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






2. 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.






3. Type of lava flow; surface layer of the lava freezes and then breaks up due to the continued movement of lava underneath - becomes a jumble of sharp - angular fragments - yielding a rubbly flow.


4. Rocks whose crystals interlock with each other.






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






6. A linear belt in which continental lithosphere pulls apart - the lithosphere stretches horizontally.






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






8. A reference to the supposed position of the Earth's magnetic pole at a time in the past.






9. 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


10. 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.






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






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






13. Magma type; contains about 66% to 76% silica. Name reflects the occurrence of feldspar and quartz in rocks formed in this magma.






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






15. 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.






16. Rocks that forms by the freezing of lava above ground - after it spills out (extrudes) onto the surface of the Earth and comes into contact with the atmosphere or ocean.






17. When silt and clay accumulate in the flat areas bordering a stream - lagoon - or delta - the silt when lithified becomes this type of sediment. And the mud - when lithified - becomes another type of sediment - also known as shale.






18. Rigid outer layer of Earth - 100-150km thick. Consists of the crust plus the uppermost part of the mantle.






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






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






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






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






23. Rock made by the freezing of magma underground - after it has pushed its way (intruded) into preexisting rock of the crust.






24. Cause of melting; the variation in temperature with depth is expressed in the geotherm; because pressure prevents melting - a decrease in pressure can permit melting. Specifically - if the pressure affecting hot mantle rock decreases while the temper






25. 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.






26. A plate boundary at which two plates move toward one another so that one plate sinks beneath the other. Subduction zones; Engage the sinking process known as subduction - between plates - consuming old oceanic lithosphere due to high density. Can sim






27. Refers to the arrangement of grains in a rock; that is - the way the grains connect each other and whether inequant grains are aligned parallel to one another.






28. 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






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






30. Chemical weathering during Which minerals dissolve into water.






31. 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.






32. 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






33. Process where a convergent boundary ceases to exist when a piece of buoyant lithosphere - such as a continent or island arc - moves into the subduction zone. Yield some of the most spectacular mountains/mountain ranges on the planet including the Him






34. Equant - meaning that they have the same dimensions in all directions. Or inequant - meaning their dimensions are not the same in all directions.






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






36. 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.






37. A felsic rock with large grains. Intrusive - phaneritic igneous rock.






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






39. On a gem are the ground and polished surfaces made with a certain type of machine.






40. A distinctive sequence of strata traced across a fairly large region. For example - a region may contain a succession of alternating sandstone and shale beds deposited by rivers - overlain by beds of marine limestone deposited later.






41. A reaction during which an element loses electrons - commonly takes place when elements combine with oxygen.






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






43. 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






44. 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).






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






46. Places with particularly voluminous quantities of magma erupting or intruding.






47. 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.






48. 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






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






50. Actively slipping segment of a fracture zone between two ocean ridge segments - these faults make a third type of plate boundary - transforms.