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. Magma type; contains about 45% to 52% silica. Named because it produces rock containing abundant mafic minerals - magnesium and iron combinations.






2. Lava flowing on dry land cools more slowly that lava erupting underwater.






3. Places where intrusive igneous rock creates tabular intrusions cutting across rock that does not have layering - this nearly vertical - wall-like tabular intrusions is formed. Cut across layering within the earth.






4. Distinct internal laminations within a ripple or dune that are inclined at an angle to the boundary of the main sedimentary layer. Form as a consequence of the evolution of dunes or ripples.






5. The freely pivoting up and down compass needle's angle of tilt relative to the location upon the Earth's surface. At the equator - the specialized magnetic needle would position horizontally and at a magnetic pole it would point straight down.






6. The broad - relatively flat regions of the ocean that lie at a depth of about 4-5km below sea level.






7. Type of magma; high silica content - viscous - liquid at temperatures as low as 700 degrees C.






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






9. Distinguishing feature of magma; the composition of the melt reflects the composition of the solid from which it was derived. Not all magmas form from the same source rock - therefore not all magmas have the same compositions.






10. 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.






11. Forms from a chemical reaction between solid calcite and magnesium-bearing groundwater.






12. Layering in metamorphic rocks.






13. 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






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






15. Built up deposit of volcanic bombs and lapilli - known as volcanic agglomerate.






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






17. 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






18. Some rock bodies appear to contain distinct formations - defined either by bands of different compositions or textures - or by the alignment of inequant grains so that they trend parallel to one another.






19. 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.






20. 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.






21. 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.






22. 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.






23. A naturally occurring solid - formed by geologic processes - has a crystalline structure and a definable chemical composition - and is generally inorganic.






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






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






26. 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.






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






28. 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.






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






30. 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).






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






32. Forms a 2885-km-thick layer surrounding the core. In terms of volume - it is the largest part of the Earth. It consists entirely of ultramafic rock - peridotite.






33. Sea-floor spreading proponents - Hess and others realized that in order for the circumference of the Earth to remain constant through time - ocean floor must eventually sink back into the mantle. This sinking process consumes the ocean floor between






34. The rate of increase in temperature - decreases with increasing depth. The dashed lines represent the solidus and liquidus for mantle rock (peridotite). The solidus line defines the conditions of pressure and temperature at Which mantle rock begins t






35. The shape of the sea floor surface. Investigation of the sea-floor revealed the presence of several important features: mid-ocean ridges - deep-ocean trenches - seamount chains - and fracture zones.






36. The intrusion of numerous plutons in a region - produces a vast composite body that may be several hundred kilometers long and over 100km wide; an immense body of igneous rock.






37. The fit of the continents - locations of past glaciations - the distribution of equatorial climatic belts - the distribution of fossils - and matching geologic units.






38. 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






39. Chemical weathering during Which minerals dissolve into water.






40. Sedimentary rock composed of calcite or dolomite.






41. 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.






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






43. Pea to plum-sized fragments of pyroclastic debris - consists of pumice or scoria fragments.






44. 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.






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






46. Mineral crystal formation type; form from a solidification of a melt - meaning the freezing of a liquid.






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






48. Distinguishing feature of magma; the process where magma changes composition as it cools because formation and sinking of crystals preferentially remove certain atoms from the magma.






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






50. 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