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






2. Form from grains that break off preexisting rock and become cemented together - or from minerals that precipitate out of a water solution.






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






4. Distinguishing feature of magma; the process where magma changes composition as it cools because formation and sinking of crystals preferentially remove certain atoms from the magma.






5. 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.






6. Cause of melting; magma can also form at locations where chemicals called volatiles mix with hot mantle rock. Elements such as water and carbon dioxide mix with hot rock - helping to break chemical bonds - so that if you add volatiles to a solid - ho






7. A felsic rock with large grains. Intrusive - phaneritic igneous rock.






8. 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.






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






10. Cause of melting; when magma rises up from the mantle into the crust - it brings heat with it which raises the temperature of the surrounding crustal rock - and in some cases melting occurs.






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






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






13. Physical property of a mineral; a measure of a minerals relative ability to resist scratching - and therefore represents the resistance of bonds in the crystal structure being broken. The atoms or ions in crystals of a hard mineral are more strongly






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






15. Mineral class; the anion within these types of minerals is a halogen ion (such as chlorine or fluorine).






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






17. Natural bond connecting rocks; mineral material that precipitates from water and fills the space between grains.






18. 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.






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






20. The resistance to flow of magma. Reflects its distinct silica content - for silica tends to polymerize - meaning it links up to form long - chainlike molecules whose presence slows down the flowing ability of magma. Thus felsic magmas flow less easil






21. 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.






22. Type of igneous rock composition; composed of light-colored silicates - very rich in felsic (feldspar and silica). Major constituent of continental crust.






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






24. Chemical precipitates; salt deposits formed as a consequence of evaporation. Examples - rock salt and gypsum.






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






26. 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






27. 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.






28. Occurs within the asthenosphere - actively drags plates along and attributes partially for the mechanism shifting the plates along the Earth's surface.






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






30. The layering nature of sedimentary rocks - surface features of layers formed during deposition - and the arrangement of grains within layers.






31. An insulated - tunnel-like conduit through which lava moves within a flow.






32. 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.






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






34. 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






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






37. 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.






38. A reference to the sinking of the lithosphere; allows for sediment to accumulate in regions where this occurs.






39. During the final stages of cooling - lava flows contract and may fracture into roughly hexagonal columns.






40. 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






41. Distinguishing feature of magma; the composition of the melt reflects the composition of the solid from which it was derived. Not all magmas form from the same source rock - therefore not all magmas have the same compositions.






42. Mineral crystal formation type; form at interfaces between the physical and biological components of the Earth system by this process.






43. 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.






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






45. An intrusion starting to inject between layers but then dome upwards - creating this blister-shaped intrusion.






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






47. The rate of increase in temperature - decreases with increasing depth. The dashed lines represent the solidus and liquidus for mantle rock (peridotite). The solidus line defines the conditions of pressure and temperature at Which mantle rock begins t






48. 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.






49. 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






50. A column of very hot rock that flows upward until it reaches the base of the lithosphere. In this model - such deep-mantle plumes form because heat rising from the Earth's core is warming rock at the base of the mantle. A possible explanation to the