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






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






3. Some minerals have distinctive properties - such as calcite which reacts with dilute hydrochloric acid to produce carbon dioxide. Dolomite also reacts with acid - graphite can make clear markings - magnetite attracts a magnet - halite tastes salty -






4. Volcanic landform; steep walled depression at the summit - size exceeds one kilometer in diameter.






5. 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.






6. 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.






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






8. Rock formations still attached to the Earth's crust.






9. Materials that easily transform into gas at the relatively low temperatures found at the Earth's surface.






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






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






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






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






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






15. 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






16. Carbon-containing compounds that either occur in living organisms - or have characteristics that resemble the molecules within living organisms. Examples - oil - protein - plastic - fat - and rubber.






17. 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.






18. An exposure of bedrock.






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






20. Some rocks develop their magnetization - their ability to produce a magnetic field - at the time that the rocks themselves formed. Such rocks - preserve a record of the Earth's magnetic field at known times in the past.






21. Along much of the perimeter of the Pacific Ocean - the ocean floor reaches astounding depths of 8-12km. These areas define elongate troughs - and they border volcanic arcs - the curving chains of active volcanoes.






22. A plate boundary at which two plates move apart from one another by process of sea-floor spreading. Mid-ocean ridges or simply a ridge. New crust is formed at ridges through the buoyant rising of magma from beneath the surface and solidifies to creat






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






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






25. 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.






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






27. 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.






28. Created from preexisting rocks which undergo changes - such as the growth of new minerals in response to pressure and heat - and/or as a result of squashing - stretching - or shear.






29. A cut and finished stone ready to be used in jewelry. Examples - diamond - ruby - sapphire - emerald.






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






31. Sedimentary rock composed of calcite or dolomite.






32. Process that occurs after the sediment has been buried - pressure cause by the overburden squeezes out water and air that had been trapped between clasts - and the clasts press together tightly.






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






34. A solid in which atoms are not arranged in an orderly pattern. Forms when a liquid freezes so fast that atoms do not have time to organize into an orderly pattern.






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






36. 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.






37. Type of volcanic eruption; takes place when water gains access to the hot rock around the magma chamber and suddenly transforms into steam - a pyroclastic eruption involving the reaction of water with magma.






38. Physical property of a mineral; refers to the color of a powder produced by pulverizing the mineral. Provides a fairly reliable clue to the mineral's identity - since the color of the mineral powder tends to be less variable than the color of the who






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






40. 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






41. A vent at Which melt from inside the Earth spews onto the planet's surface. Erupt.






42. The distance that the world's deepest mine-shaft penetrates into the Earth beneath South Africa.






43. Coarse pyroclastic debris - apple to refrigerator-sized fragments. Chunks of preexisting igneous rock or large lava blobs which discharge from volcanic eruptions.






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






45. The nature of Earth's magnetic field - like the familiar magnetic field around a bar magnet - has a North and South pole. The magnetic field is drawn with field lines - the paths along Which magnets would align - or charged particles would flow - if






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






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






48. Sedimentary rock composed of quartz.






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