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. 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






2. Low-viscosity (basaltic) lava flows out of a volcano easily - whereas high-viscosity (andesitic and rhyolitic) lava can clog and build pressure within a volcano. Basaltic eruptions are typically effusive and produce shield volcanoes - whereas rhyolit






3. 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






4. 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.






5. 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.






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






7. Rocks whose crystals interlock with each other.






8. The force that subducting plates apply to oceanic lithosphere at a convergent boundary - arises simply because lithosphere formed 10 million years ago is denser than asthenosphere - so it can sink into the asthenosphere. Thus once an oceanic plate st






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






10. 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.






11. 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.






12. 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






13. The display of the pattern of atoms or ions within a mineral. Meaning that the shape of one part of a mineral is a mirror image of the shape of another part.






14. Outer surface level of Earth; composed of granite - basalt - and gabbro. Continental: mostly about 35-40km thick . Oceanic: about 7-10km thick. Oxygen - by far the most abundant element.






15. A sediment-filled depression; in an area where the lithosphere has subsided.






16. Mineral group; feldspars - quartz - muscovite - clay minerals.






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






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






19. 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.






20. Sedimentary rock composed of clay.






21. Two different minerals which have the same composition but have different crystal structures.






22. Refers to the chemical reactions that alter or destroy minerals when rock comes in contact with water solutions or air.






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






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






25. A mineral's growth that is uninhibited - has well-formed crystal faces.






26. 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.






27. 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






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






29. A single layer of sediment or sedimentary rock with a recognizable top and bottom.






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






31. A pluton formation theory; a process during Which magma assimilates wall rock - and blocks of wall rock break off and sink into the magma.






32. A type of soil consisting of about 10-30% clay and the rest silt and sand. Pores remain between grains so that water and air can pass through and roots can easily penetrate.






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






34. 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).






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






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






37. 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.






38. The way in which the atoms are packed together within a mineral by chemical bonds. Five difference types of bonding can occur - covalent - ionic - metallic - Van der Waal's - and hydrogen.






39. 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.






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






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






42. Elongate submarine mountain ranges whose peaks lie only about 2-2.5km below sea level. Consist of a ridge axis - are roughly symmetrical - and can include escarpments - axial troughs - and valleys. Examples - Mid-Atlantic Ridge - East Pacific Rise -






43. The transformation of loose sediment into solid rock.






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






45. 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






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






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






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






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






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