Chapter 27 Flashcards
What is weathering?
Weathering is the process that involves the physical or chemical breakdown of materials on Earth’s surface.
What is erosion ?
Erosion is the removal of surface material through the process of weathering.
What is sediment transport ?
Sediment transport is when water, ice, wind, and gravity move eroded materials from one place to another
What is deposition?
When the erosional agent slows down (in the case of water, wind, or gravity) or melts (in the case of glaciers), it drops this sediment
What is a drainage basin ?
The land area that gathers water for a major river
What is longshore current?
The movement of water parallel to the shoreline
What is weathering ?
The process of of physical or chemical breakdown of materials at or near Earth’s surface
Do rocks weather at the same rate ?
No
What are the two main factors that determine how fast a rock will weather ?
The nature of the material being weathered and climate
What are the two types of weathering ?
Mechanical and Chemical Weathering
What type of change happens with mechanical weathering ?
Physical Changes
What type of change happens with chemical weathering ?
Chemical Changes
What are the three specific types of mechanical weathering ?
Frost Wedging, Biological Activity, Collisions
What causes frost wedging ?
When water collects in the cracks of a rock and then freezes
What is the cycle called during frost wedging ?
Freeze - Thaw Cycles
What causes biological activity ?
Plant and animal activity
What causes weathering during collision ?
When rocks fall from a cliff or tumble through turbulent rivers
What are the two types of chemical weathering caused by ?
Oxygen and Water
What is the chemical process called that is caused by oxygen ?
Oxidization
What is the chemical process called that is caused by water ?
Hydrolysis
What is parent material ?
The material from which soil forms
What are soil horizons ?
The different layers of soil
How many soil horizons are there ?
Six
True or False. All soils contain every soil horizon ?
False
What are the specific soil horizon ?
O , A , E , B, C, R, Horizons
What does the first soil horizon contain ?
organic material
What is the second horizon mostly made up of ?
Mostly Minerals
Which layer does leaching occur ?
Horizon E
Which horizon collects materials from previous horizons ?
Horizon B
Which layer is partially weathered bedrock ?
Horizon C
Which layer is unweathered bedrock ?
Horizon R
Which soil horizons make up the topsoil ?
Which soil horizons make up the subsoil ?
Which soil horizons make up the true soil ?
O,A,E,B
What is the difference between weathering and erosion ?
Weathering is the process that involves the physical breakdown of materials while erosion is the removal of surface material.
If a the slope of a river decreases what will happen to the speed of the river ?
The river’s speed will decrease
Small streams that flow into large river are called _______
Tributaries
What is the land area called that gathers water for a major river ?
Drainage Basin
What is the land area called that gathers water for a major river ?
Drainage Basin
A boundary that separates distinct drainage basins is called a ___________ ?
Drainage Divide
As water flows downhill under the influence of gravity and water erodes the Earth’s surface creating what ?
Channels
What shape are young river due to their fast movement ?
V - shaped
What kind of rivers are wide with smooth and gentle slopes ?
Mature
What type of land form is created when rivers floods and drops their sediment load ?
Floodplains
What is a fan - shaped that forms at a mouth of a river called ?
Deltas
What are distributaries ?
Branching channels created by deltas
What is a delta ?
A delta is a land form that forms at the mouth of a river
What is formed when the mouth of a river or stream enters dry land ?
Alluvial Fans
What are two types of glaciers ?
Valley and Continental
Where do valley glaciers form ?
High, Mountainous regions
Where do continental glaciers form ?
In large land areas in colder climates
Where are the two continental glaciers located ?
In Greenland and Antarctica
What is a cirque ?
A Bowl Shaped basins
What is an arete ?
Long, sharp ridge line between valley glaciers
What is a horn in a mountainous region ?
Sharpened Peak
What shape of valley do valley glaciers form ?
U - shaped
What are tributary glaciers ?
Small glaciers that feed into the large glaciers
What type of valleys do tributary glaciers form ?
Hanging valleys
Define Infiltration :
The process by which water enters Earth and becomes groundwater below the surface.
Define Water Table
The upper boundary of the saturated zone .
Define Aquifer :
A rock unit that can transfer water through its pore space.
Define porosity :
The percentage of the material’s total volume that is pore space.
Define Absolute Dating :
The process of assigning an exact numerical age to an organism, an object, or an event.
Define relative dating :
The process of placing objects or events in their proper order in time.
Define Uniformitarianism
States that the laws of nature operate today as they have in the past
Define principles of superposition
States that in an undisputed sequence of sedimentary rock layers, the youngest rocks will be at the top and oldest rocks will be at the bottom.
Define Uncomformities :
They are gaps in the rock record during which either erosion occured or deposition was absent.
Define Fossils :
The remains or traces of organisms found in the geologic rock record.
What percentage of water on Earth is salt water ?
97 percent
What percentage of water on Earth is freshwater ?
3 percent
Where is the majority of freshwater found ?
Glaciers
Where is the smaller percentage of freshwater found ?
Lakes, river
What is precipitation ?
When water vapor in the air cools and condenses to form liquid water or ice crystals. Examples of this include 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 vapor molecules to form water droplets
What is the water cycle ?
When water evaporates and returns back the 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 ?
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 material is the easier water can infiltrate through the ground.
What is an aquifer ?
An aquifer is a rock unit that can transfer water through its pore space
What is the name of the Great Plain Aquifer ?
Known as the Ogallala Aquifer
How many states does the Great Plain Aquifer run through ?
8 states
What are the names of the states that the Great Plains Aquifer run through ?
South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas
What is an aquitard ?
An aquitard is a poorly permeable underground layer that limits the flow of groundwater from one aquifer to another
How are water springs formed ?
When the water table naturally meets Earth’s surface
What is an artesian well ?
Wells that are drilled into pressurized aquifers
What is a cone of depression ?
The direction that the water flows is directed down toward the well, creating a cone of depression
