in this process.






34. A mafic rock with large grains. Intrusive - phaneritic igneous rock.






35. Refers to the chemical reactions that alter or destroy minerals when rock comes in contact with water solutions or air.






36. A mixture containing more than one type of metal atom. Example - bronze is a mixture of copper and tin.






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






38. Type of lava flow; higher silica content - greater viscosity - forms a large mound above the vent out of a volcano.






39. Factors; the depth of the intrusion - the deeper - the more slowly it cools. The shape and size of a magma body - the greater the surface area - the faster it cools. The presence of circulating groundwater - water passing through cools magma faster.






40. Layering in metamorphic rocks.






41. Mineral group; feldspars - quartz - muscovite - clay minerals.






42. Type of rock; accumulated sand bars - within are mineral grains of quartz and feldspar - this sediment if buried and lithified.






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






44. Type of soil; forms directly from underlying bedrock.






45. Forms when clots of lava fly into the air in lava fountains and then freeze to form solid chunks before hitting the ground. Some forms when the explosion of a volcano shatters preexisting rock and ejects the fragments over the countryside.






46. 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






47. Some minerals have distinctive properties - such as calcite which reacts with dilute hydrochloric acid to produce carbon dioxide. Dolomite also reacts with acid - graphite can make clear markings - magnetite attracts a magnet - halite tastes salty -






48. When different rocks in an outcrop undergo weathering at different rates.






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






50. Mineral crystal formation type; form by type of diffusion - the movement of atoms or ions through a solid to arrange into a new crystal structure; process takes place very slowly.