Exam 2 (Ch. 6-10)

Question 1

When water infiltrates into the ground, moves to water table, and flows with groundwater to stream

Answer 1

Groundwater flow

Question 2

Area drained by a single stream or river

Answer 2

Drainage basin

Question 3

Smaller streams that contribute to larger streams

Answer 3

Tributaries

Question 4

Large stream that tributaries flow into

Answer 4

Trunk stream

Question 5

Slope of the land over which the river flows, and levels off as the river approaches its base

Answer 5

Gradient

Question 6

Steeper-sided and deep valley profile near headwaters, with a wide floodplain usually present near base level

Answer 6

Cross-sectional profile

Question 7

When rivers transport materials along water

Answer 7

Load

Question 8

Total load: materials that roll, slide, and bounce.

Answer 8

Bed load

Question 9

Total load: silt and clay particles carried.

Answer 9

Suspended load

Question 10

Total load: materials carried as chemical solution.

Answer 10

Dissolved load

Question 11

Volume of water passing a given point over a period of time

Answer 11

Discharge

Question 12

A stream’s discharge ________ downstream.

Answer 12

Increases

Question 13

Key process in the Earth system changes in area lead to changes in velocity

Answer 13

Erosion

Question 14

Water will carry more sediment when it has a higher:

Answer 14

Velocity

Question 15

Water will have a greater erosive power if there is a ________ velocity and ________ sediment.

Answer 15

Higher; more

Question 16

Greater erosion results in a ________, ________ channel.

Answer 16

Deeper; wider

Question 17

When discharge increases, what can a river do to accommodate extra water?

Answer 17

Raise velocity (go faster), erode downward (increase channel depth), or erode laterally (increase width)

Question 18

If an increase in discharge happens too quickly, it produces a:

Answer 18

Flood

Question 19

Meandering pattern: curving channel bends.

Answer 19

Meanders

Question 20

Meandering pattern: velocity increases on the outside of curves causing erosion.

Answer 20

Cutbank

Question 21

Meandering pattern: rivers slow on inside of curves, causing deposition.

Answer 21

Point bar

Question 22

Meandering pattern: when streams shift position.

Answer 22

Avulsion

Question 23

Zones: generally in upper parts, where there is steeper topography and more precipitation.

Answer 23

Zone 1: Zone of Production

Question 24

Zones: broad valley and floodplain, sediment frequently deposited in river balls or on the floodplain, braided or meandering or combination of both.

Answer 24

Zone 2: Zone of Transport

Question 25

Zones: alluvial fan, lake, delta (most common).

Answer 25

Zone 3: Zone of Deposition

Question 26

Why do people live on floodplains?

Answer 26

Great for soil, good transportation, flat, and easy to build on

Question 27

Do levees and floodwalls protect from flooding?

Answer 27

No, gives false sense of security.

Question 28

What are two ways that levees fail?

Answer 28

1. Overtopping (floodwater raises so high it flows over the top) 2. Breaching (water breaks through weak point)

Question 29

Thin out levee when rising flood hits it

Answer 29

Wave attack

Question 30

When the force of flooding causes the levee to break and slump

Answer 30

Slumping

Question 31

Water finds a weak spot, seeps through, causes failing and slumping

Answer 31

Piping

Question 32

When water is pushed through a naturally permeable layer, popping out on the other side

Answer 32

Underseepage

Question 33

Stream discharge when water overflows the channel banks

Answer 33

Flood discharge

Question 34

Height of water in the river

Answer 34

Stage

Question 35

Graph of stream discharge or water depth over time

Answer 35

Hydrograph

Question 36

When water flows over surface downhill and into streams

Answer 36

Surface runoff

Question 37

The time that elapses between when a rainfall event occurs and when the flooding occurs on the stream

Answer 37

Lag time

Question 38

Surface water can be increased by:

Answer 38

Frozen ground, saturated ground, urbanization, or deforestation/intensive agriculture

Question 39

Average time between flood events of a certain size

Answer 39

Recurrence interval

Question 40

Statistical estimation of the likelihood that a certain discharge will be equaled or exceeded in any given year

Answer 40

Probability

Question 41

Could there be a flood next year in Bowling Green?

Answer 41

Yes, but with probability of 1/100 every year.

Question 42

What are the primary effects of floods? Secondary?

Answer 42

Injury, loss of life, damage, erosion, or redeposition | Short-term contamination, pollution of rivers, displacement

Question 43

Straightening, deepening, widening, clearing, or lining existing stream channels

Answer 43

Channelization

Question 44

What are the 3 types of landslides/mass wasting?

Answer 44

1. Falling (free falling of earth material) 2. Sliding (movement of material as a coherent block) 3. Flow (movement of unconsolidated matter)

Question 45

The steepest slope that unconsolidated material can hold without collapse, often 30o

Answer 45

Angle of repose

Question 46

Behave like fluids , all sizes of material, wet to dry, barely moving to >200mph

Answer 46

Flow

Question 47

Very fine-grained sediment, can absorb lots of water, tend to align parallel sheets

Answer 47

Clay

Question 48

Slowest, most widespread from of slope failure, swelling and shrinking of soil

Answer 48

Creep

Question 49

Concrete or wire-filled baskets (walls)

Answer 49

Retaining walls

Question 50

What are the two types of weathering?

Answer 50

Physical and chemical

Question 51

Describe physical weathering.

Answer 51

Breaking into smaller pieces

Question 52

Describe chemical weathering.

Answer 52

Change chemistry of rocks

Question 53

Solid earth material that has been altered such that it can support rooted plant life; product of weathering

Answer 53

Soil

Question 54

Created from vertical and horizontal movements, distinct layers

Answer 54

Soil profile

Question 55

Soil profile: organic material layer.

Answer 55

O layer

Question 56

Soil profile: mineral and organic materials, leaching occurs.

Answer 56

A layer

Question 57

Soil profile: minerals, leaching occurs, "zone of leaching."

Answer 57

E layer

Question 58

Soil profile: enriched in clay, iron oxides, "zone of accumulation."

Answer 58

B layer

Question 59

Soil profile: partially altered (weathered) parent material.

Answer 59

C layer

Question 60

Soil profile: unweathered parent material.

Answer 60

R layer

Question 61

Define the colors of each layer of soil profiling.

Answer 61

O and A: dark (organic material) E: white (leaching) B: yellow-brown to red-brown

Question 62

Ground failure characterized by sinking or vertical deformation of land.

Answer 62

Subsidence

Question 63

Rocks are dissolved and groundwater level drops, leaving behind ________, or ________.

Answer 63

Caverns; sinkholes

Question 64

Sinkholes: acidic groundwater becomes concentrated in holes in joints and fractures in the rock.

Answer 64

Solutional sinkholes

Question 65

Sinkholes: develop by the collapse of material into an underground cavern.

Answer 65

Collapse sinkholes

Question 66

Karst topography: large, steep, limestone "towers," created in highly eroded karst regions.

Answer 66

Tower Karst

Question 67

Karst topography: streams flow directly into the groundwater solution.

Answer 67

Disappearing streams

Question 68

Karst topography: where groundwater naturally discharges at the surface.

Answer 68

Springs

Question 69

Sediment compacts when water is removed, common on river deltas, natural flooding replenishes sediment, thwarting collapse

Answer 69

Fine sediment

Question 70

Dust deposits, loess, and stream deposits in arid regions are bound with clay or water soluble materials

Answer 70

Collapsible soils

Question 71

Wetland soils contain large amounts of organic matter and water, when water is drained or soil is decomposed, soils collapse

Answer 71

Organic soils

Question 72

Extracting groundwater in greater volumes than it is replenished through rain and surface water

Answer 72

Groundwater mining

Question 73

If California needs rain so badly, then why are farmers still worried about flooding?

Answer 73

Levees subsiding (lowering), so more water can get it.

Question 74

Why is the radon risk ignored?

Answer 74

Radon is invisible, colorless, odorless, naturally occurring, lung cancer does not occur in children, hard to link to death, long latency, lack of press, no sensory reminders.

Question 75

What is radon?

Answer 75

Gas, naturally occurring, enters buildings from soil beneath, invisible and odorless.

Question 76

How does radon enter the home?

Answer 76

1. Cracks in solid floors 2. Construction joints 3. Cracks in walls 4. Gaps in suspended floors 5. Gaps around service pipes 6. Cavities inside walls 7. The water supply

Question 77

At what level of pCi/L should you get your home fixed?

Answer 77

4 or more pCi/L

Question 78

Where is asbestos found?

Answer 78

Product of metamorphism with unaxial tension strain.

Question 79

Lungs become hard, scarred, inflamed (trouble breathing)

Answer 79

Asbestosis

Question 80

Rare cancer affecting lining of lungs

Answer 80

Mesothelioma

Question 81

Difficult to tie asbestiform minerals

Answer 81

Lung cancer

Question 82

What is the "One Fiber" theory?

Answer 82

One fiber is sufficient to cause an asbestos-related disease.

Question 83

Found between Mars and Jupiter, rock (stony), metal (iron), or combinations

Answer 83

Asteroids

Question 84

Broken up asteroids

Answer 84

Meteoroids

Question 85

Meteoroids that burn up in Earth's atmosphere, create "shooting star"

Answer 85

Meteors

Question 86

Have glowing tails

Answer 86

Comets

Question 87

What's the difference between simple and complex craters?

Answer 87

Simple craters: small 4miles in diameter, rim collapses more completely, center uplifts following impact

Question 88

Based on belief in a "young Earth" incorrectly though that all processes on Earth were rapid, catastrophic in nature

Answer 88

Catastrophism

Question 89

Present geological processes, Earth older than 6,000 years. Present = "key to past." Understanding of plate tectonics formed. "Punctuated equilibrium."

Answer 89

Uniformitarianism

Question 90

Sudden loss of large numbers of plants and animals relative to number of new species added, defines boundary of geological periods or epochs, usually involve rapid climate change

Answer 90

Mass Extinctions

Question 91

Where did the mass extinctions of the dinosaurs occur?

Answer 91

At the K-T boundary (K - Cretaceous, Pg - Paleogene)

Question 92

How do we monitor space for nearby threatening objects?

Answer 92

NEAT project (Near-Earth Tracking)