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 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.






2. 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






3. 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.






4. Type of volcanic eruption; pyroclastic - produce clouds and avalanches of pyroclastic debris. Gas expands in the rising magma - cannot escape. The pressure becomes so great that it blasts the lava - and volcanic rock - out of the volcano.






5. Type of rock; accumulated sand bars - within are mineral grains of quartz and feldspar - this sediment if buried and lithified.






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






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






8. Sedimentary rock composed of calcite or dolomite.






9. 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.






10. 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.






11. Type of sedimentary soil/rock; Calcite in a pedocal soil accumulates in the B-horizon and may cement soil together - creating this solid mass.






12. Sedimentary rocks made up of minerals that precipitate directly from water solutions.






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






14. 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






15. 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






16. 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.






17. The broad - relatively flat regions of the ocean that lie at a depth of about 4-5km below sea level.






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






19. 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.






20. 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.






21. Volcanoes that exist as isolated points and appear to be independent of movement at a plate boundary - hot-spot volcanoes. Mostly are located on the interior of plates - away from boundaries.






22. 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.






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






24. 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.






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






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






27. 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.






28. The intrusion of numerous plutons in a region - produces a vast composite body that may be several hundred kilometers long and over 100km wide; an immense body of igneous rock.






29. The crust moves away from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge axis at a rate of 1cm per year. This velocity of sea-floor spreading is determined by the relationship between the paleomagnetic anomaly-stripe's width and the reverse polarity duration - the data reve






30. 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.






31. The difference between the expected strength of the Earth's main field at a certain location and the actual measure strength of the magnetic field at that location. Places where the field strength is stronger that expected are positive anomalies - an






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






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






34. 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.






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






36. 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.






37. 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.






38. Distinguishing feature of magma; the process where different magmas formed in different locations from different sources may come in contact within a magma chamber prior to freezing. Thus the originally distinct magmas mix to create a new - different






39. 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.






40. A process occurring when the sea level rises - the coast migrates inland. Through this - an extensive layer of beach forms.






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






42. 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.






43. Rock made by the freezing of magma underground - after it has pushed its way (intruded) into preexisting rock of the crust.






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






45. On a gem are the ground and polished surfaces made with a certain type of machine.






46. 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 -






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






48. Mineral class; the fundamental component within these types of minerals in the Earth's crust is the silicon-oxygen tetrahedron anionic group - a silicon atom surrounded by four oxygen atoms that are arranged to define the corners of a tetrahedron - a






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






50. The ocean floor is diced up by narrow bands of vertical fractures. Lie roughly at right angles to mid-ocean ridges - effectively segmenting the ridges into small pieces.