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






2. 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.






3. 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.






4. The bottom portion of the upper mantle - the interval lying between 400km and 660km deep. Here within the Earth - the character of the mantle undergoes a series of abrupt changes.






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






6. 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






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






8. Iron (35%) - oxygen (30%) - silicon (15%) - and magnesium (10%) - and the remaining 10% consists of 88 naturally occurring elements.






9. Magma viscosity depends upon temperature - volatile content - and silica content. Hotter magma - more volatiles - and mafic magma all have less viscosity.

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






11. 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.






12. 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






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






14. 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






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






16. Layering in sedimentary rocks.






17. Refers to the proportions of different chemicals making up the rock - and thus the proportion chemicals affects the proportions of different minerals constituting the rock.






18. Process occurring in arid climates - dissolved salt in groundwater precipitates and grows as crystals in open pore spaces in rocks. This process pushes apart the surrounding grains and so weakens the rock that when exposed to wind or rain - the rock






19. 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.






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






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






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






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






24. Aggregates of mineral crystals or grains - and masses of natural glass; a coherent - naturally occurring solid - consisting of an aggregate of minerals or a mass of glass.






25. 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.






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






27. 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).






28. Physical property of a mineral; results from the way a mineral interacts with light. A mineral absorbs certain wavelengths - so the color seen represents the color wavelengths the mineral did not absorb.






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






30. Mineral crystal formation type; form by type of diffusion - the movement of atoms or ions through a solid to arrange into a new crystal structure; process takes place very slowly.






31. Mineral class; consist of a metal cation bonded to a sulfide anion. Examples - galena and pyrite. Many have a metallic luster. Can also be considered ores with high proportions of metal within the mineral.






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






33. 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






34. 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.






35. Some rock bodies appear to contain distinct formations - defined either by bands of different compositions or textures - or by the alignment of inequant grains so that they trend parallel to one another.






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






37. 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






38. The burial and lithification of angular or rounded clasts form these types of rocks.






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






40. A rock made of solid mass of glass - or of tiny crystals surrounded by glass. Reflect light as glass does and tend to break conchoidally. Examples - obsidian - tachylite - pumice.






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






42. Sedimentary rock composed of clay.






43. 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 -






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






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






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






47. 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.






48. Chemical weathering occurring in warm - wet climates can produce a layer of rotten rock - over 100km thick.






49. 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.






50. Distinguishing feature of magma; Because not all minerals melt by the same amount under given conditions - and because chemical reactions take place during melting - the magma that forms as a rock begins to melt does not have the same composition as