Earth & Life Science Flashcards
1
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defined as all existing matter and space considered as a whole. The observable universe is believed to be at least 93 billion light years in diameter and constantly expanding since the big bang 13.8 billion years ago.
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The Universe
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It describes the universe as originating in an infinitely tiny, infinitely dense point or singularity between 13 to 14 billion years ago.
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Big Bang Model of the Universe (1929)
3
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The universe expanded from the size of an atom to 1035 meters in width.
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Inflationary Epoch
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The universe continues to expand. It became distinct: gravity, strong nuclear force that held the nuclei together, weak nuclear force and electromagnetic force.
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Formation of the Universe
5
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Protons, and neutrons combine to form hydrogen nucleic. Then hydrogen began to combine in pairs to form helium nuclie. This process is called nucleosynthesis.
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Formation of Basic Elements
6
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Most of energy in the universe was in the form of radiation. These include different wavelengths of light, X-rays, radio waves and UV rays.
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Radiation era
7
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Matter began to dominate and the end of radiation era at this stage, lithium atom began to formed. Electrons joined with hydrogen and helium nuclei to make scales neutral atoms.
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Matter domination
8
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The slightly irregular areas of gas cloud, gravitational attract nearby matter and became denser. The dense gas clouds collapsed and eventually gain enough mass to ignite producing light.
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Birth of the Stars and Galaxies
9
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is a representation of an idea, an object or even a process that is used to describe and explain phenomena that cannot be experienced directly.
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model
10
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two popular models about the Solar System
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Claudius Ptolemy’s geocentric model & Nicholas Copernicus’ heliocentric model
11
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The quantity of rotation of a body, which is the product of its moment of inertia and its angular velocity.
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Angular momentum
12
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were the first to propose the earliest theory of how the Solar System originated.
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Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) and Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749-1827)
13
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presumes that the Solar System began as cloud of dispersed interstellar gas called nebula
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The Kant-Laplace nebular hypothesis
14
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Characterized by its blue waters, rocky brown and green land masses with white grounds set against the black background. It is made up of erratic, complex and interactive systems that make it constantly changing planet.
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Earth
15
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2 types of layers of the earth
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Compositional Layer & Mechanical Layer
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Parts of Compositional layer
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Crust, Mantle, Core
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Parts of Mechanical Layer
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Lithosphere, Asthenosphere, Mesosphere, Inner/Outer Core
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Outermost layer of earth. It is made up of large rocks divided into two forms; oceanic crust and continental
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Crust
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is mostly solid rocks and minerals and marked by malleable semi-solid magma. It represents about 85% of the total weight and mass of the planet.
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Mantle
20
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is entirely made up of metal alloy such as iron (Fe) and nickel (Ni). Other elements found in the Earth’s core are siderophiles.
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Core
21
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it is the largest and second to the last layer of our planet. It is about 2,200 km thick and composed entirely super heated liquid molten lava of liquid iron and nickel.
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Outer Core
22
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The final layer of the Earth is the inner core which is an exceedingly hot, dense huge of mostly iron 2500km wide.
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Inner Core
23
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is caused by breaking down of rocks or explosions
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Seismic Waves
24
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The Earth’s Four Subsystems
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Lithosphere, Hydrosphere, Atmosphere, Biosphere
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It is believed that at the beginning of the Earth, the continents are all locked up into a huge landmass
Pangaea
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seven continents in the world
North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Antarctica, Australia
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The Earth’s hydrosphere can be in a form of liquid, vapor and ice such as glaciers, ice caps and ice bergs. This frozen part is called
Cryosphere
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Earth’s major oceans
Pacific ocean, Atlantic ocean, Arctic ocean, Southern ocean, Indian ocean
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Oceans may be divided into layers known as zones.
horizontal or vertical zones
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2 zone of horizontal zone
Coastal and Pelagic Zone
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is the region in which sea bottom is exposed during low tide and is covered during high tide. Some animals have adapted to this environment like sea stars, sea urchins and some species of coral.
Coastal zone
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is located sea ward of the coastal zone’s low tide mark. This is always covered with water.
Pelagic zone
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two divisions of Pelagic Zones
neritic zone and oceanic zone.
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begin at sea level and end at the deepest point in the ocean. There are five zones. Each zone receives different amount of sunlight.
Vertical zones
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is the zone that gets a lot of sunlight resulting to an abundance of aquatic plants. Common animals found in this zone include seals, sea turtles, sea lions, ray, and sharks.
Epipelagic zone or the sunlight zone
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is characterized by dim light due to the limited amount of sunlight it receives. Ono plants are found in this region. Lilly fish, octopus, and squid are found in this region.
Mesopelagic zone or the twilight zone
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does not receive any sunlight. Animals that live here lack eyes. Some animals can be found in this are like viperfish, anglerfish, stripe eel, and tripod fish.
Bathypelagic zone or the midnight zone
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is described as deep sea. Most animals living in this area are invertebrate like blind shrimps, small squids, and hagfish.
Abyssopelagic zone or the abyss
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is the deepest part of the ocean. This zone is mostly found in deep water trenches and canyons. Some animals exist here like sea cucumber and tube worms.
Hadalpelagic zone or the trenches
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This thin layer of gas envelops our planer is necessary to sustain life because it contains gases essential for humans and animals to breathe.
Atmosphere
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Layers of the Atmosphere
Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, Exosphere
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It contains about 80% of the total mass of the atmosphere. Most of the water vapor present in the atmosphere is found in the troposphere. All weather-associated cloud types are found in this layer.
Troposphere
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extends up to 50km high. It is the region where we can find the ozone layer which absorbs and scatters the solar ultraviolet radiation.
Stratosphere
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This region is above the stratosphere and extends to 85km. Meteors usually burn up in this region as they approach our planet. The coldest region in the atmosphere
Mesosphere
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extends up to 500km above the mesosphere. It is where aurora and satellites occur. The temperature in this layer can rise to as high as 1500 degrees Celsius.
Thermosphere
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is the upper limit of our atmosphere. It extends rom the top of thermosphere up to 10,000km (6,200 mi)
Exosphere
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contains all the Earth’s living things (plants and animals). It is sometimes referred to as the “zone of life”.
Biosphere
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4 types of biomes
Aquatic, Forests, Desert, Tundra
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Types of Forest
Tropical Rainforests, Temperate Deciduous Forest, Taiga Forest
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includes freshwater (ponds, lakes, rivers, etc.) and marine (ocean, estuaries, etc.).
Aquatic
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includes tropical, temperate, and taiga. Each type of forest has distinctive features dominated by grasses, large shrubs, and trees.
Forests
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are found closer to the equator where it is warm. It is hot, moist biome where it all rains all year long.
Tropical Rainforests
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4 different layers of tropical rainforests
Emergent Layer, Canopy Layer, Middle Layer (Understory), Bottom Layer (Forest Floor)
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It is a biome that is always changing. It has four distinct seasons: winter, spring, summer and fall.
Temperate Deciduous Forest
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also known as boreal forest. It is composed primarily of cone-bearing needled of scale-leaved evergreen trees, found in the northern circumpolar forested regions characterized by long winters and moderate to high annual precipitation.
Taiga Forest
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is characterized by low rainfall (less than 50cm/year). Most deserts have specialized vegetation as well as specialized animals that can adapt to its condition.
Desert
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is the coldest of all the biomes, it has low biotic diversity and simple vegetation structure. Tundra is also known for large stretches or bare ground and rock and for patchy mantles of low vegetations such as mosses, lichens, herbs and small shrubs.
Tundra
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has the following characteristics: is inorganic, represented by a chemical formula, is solid found in nature.
Mineral
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is an aggregate of one or more minerals.
rock
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Properties of Minerals
Optical Properties, Mineral Strength
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is the quality of light that being reflected by the surface of a mineral.
Luster
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is the property of a mineral that is easiest to identify. It is also considered an unreliable property when it comes to identifying the minerals since slight impurities can affect color.
Color
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is the color of the mineral in powdered form. This property is often used in identifying the mineral since it is very consistent unlike color.
Streak
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It determines how easy mineral breaks or deforms when exposed to stress. This can be determined by the chemical bonds between each crystal lattice.
Mineral Strength
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refers to the mineral’s resistance to breaking or deforming. This mineral can either be brittle, malleable or elastic.
Tenacity
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is the measure of a mineral’s resistance to abrasion or scratching. To determine the hardness of a mineral, a comparative hardness scale assigning numerical values to the hardness of a mineral was Friedrich Mohs.
Hardness
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is exhibited when a mineral breaks and smooth flat surfaces are formed from breakage.
Cleavage
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is a measurement done by minerologist to describe the density of the mineral. It represents the ratio of the mass of the mineral to the mass of equal volume of water.
Specific Gravity
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is any solid that is naturally found on Earth. It may consist of minerals, other pre-existing rocks or organic debris.
rock
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The process wherein rocks change into sedimentary, metamorphic rock and igneous rock.
Rock Cycle
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Types of Rocks
Igneous rocks, Sedimentary rocks, Metamorphic rocks
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Types of igneous rocks
Volcanic & Plutonic rocks
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Types of sedimentary rocks
Detrital, Chemical, Organic, Biochemical Sedimentary rocks
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form by the crystallization and solidification of molten rock. They made up 80% of the mass of the Earth’s crust. It is mostly classified based on their texture and mineral composition.
Igneous rocks
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are formed from magma erupted from a volcano. It is the most common rock types on Earth’s surface, particularly in the ocean. Basalt, rhyolite, andesite, and komatiite are examples of volcanic rocks.
Volcanic Rocks
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are crystallized slowly cooling magma below the surface of the Earth. Gabbro, granite, diorite and peridotite.
Plutonic rocks
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are those that are formed by accumulation, compaction and cementation of different particles that came from mechanical or chemical weathering. These rocks, therefore contain rock particles of different shapes and sizes.
Detrital sedimentary rocks
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form when dissolved materials precipitate. Precipitation is the process of separating a solid substance from a liquid.
Chemical sedimentary rocks
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are formed by accumulated sedimentary debris caused by organic processes. These are rocks that may contain fossils of plants and animals trapped in the sediments as the rock was formed.
Organic Sedimentary rocks
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A. This rock, called coquina, consists of shell fragments; therefore, it has a biochemical origin. B. Seashells cover the beach at Sanibel Island, Florida.
Biochemical sedimentary rocks
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are derived from any pre-existing rocks by mineralogical, chemical and/or structural changes, in response to marked changes in temperature, pressure or the introduction of chemically active fluids, without melting the rocks.
Metamorphic rocks
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Some mineral grains become reoriented and aligned at right angles to the stress. The resulting orientation of mineral grains gives the rock a foliated (layered) texture.
Metamorphism
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are brought about by pressure. Pressure causes mineral grains to realign and certain materials to recrystallized. Examples of this are Slate, Schist and Gneiss.
Foliated textures
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are metamorphic rocks without layering, banding or alignment. Marble and Quartzite.
Non-foliated textures
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are external processes that occur at/or near the surface of the Earth. These are part of the rock cycle and responsible for transforming rock into sediment.
Exogenic Process
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is the mechanical and chemical hammer that breaks down and sculpts the rock.
Weathering
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refers to the breakdown of rocks without a change in its composition. Breakdown would mean that the rock is fractures, cracked or fragmented into smaller pieces.
Mechanical/Physical Weathering
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is the decomposition of rocks due to chemical reactions occurring between the minerals in rocks and the environment.
Chemical Weathering
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Rocks crumble and break into fragments because they are subjected to alternating hot and cold temperature many times. During the day, the sun heats the rocks. When a rock gets hot, it expands (an increase in volume), while at night, the rock gets cold causing contraction (decrease in volume).
Thermal and Pressure Change
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Tiny grains of sand are picked up and carried off by the wind, which are then blasted on the surface of rocks, smoothening them. This could wear away the rock and weather it.
Wind and Waves
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This happened particularly in cold climate. The freezing creates cracks. When the ice thaws, the water seeps into new cracks and causes more cracks as it freezes. Soon the rocks break apart.
Freeze and Thaw
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Animals and plants also take a heavy toll on rocks and causes them to wear away. For example, there are animals that dig holes on the ground and exposed rocks. It could also be an animal like rabbit that burrows into a crack in the rocks as it constantly burrows and makes the cracks bigger, it ends up ripping the rocks apart.
Organic Activity
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Water is nature’s versatile tool that can bring about chemical weathering. There are other chemical compounds in water that become the main agents of chemical weathering. Molecules of some substance in rocks chemically combine with water molecules.
Hydration
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Carbon dioxide may bond with other substances in a process known as carbonation. Rain water is naturally acidic because CO2 gas from the atmosphere chemically reacts with it and produces carbonic acid, a weak acid that reacts slowly with carbonate minerals in rocks.
Carbonation
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is another kind of chemical weathering process. This occurs when oxygen, considered as an active gas, combines with another substances like minerals in rocks, yielding compounds called oxides.
Oxidation
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involves the movement of the weathered rock (now soil, sand or pebbles) from their site of weathering by agents of erosion such as wind, moving water, ice and gravity.
Erosion
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water can carry almost any size of rocks. The greater the volume of water and the steeper the slope, the bigger and more rocks can be transported. Fast flowing rivers also can carry heavier rocks or drag them along the riverbed. In other words, this water that flows rapidly has a very high carrying capacity.
Transport by Water
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Wind continuously blows away loose particles of rocks and soil from place to place. This is common in dry areas such as deserts. Wind transport can result in stunning landscapes as sand is blown away and creates sand dunes.
Transport by Wind
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is defined as a bulk movements of soil, sand, and rock debris downslopes in response to the force of gravity or gradual sinking of the Earth’s ground surface in a vertical direction. It is a type of erosion that is capable of making big changes to a mountain.
Mass Movement (Mass Wasting)
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The abrupt movement and free fall of loosened solid rock
Rock Falls
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imperceptible downslope movement of soil particles and rock debris
Creep
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the multiplicity of downslope movements of bedrock and other debris caused by the separation of a slope section along a plane of least resistance or slip surface.
Landslide
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the separation of a mass moving down a curved slip and collecting at the slope’s foot.
Slump
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the saturation of debris and weathered materials by rainfall in the upper section of a slope or valley causing a slow downslope movement.
Earthflow
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a rapidly moving earth flow containing higher water content
Mudslides
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a fast moving earthflow in a mountainous region.
Avalanches
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sinking mass movement that occurs in a relatively rapid fashion. Subsidence involves the roof collapse or breakdown of a subsurface cavity forming a cave.
Subsidence
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sinking mass wasting in gradual movement.
Settlement
