Test your basic knowledge |

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 separated lithosphere into distinct pieces. Twelve major 'pieces' and several minor. Consist of active margins and passive margins between them.






2. 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






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






4. 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.






5. The Earth radiated heat into space and slowly cooled. Eventually - the early formed sea of lava solidified and formed igneous rock. The cumulative effect of radioactivity has been sufficient to slow the cooling of the planet and subsequently allow fo

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/html/basicversity.com/show_quiz.php on line 183


6. Sublayer of the mantle - depth of 660km.






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






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






9. 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






10. Type of lava flow; a lava flow with warm - pasty surfaces wrinkling into smooth - glassy - rope-like bridges.






11. After sand has lost its feldspar composition due to weathering over time - sediment composed entirely of quartz grains gets buried and lithified to form this type of rock.






12. Clast size - clast composition - angularity and sphericity - sorting - and character of cement.






13. Volcanic landform; pipes are short conduits that connect a magma chamber to the surface.






14. 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






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






16. Four settings: in volcanic arcs bordering deep-ocean trenches - isolated hot spots - within continental rifts - and along mid-ocean ridges.






17. Rocks with a fragmental texture consist of igneous fragments that are packed together - welded together - or cemented together after having solidified. Examples - pyroclastic rocks such as tuff or breccia.






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






19. 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.






20. A name for any kind of unconsolidated debris that covers bedrock. Includes both soil and accumulations of sediment that have not evolved into soil.






21. 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.






22. The angle between the direction that a compass needle points at a given location and the direction of the 'true' (geographic) north. Through this process - the magnetic poles never stray more than 15 degrees of latitude from the geographic pole.






23. Active hot-spot volcanoes commonly occur at the end of a chain of dead volcanoes.






24. Mineral group; olivine group - pyroxene group - amphibole group.






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






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






27. 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.






28. 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.






29. Physical property of a mineral; results from the way a mineral interacts with light. A mineral absorbs certain wavelengths - so the color seen represents the color wavelengths the mineral did not absorb.






30. Core division; between 2900 and 5155km deep. Liquid iron alloy - it exists as a liquid because the temperature here is so high that even the great pressures squeezing the region cannot lock atoms into a solid framework. This liquid iron alloy is able






31. Soil section below the A-horizon; a soil level that has undergone substantial leaching but has not yet mixed with organic material. Because it lacks organic materials - this horizon tends to be lighter than the A-horizon. Part of the zone of leaching






32. Layering in sedimentary rocks.






33. Refers to the proportions of different chemicals making up the rock - and thus the proportion chemicals affects the proportions of different minerals constituting the rock.






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






35. Inorganic limestone; rock composed of crystalline calcium carbonate formed by chemical precipitation.






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






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






38. Molten rock that has flowed out onto Earth's surface.






39. Physical property of a mineral; refers to the color of a powder produced by pulverizing the mineral. Provides a fairly reliable clue to the mineral's identity - since the color of the mineral powder tends to be less variable than the color of the who






40. 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.






41. A pluton formation theory; a process during Which magma assimilates wall rock - and blocks of wall rock break off and sink into the magma.






42. A place where three plate boundaries intersect at a point.






43. Mineral crystal formation type; from directly from a vapor - occurs around volcanic vents or around geysers. At such locations - volcanic gases or steam enter the atmosphere and cool - so certain elements cannot remain in gaseous form.






44. Theory confirmed by 1968 - geologists had developed the complete model of continental drift - sea-floor spreading - and subduction. Within this model - Earth's lithosphere consists of about 20 distinct pieces - or plates - that move relative to each






45. Alfred Wegener's suggestion that the positions of the continents change through time as they drift away from each other. The flaw was that he lacked a plausible moving mechanism.






46. A reference to the sinking of the lithosphere; allows for sediment to accumulate in regions where this occurs.






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






48. Physical property of a mineral; refers to the shape (morphology) of a single crystal with well-formed crystal faces - or to the character of an aggregate of many well-formed crystals that grew together as a group. Depends on the internal arrangement






49. When water is trapped in a joint freezes - it forces the joint open and may cause the joint to grow.






50. 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