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 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






2. A layer of sediment in which grain size varies from coarse at the bottom to fine at the top.






3. 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).






4. The distance of the deepest well ever drilled - hole in northern Russia. Penetrates only about 0.03% of the Earth.






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






6. Type of soil; forms from sediment that has been carried in from elsewhere. Include those formed from deposits left by rivers - glaciers - or wind.






7. Because different soil-forming processes operate at different depths - soils typically develop into these distinct zones. These zones can be arranged vertically into a soil profile.






8. The injection of magma within the magma chamber and conduit generates an outward pressure within the volcano. The presence of gas within the magma increases this pressure - as gas expands greatly as it rises toward the Earth's surface. Rhyolitic and






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






10. Highest soil horizon; consists almost entirely of organic matter and contains barely any mineral matter. Surface level has 'litter' and deeper it contains 'humus'. Part of the zone of leaching.






11. Heat from an intense surface fire bakes and expands the outer layer of the rock. On cooling - the layer contracts - causing the outer part of the rock spall - or break off in sheet-like pieces.






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






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






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






15. 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.






16. Rocks that consist of mineral crystals that intergrow when the melt solidifies - interlocking structure. Examples - granite and rhyolite.






17. 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.






18. 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.






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






20. Sedimentary rocks made up of the shells of organisms.






21. 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






22. A type of carbonate rock; rocks formed from the calcite or aragonite skeletons of organisms form this biochemical sedimentary rock.






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






24. Rocks which develop when hot molten rock cools and freezes solid.






25. Subsoil - ions and clay leached and transported down from above accumulate here. As a result - new minerals form - and clay fills open spaces. Part of the zone of accumulation.






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






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






28. A fine spray of lava instantly freezes to form fine particles of glass.






29. Form from grains that break off preexisting rock and become cemented together - or from minerals that precipitate out of a water solution.






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






31. Mineral crystal formation type; form at interfaces between the physical and biological components of the Earth system by this process.






32. 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.






33. The layering nature of sedimentary rocks - surface features of layers formed during deposition - and the arrangement of grains within layers.






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






35. 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






36. A sedimentary bed that has developed a reddish color. The red comes from a film of iron oxide (hematite) that forms on grain surfaces.






37. Similar to ripples - but are much larger. Small ripples often form on the surface of these structures.






38. Chemical weathering during Which minerals dissolve into water.






39. Sedimentary rock consisting of cemented together solid fragments and grains derived from preexisting rocks.






40. 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.






41. 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.






42. Mineral class; consist of pure masses of a single metal - with metallic bonds. Copper and gold can appear in this way.






43. An intrusion starting to inject between layers but then dome upwards - creating this blister-shaped intrusion.






44. 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






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






46. 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






47. The conditions in which sediment was deposited. Examples - beach - glacial - and/or river environments.






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






49. Type of volcanic eruption; pyroclastic - produce clouds and avalanches of pyroclastic debris. Gas expands in the rising magma - cannot escape. The pressure becomes so great that it blasts the lava - and volcanic rock - out of the volcano.






50. The supercontinent; existence proposed by Wegener - suggested that the supercontinent later fragmented into separate continents that then drifted apart - moving slowly to their present positions.