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






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






3. 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






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






5. The most important mineral group; comprise the most rock-forming minerals - they are very abundant due to large % of silicon and oxygen in Earth's crust. Examples - oxygen - silica - aluminum.






6. Most common mineral on Earth; compose over 95% of the continental crust. Consist of combinations of a fundamental building block called silicon-oxygen tetrahedron - different groups: independent tetrahedra - single chains - double chains - sheet sili






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






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






9. Soil section below the O-horizon - humus has decayed further and has mixed with mineral grains (clay - silt - and sand). Water percolating through this horizon causes chemical weathering reactions to occur and produces ions in solution and new clay m






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






11. Occurs within the asthenosphere - actively drags plates along and attributes partially for the mechanism shifting the plates along the Earth's surface.






12. Process where new divergent boundaries form when a continent splits and separates into two continents.






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






14. Layer that lies below the lithosphere - and is the portion of the mantle in which rock can flow (slowly; 10-15cm per year) despite still being solid. Entirely within the mantle and lies below a depth of 100-150km.






15. Unconsolidated deposits of pyroclastic grains - regardless of size - that have been erupted from a volcano constitute these pyroclastic deposits.






16. 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.






17. A reference to the pattern structure of a mineral. A material in which atoms are fixed in an orderly pattern - a crystalline solid.






18. Mineral crystal formation type; form from a solution - meaning that atoms - molecules - or ions dissolved in water bond together out of water.






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






20. In degrees Celsius - the high temperatures at which igneous rocks freeze; the freezing of liquid melt to form solid igneous rock represents the same phenomenon as the freezing of water - except at much higher temperatures.






21. The process by which sediment settles out of the transporting medium.






22. Hot basaltic lava that erupts with such low viscosity that it can flow tens to hundreds of kilometers across the landscape.






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






24. The crust moves away from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge axis at a rate of 1cm per year. This velocity of sea-floor spreading is determined by the relationship between the paleomagnetic anomaly-stripe's width and the reverse polarity duration - the data reve






25. 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.






26. 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.






27. Natural cracks that form in rocks due to removal of overburden or due to cooling.






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






29. Chemical precipitates; salt deposits formed as a consequence of evaporation. Examples - rock salt and gypsum.






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






31. 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.






32. 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.






33. 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






34. The difference between the expected strength of the Earth's main field at a certain location and the actual measure strength of the magnetic field at that location. Places where the field strength is stronger that expected are positive anomalies - an






35. Volcanic landform; bulbous mass of congealed lava - associated with explosive eruptions of gas-rich magma.






36. 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.






37. Perhaps the cause for the large igneous provinces; formations within the mantle - plumes that bring up vastly more hot asthenosphere than normal plumes.






38. A sheet of tuff formed from a pyroclastic flow.






39. 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






40. 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.






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. Process occurring in arid climates - dissolved salt in groundwater precipitates and grows as crystals in open pore spaces in rocks. This process pushes apart the surrounding grains and so weakens the rock that when exposed to wind or rain - the rock






43. A rock made of solid mass of glass - or of tiny crystals surrounded by glass. Reflect light as glass does and tend to break conchoidally. Examples - obsidian - tachylite - pumice.






44. 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.






45. 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.






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






47. 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






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






49. 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






50. Cause of melting; magma can also form at locations where chemicals called volatiles mix with hot mantle rock. Elements such as water and carbon dioxide mix with hot rock - helping to break chemical bonds - so that if you add volatiles to a solid - ho