erosion vocabulary

Question 1

erosion

Answer 1

the process of eroding or being eroded by wind, water, or other natural agents

Question 2

weathering

Answer 2

the chemical and physical processes that change the characteristics of rocks on the Earth’s surface

Question 3

water cycle

Answer 3

the cycle of processes by which water circulates between the earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and land, involving precipitation as rain and snow, drainage in streams and rivers, and return to the atmosphere by evaporation and transpiration.

Question 4

evaporation

Answer 4

the process of a substance in a liquid state changing to a gaseous state due to an increase in temperature and/or pressure

Question 5

condensation

Answer 5

the change of water from water vapor into liquid water.

Question 6

precipitation

Answer 6

rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls to the ground.

Question 7

percolation

Answer 7

the process of a liquid slowly passing through a filter

Question 8

runoff

Answer 8

the movement of landwater to the oceans, chiefly in the form of rivers, lakes, and streams

Question 9

tributary

Answer 9

a river or stream flowing into a larger river or lake

Question 10

watershed

Answer 10

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

Question 11

continental divide

Answer 11

a 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, or else is endorheic, not connected to the open sea.

Question 12

deposition

Answer 12

witness’s sworn out-of-court testimony. It used to gather information as part of the discovery process and, in limited circumstances, may be used at trial

Question 13

delta

Answer 13

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

floodplain

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Answer 15

an area of low-lying ground adjacent to a river, formed mainly of river sediments and subject to flooding.

Question 16

water table

Answer 16

the level below which the ground is saturated with water.

Question 17

sewage treatment plants

Answer 17

a place where sewage is cleaned so that it is not harmful or dangerous to the environment

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 column of rock standing in the sea, remaining after erosion of cliffs.

Question 20

sea arches

Answer 20

commonly form where cliffs are subject to erosion from the sea

Question 21

sea caves

Answer 21

a littoral cave, is a type of cave formed primarily by the wave action of the sea. The primary process involved is erosion.

Question 22

wave-cut terraces

Answer 22

the narrow flat area often found at the base of a 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

less formal way of saying until.

Question 28

stratified drift

Answer 28

A general term for all glacial deposits both sorted and unsorted.