Exam #2 Flashcards
What are the 2 main components of weather and climate
temperature and precipitation
the temperate zone is from ___ degrees to ____ degrees
30°N-60°N
the torrid zone is from ___ degrees to ____ degrees
30°N-30°S
the fridgid zone is from ___ degrees to ____ degrees
60°N/S-90°S/N
the goal of climate classification is ______
to make sense of variation
Koppen system uses average monthly ____ and _____
temperature and precipitation
A classification is
tropical and equatorial
B classification is
dry and subtropics
C classification is
meso-thermal and mid latitudes
D classification is
micro-thermal and northern hemisphere only and temperature extremes
E classification is
polar and at the poles
H classification is
highland and the woulds plateaus, highlands/mountains
disadvantages to the koppen system
no wind, amount of sunshine, cloud cover, and radiation
these are ____ to the Koppen systems: Based on attainable and easy to understand data,
Closely tied to visible landscape/ vegetation,
A lot of overlap between climate and types and vegetation
advantages
Koppen classification is best on a ______ and ______ maps
small scale and hemispherical
there is a _____ change between climate types
gradual
__% of the moisture is locked up in storage (Oceans, lakes, glaciers/ ice, rocks, reservoirs)
99
water is distributed ____ on our planet, in our planet, and in the atmosphere
unevenly
the process by which water is transferred from the land to the atmosphere by evaporation from the soil and other surfaces and by transpiration from plants
evapotranspiration
advection
horizontal movement of air
the hydraulic cycle is a ____ system
closed
When precipitation hits the earth it can either turn into ____ or ____
runoff or groundwater
oceans are __% of the earths moisture
97%
most evaporation that occurs on earth happens _______
over the ocean
oceans make up over __ of the earths surface
3/4
most of the oceans are not explored because
there is too much pressure
In the broadest sense there is ___ ocean interrupted by continents and islands
one
what are the 4 oceans
Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic
what is the chemical composition of seawater
NaCl
what is the average salinity (salt content)
35 ppt
What factors influence the saltiness
Evaporation leaves salt and
a lot of rain dilutes the water and decreases salt content
the amazon pumps a ton of fresh water into the _____ ocean
Atlantic
the red sea is salty because _______
they do not get a lot of precipitation and high evaporation rates
the higher the latitude the ____ the ocean water
colder
____ currents take water from high to low latitudes on the east side
cold
____ currents take water from low to high latitudes on the west side
warm
what is all of the solid ice on earth
the cryosphere
the distant second biggest reservoir of water is
the cryosphere
the ___ portion of ice is most of the cryosphere
land
____ and ____ are big parts of the land portion of the cryosphere
Antarctica and Greenland
oceanic ice is mostly found in the ____ ocean
arctic
all ice is ____ even though it comes from seawater
fresh
the fringe of ____ also holds some of the worlds oceanic ice
antarctica
what is permafrost
permanently frozen subsoil
permafrost is mostly found in ______ and ______
north America and northern Eurasia
permafrost is very prevalent in
siberia
a lot of the ice is also held in _____ and _____
ice fields and glaciers
surface water consists of (5)
lakes, swamps, marshes, rivers, and streams
only a fraction of water on earth is _____ water
surface water
Body of unevenly distributed water surrounded by land
lakes
Upper midwest and northeast US and north Eurasia were covered in ______ which created the basins for the lakes
glaciers
only in ______ are lakes due to a fissure and not glaciers
east africa
lake ___ is the largest freshwater lake lake due to volume which has more water than all 5 great lakes combined
Baikal
swamps and marshes are shallow enough to
create an environment for water tolerable plants
swamps have _____
trees
marshes have ____
grasses
swamps and marshes are often on ________
low lying areas near the coast and by river valleys
rivers and streams are likely found in areas with a lot of
runoff and precipitation
______ streams only exist for part of year
ephemeral
what is the mightiest river in terms of discharge
amazon
the longest river is the
nile
groundwater is ______
more widely distributed and is everywhere
These 4 things aid gradational processes
running water, ice (glaciers), wind, and tectonic activity
a ____ is a fast flowing stream
torrent
the are over 1 million ___ streams
first order
the higher the order of a stream the more it ____
drains
no stream can erode lower than ____
the base level
2 major fluvial processes
running water and erosion
murky water means
there are a lot of sediments suspended in it
gradient is _____
the slope of a river
the gradient strongly effects the _____
velocity
velocity is low on the
inside of the curve
velocity is high on the
outside of the curve
what is an oxbow lake
when the curve of a stream gets cut off from the rest of the stream
distributaries flow ___ from the stream (opposite of tributaries)
away
4 agents of movement
Running water, ice, wind, tectonic activity
3 stream types
Braided, Straight, and Meandering
A stream that is windy with big S curves that are in areas that are relatively flat with a gradual slope
meandering stream
Sediments that are suspended in the water will be deposited in the inside of the loop due to
the lower velocity
When the rivers have a ton of suspended sediments that they can’t carry any more and the sediments settle to give them many interconnected little streams that are likely in places that were glaciated
braided
True of false: there be a braided meandering stream?
true
a stream that isn’t meandering or braided
straight stream
what is a flat and smooth angular rock that fragments have fallen off of
a talus slope
beaches need ___ to stay healthy
sediments
_____ can occur too often sediments are not deposited on beaches
coastal erosion
_____ and ____ affect how streams flow
topography and rock types
what are the 7 drainage patterns
Dendritic, Trellis, Radial, Parallel, Rectangular, Annular, Deranged
what drainage pattern resembles tree branches and has primary streams with secondaries flowing into them and so on
dendritic
drainage pattern that resembles vines and secondaries flow into primaries at a right angle
trellis
drainage pattern that in areas where there are symmetrical volcanic landforms where the water flows away from the center (Hub to the rim)
outward radial
drainage pattern that is in an area that is away from the sea
Elevation of the rim is higher than the hub
Water moves into the center
inward radial
drainage pattern that is kind of like trellis where all are parallel to each other
parallel
drainage pattern that referring to disordered/ chaotic streams
Often connect lakes, swamps, and marshes
Found in areas covered in till
deranged
till is common in places
that were once glaciated (after the glaciers melt the till is left)
ephemeral streams are found in
arid and desert areas
_____ are common in arid/desert areas with ephemeral stream because when it rains its torrential
flash floods
in waterfalls a steep gradient with a lot of undercutting, churning, and erosion can cause the
waterfall to collapse
when the waterfall collapses the nickpoint
moves upstream (against the current) sometimes miles
The science of landforms- Their origin, evolution, form, and spatial distribution
geomorphology
The upper surface of bedrock that undergoes continuous weathering, which creates broken up rock
regolith
The parent rock from which weathered regolith and soils develop
bedrock
Processes either disintegrate rock into mineral particles or dissolve them into water
weathering
When a rock is broken and disintegrated without any chemical alteration. Also known as mechanical weathering
physical weathering
