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. The combination of processes that separate rock or regolith from its substrate and carry it away. Involves abrasion - plucking - scouring - and dissolution - and is caused by air - water or ice.






2. Type of soil; forms in tropical regions where abundant rainfall drenches the land during the rainy season - and the soil dries during the dry season.






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






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






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






6. Soil section below the A-horizon; a soil level that has undergone substantial leaching but has not yet mixed with organic material. Because it lacks organic materials - this horizon tends to be lighter than the A-horizon. Part of the zone of leaching






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






8. Times when the Earth's magnetic field flips from normal to reversed polarity - or vice versa. When the Earth has reversed polarity - the south magnetic pole lies near the north geographic pole - and the north magnetic pole lies near the south geograp






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






10. The angle between the direction that a compass needle points at a given location and the direction of the 'true' (geographic) north. Through this process - the magnetic poles never stray more than 15 degrees of latitude from the geographic pole.






11. 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.






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






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






14. Type of volcano; broad and slightly domed - primarily made of basaltic lava - large and erupt large volumes of lava. Form from either low viscosity basaltic lava or from large pyroclastic sheets.






15. 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.






16. Layering in sedimentary rocks.






17. 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.






18. Rocks whose crystals interlock with each other.






19. The distance of the deepest well ever drilled - hole in northern Russia. Penetrates only about 0.03% of the Earth.






20. Physical features of the land surface represented by changes in elevation.






21. The removal of soil by running water or by wind.






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






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






24. 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.






25. 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.






26. The four classes of igneous silicate rocks based on the proportion of silicon to iron and magnesium. As the proportion of silicon in a rock increases - the density decreases - thus felsic rocks are less dense than mafic. In order - from greatest to l






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






28. Perhaps the cause for the large igneous provinces; formations within the mantle - plumes that bring up vastly more hot asthenosphere than normal plumes.






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






30. 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.






31. The speed of the movements of the plates with respect to the speed of the other plates' movements. Absolute plate velocity is a measure of the movement of any plates relative to a fixed point in the mantle.






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






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






34. 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.






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






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






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






40. 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.






41. Magma type; contains only about 38% to 45% silica. Extreme form of mafic magma.






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






43. 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






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






45. The separated lithosphere into distinct pieces. Twelve major 'pieces' and several minor. Consist of active margins and passive margins between them.






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






47. Fluid basaltic lava extruded from crustal fractures called fissures.






48. Form when solid materials become hot and transform into liquid - example - molten rock.






49. Factors; the depth of the intrusion - the deeper - the more slowly it cools. The shape and size of a magma body - the greater the surface area - the faster it cools. The presence of circulating groundwater - water passing through cools magma faster.






50. 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.