Ch. 27 Flashcards
The process that involves the physical or chemical breakdown of materials on Earth’s surface.
Weathering
A mixture of weathered rock, organic matter, water, and air.
Soil
The removal of surface material through the process of weathering.
Erosion
A process in which as rocks weather, erosional agents like water, ice, wind, and gravity moved eroded materials from one place to another.
sediment transport
A process in which the erosional agents slow down or melts, it drops a sediment load.
deposition
The land area that gathers water for a major river
drainage basin
The movement of water parallel to the shoreline
longshore current
Do rocks weather at the same time?
No, at different rates
What are the two main factors that determine how fast a rock will weather?
Rock type and landscape
What are the two types of weathering?
mechanical and chemical weathering
What type of change happens with mechanical weathering?
physical and chemical changes
What type of change happens with mechanical weathering?
chemical
What are the 3 specific types of mechanical weathering?
Frost weathering, biological activity, collisions
What causes frost wedges?
When water collects in rocks and freezes
What is the cycle called during frost wedging?
freeze-thaw cycle
What causes biological activity?
plants and animals
What causes weathering during collisions?
when rocks fall from a cliff or tumble through turbulent rivers
What is parent material?
What are the 2 types of chemical weathering caused by?
oxygen and water
What is the chemical process called that is caused by oxygen?
oxidation
What is the chemical process called that is caused by water?
hydrolysis
What are soil horizons?
different layers of soil
How many soil horizons are there?
6
All soils contain every soil horizon. (T or F)
false
What are the specific soil horizons?
O, A ,E, B, C, R
What does the first soil horizon contain?
O- Organic material
What is the second horizon mostly made up of?
A- mostly minerals
Which layer does leaching occur?
E
Which horizon collects materials from previous horizons?
B
Which layer is partially weathered bedrock?
C
Which layer is unweathered bedrock?
R
Which soil horizons make up the topsoil?
O and A
Which soil horizons make up the subsoil?
E and B
Which soil horizons make up the true soil?
What is the difference in weathering and erosion?
Weathering- breakdown of materials
Erosion- removal of surface material
If the slope of a river decreases, what happens to the speed of a river?
The river’s speed decreases
Small streams that slow into larger rivers are called ______?
tributaries
Land area that gathers water for a major river is called a _____ _____?
drainage basin
A boundary that separates distinct drainage basins is called a _______ _______.
drainage divide
As water flows downhill under the influence of gravity, water erodes earth’s surface creating ______.
Channels
Young rivers are _______ due to the fast movement
V-shaped
________ rivers are wide with smooth and gentle slopes.
Mature
When rivers flood and drop their sediment load, which type of landform is created?
flood plains
What is a fan-shaped sediment deposit that forms at the mouth of the river?
Deltas
What are the two types of glaciers?
Valley Glaciers and Continental Glaciers
Where do valley glaciers form?
In high, mountainous regions
Where do continental glaciers form?
Colder climates and occupy large land areas
Where are the two continental glaciers located?
One in Greenland and one in Antartica
What is a cirque?
a bowl shaped basin
What is an arete?
A long sharp ridgeline between two tributary glaciers
What is a horn in a mountainous region?
sharpened peaks
What shape of valley do valley glaciers form?
U-shaped valleys
What are tributary glaciers?
Small glaciers that feed into large glaceriers
What type of valleys do tributary glaciers form?
Hanging valleys
Which side of a sand dune does erosion occur?
Windward side
Which side of a sand dune does deposition occur?
Leeway side
What is the removal of small particles by wind, leaving heavier particles behind
deflation
The remaining surface when small particles are removed
desert pavement
The shape and size of landforms due to wind depend on what?
Wind speed, amount of time wind blows, and sediment supply
What are three landforms that are created due to wave erosion?
coastal cliffs, sea arches, and sea stacks
What are two landforms that are created by wave deposition
Sand bars and sand spits
what is a sandbar
landforms that are parallel to the shoreline
what is a sand spit
sandbars that extend into the water and curve back toward land connecting in a hook shape
What can cause mass wasting?
snow, heavy rains, earthquakes, or human activity
What are some examples of mass wasting?
rock slides, mudflows, and landslides
The process by which water enters Earth and becomes groundwater below the surface
Infiltration
The upper boundary of the saturated zone
Water Table
A rock unit that can transfer water through its pore space
Aquifer
The percentage of the material’s total volume of pore space
Porosity
The process of assigning and exact numerical age to an organism
Absolute Dating
the process of placing objects or events in their proper order in time
Relative Dating
The laws of nature operate today as they have in the past
Uniformitarianism
in an undisturbed sequence of sedimentary rock layers, the youngest rocks will be at the top and they oldest at the bottom
Principle of Superposition
gaps in the rock record during which either erosion occurred or deposition was absent
Unconformity
The remains or traces of organisms found in the geological rock records
Fossil
What percentage of water on Earth is salt water?
97%
What percentage of water on Earth is freshwater?
3%
Where is the majority of freshwater found?
2% is found in glaciers
Where is the smaller percentage of freshwater found?
1% is found in lakes, rivers, and stored in groundwater
What is precipitation?
When water vapor in the air cools and condenses to form liquid water or ice crystals (rain, snow, sleet, and hail)
What is runoff?
Water running off the land surface
What is infiltration?
The process by which water enters Earth and becomes groundwater below the surface
What is transpiration?
When plants release water vapor into the atmosphere through their leaves
What is evaporation?
When water enters the atmosphere as water vapor
What is condensation?
When water vapor collides with other water molecules to form water droplets eventually the water droplets are heavy enough to fall as precipitation
What is the water cycle?
Where water starts on the land, goes into the atmosphere, and returns back to land
What is an unsaturated zone for groundwater storage?
A porous area where water easily passes through
What is a saturated zone for groundwater storage?
Beneath the unsaturated zone where water completely fills the pore space
What is a water table?
The upper boundary of the saturated zone
What does it mean if sediment is permeable?
The more permeable the easier water can infiltrate through the ground
What is an aquifer?
a rock unit that can transfer water through its pore space
What is the name of the Great Plains Aquifer?
Ogallala Aquifer
How many states does the Great Plains Aquifer run through?
8 states
What are the names of the states that the Great Plains Aquifer runs through?
South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas
What is the aquitard?
