Chapter 2 - Changes to Earth's Surface Flashcards
What is a landform?
a natural land shape or feature
What is topography?
all kinds of landforms in a certain area (write about or describe a place)
What is a mountain?
a landform that is much higher than the surrounding land; they occur in groups called ranges. Volcanos usually occur as individual mountains, not ranges.
What are hills?
landforms like mountains, but not as high. Most have rounded slopes.
What are plains?
a large, flat landform with little relief (relief is the difference in elevation between high and low places)
What are hills?
are landforms that are like mountains, but not as high
What is a glacier?
a large, thick sheet of ice. When they move , they change the land around and beneath them.
What is a sand dune?
a sand hill that is made and shaped by wind; as wind blows over a dune, the sand moves. This can change the dune’s shape or even move the while dune.
What is a mesa?
tall, flat-topped rock
What are canyons?
deep valleys with steep sides
What are moraines?
long, low hills formed by materials carried by a glacier.
How can you tell a moraine from an ordinary hill?
a moraine contains rocks, sand and clay
What are glacial grooves?
a glacier scrapes and scratches the rock beneath it; as the glacier melts, grooves can be seen in the rock
What is weathering?
wearing away rocks by natural means
What is erosion?
the process of wearing away and removing sediment by wind, water, or ice
What is deposition?
the process by which sediment drops out of water
What is a delta?
an area of new land at the mouth of a river
How does a sinkhole change land?
a cave near the surface causes the land to open up
What causes changes to earth’s landforms?
wind, moving water, erosion and deposition, sinkholes, landslides, ice, plants
What are earth’s 4 layers?
Inner core (iron & nickel), Outer core (hot, liquid iron), Mantle (mostly solid rock) and crust (surface)
What are plates?
blocks of crust and upper mantle rock that fit together like puzzle pieces
What is an earthquake?
What causes an earthquake?
Where do earthquakes occur?
What is used to measure an earthquake?
Movement of the ground caused by a sudden release of energy in Earth’s crust.
Plates pushing together, sliding apart, or pulling apart all produce earthquakes.
They occur along a fault, or break in earth’s crust
A Richter scale measures an earthquakes magnitude (2.0 small; 6.0 can cause a lot of damage)
What is an epicenter?
the point on Earth’s surface directly above the focus (the focus is where the energy is released during an earthquake)
What is magma?
melted or molten rock beneath Earth’s surface
What is lava?
molten rock that reaches Earth’s surface
What is a volcano?
a mountain made of lava, ash, or other materials from eruptions
What are three types of volcanos?
Composite - wide with fairly steep slopes (Mt St Helens)
Shield Volcanos - broad volcanos with gently slopes( Hawaii)
Cinder Cone Volcanos - tall and narrow with steep slpes (Mexico)
