erosion

Question 1

erosion

Answer 1

action of surface processes that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth’s crust, and then transport it away to another location

Question 2

weathering

Answer 2

the breaking down of rocks, soil, and minerals as well as wood and artificial materials through contact with the Earth’s atmosphere, waters, and biological organisms

Question 3

water cycle

Answer 3

the continuous movement of water on the Earth

Question 4

evaporation

Answer 4

vaporization of a liquid that occurs from the surface of a liquid into a gaseous phase

Question 5

condensation

Answer 5

gas phase into liquid phase, and is the reverse of evaporation

Question 6

precipitation

Answer 6

any form of water falling from the sky

Question 7

percolation

Answer 7

process of liquid slowly passing through a filter

Question 8

run off

Answer 8

the draining of water

Question 9

tributary

Answer 9

a river or stream flowing into a larger river or lake.

Question 10

watershed

Answer 10

an area or ridge of land that separates waters flowing to different rivers, basins, or seas

Question 11

continental divide

Answer 11

drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea

Question 12

deposition

Answer 12

process in which sediments, soil and rocks are added to a landform or land mass

Question 13

delta

Answer 13

a nearly flat plain of alluvial deposit between diverging branches of the mouth of a river

Question 14

alluvial fan

Answer 14

a fan-shaped mass of alluvium deposited as the flow of a river decreases in velocity

Question 15

flood plain

Answer 15

Flat land bordering a river and made up of alluvium (sand, silt, and clay) deposited during floods

Question 16

water table

Answer 16

the level below which the ground is saturated with water

Question 17

sewage treatment plant

Answer 17

process of removing contaminants from wastewater, primarily from household sewage

Question 18

septic tank

Answer 18

a tank, typically underground, in which sewage is collected and allowed to decompose through bacterial activity before draining by means of a leaching field

Question 19

sea stacks

Answer 19

a pillar-like mass of rock detached by wave action from a cliff-lined shore

Question 20

sea caves

Answer 20

a type of cave formed primarily by the wave action of the sea

Question 21

sea arches

Answer 21

a natural opening eroded out of a cliff face by marine processes

Question 22

wave-cut terraces

Answer 22

a shallow-water shelf inclining gently away from the base of an eroded sea cliff

Question 23

headlands

Answer 23

a narrow piece of land that projects from a coastline into the sea

Question 24

beach

Answer 24

a pebbly or sandy shore, especially by the ocean between high- and low-water marks

Question 25

glacier

Answer 25

a slowly moving mass or river of ice formed by the accumulation and compaction of snow on mountains or near the poles

Question 26

glacial drift

Answer 26

material, as gravel, sand, or clay, transported and deposited by a glacier or by glacial meltwater

Question 27

till

Answer 27

the part of glacial drift deposited directly by the glacier

Question 28

stratified drift

Answer 28

Well‐sorted layers of sand and gravel that have been deposited by glacial meltwater