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. 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.






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. 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






4. 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.






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






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






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






8. Type of lava flow; mafic - low viscosity - extremely hot - flows very quickly.






9. 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






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






11. The boundary between two beds is a bedding plane; several beds constitute this structure.






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






13. 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






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






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






17. A nearly horizontal - tabletop-shaped tabular intrusion - parallel to layering within the earth.






18. 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.






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






20. Mineral class; consist of metal cations bonded by oxygen anions. Examples - hematite and magnetite. Some contain a relatively high proportion of metal atoms - and thus are ore minerals.






21. By melting - dissolving - or other chemical reactions.






22. Sedimentary rock composed of clay.






23. 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.






24. 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.






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






26. A proposition in 1960 - by Princeton University professor Harry Hess - that continents drift apart because new ocean floor forms between them by this process.






27. Rocks whose crystals interlock with each other.






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






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






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






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






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






33. Mineral class; consist of a metal cation bonded to the anionic group. Many form by precipitation out of water at or near the Earth's surface. Example - gypsum.






34. 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.






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. Mineral class; the molecule CO23 serves as the anionic group. Elements like calcium or magnesium bond to this group. Examples - calcite and dolomite.






37. 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.






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






39. An organic sedimentary rock; black - combustible rock consisting of over 50% carbon.






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






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






42. 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.






43. 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.






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






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






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






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






48. Type of magma; low in silica - fluid - crystallize at high temperatures.






49. Measure of pressure or push in units of force - per unit area. 1 atm = 1.04 kilograms per square centimeter.






50. Distinguishing feature of magma; the process where magma sits in a magma chamber before completely solidifying - it may incorporate chemicals derived from the walls rocks of the chamber.