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Geography 107 > Exam 3 > Flashcards

Exam 3 Flashcards

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1
Q

physical weathering

A

rocks are fractured and broken apart

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2
Q

chemical weathering

A
  • minerals that make up rocks are chemically altered or

dissolved. The end products are often softer and bulkier forms that are more susceptible to erosion and mass movement.

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3
Q

Frost action (or freeze/thaw)

A
  • physical weathering processes in cold climates. Action of water expansion upon freezing
  • causes joint-block separation
  • Water invades sedimentary rocks along bedding planes
  • Joints cut bedding planes at right angles, and action creates the joint blocks
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4
Q

Salt-Crystal Growth

A
  • In arid climates, slow evaporation of groundwater
    from outcropping sandstone surfaces
  • Crystal growth breaks the rock apart, grain by grain, producing niches, shallow caves, and rock arches
  • physical weathering
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5
Q

Exfoliation

A
  • rock layers crack as the pressure of overlying rocks is reduced by erosion
  • physical weathering
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6
Q

Thermal Action

A
  • Thermal action cracks rocks when temperature changes cause minerals to expand and contract at different rates
  • Physical weathering
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7
Q

Principal forms of chemical weathering (all include the presence of H2O)

A

1) hydrolysis
2) oxidation-reduction
3) carbonation

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8
Q

Karst

A

terrain produced by the chemical dissolution of limestone (carbonation).
To form:
• formation must contain high CaCO content
• pattern of joints in impermeable limestone is needed to focus water
• need aeration zones underground
• need vegetation that provides organic acids

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9
Q

regolith

A

Slopes are mantled with regolith (parent material of “soil”), which accumulates at the foot of slopes as colluvium

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10
Q

alluvium

A

Regolith that is transported by moving water

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11
Q

Mass wasting

A
  • spontaneous movement of soil, regolith, and rock under

the influence of gravity

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12
Q

Forms of mass wasting depends on:

A
  • speed of the motion

- amount of water involved

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13
Q

Angle of repose

A
  • Refers to loose, unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, soil, etc.). The angle of repose is the angle at which loose material sits at rest. Typically 25 - 40 degrees.
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14
Q

soil creep

A

Slow movement of soil under the influence of gravity, sign of unstable ground

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15
Q

Mudflow

A

Fast movement of heavily saturated fine earth (clays and silt), acts like a fluid

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16
Q

Earthflow

A

Fast movement of heavily saturated fine earth (clays and

silt), acts like a fluid (but less fast and less wet than a mudflow)

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17
Q

rockfall

A

Fast movement of rock (typically considered “dry” movement)

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18
Q

debris avalanche

A

Fast movement of fine earth, larger rocks, and boulders (has some water saturation)

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19
Q

slump-rotational slide

A

Slow “rotational” movement of intact blocks of earth.

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20
Q

translational slide

A

Slow linear slide of intact blocks of earth.

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21
Q

solifluction

A

Movement of wet soil over frozen ground (permafrost)

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22
Q

Erosional Landforms (smallest to largest)

A
  • rills
  • gullies
  • ravines
  • canyons
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23
Q

Rills

A

begin with small channels or rivulets of water following a gravitational path downslope

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24
Q

gullies

A

Deforestation on these mountain slopes near Katmandu, Nepal, has led to rapid erosion and gullying

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25
Q

potholes

A

Abrasion by stones on a bedrock riverbed can dig deep depressions

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26
Q

two elements needed for potholes

A
  • turbulent water

- tools (sediment/rocks)

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27
Q

Cut bank

A

area of erosion (not addition) where active stream erodes part of the bank.

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28
Q

Point bar deposit

A

alluvium accumulated on the inside (low energy) portion of a growing meander curve.

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29
Q

longitudinal

profile

A

a depiction of the down slope gradient of a stream.

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30
Q

Stream Gradation

A

Streams can develop a more-or-less stable state, in which its long-term capacity to transport sediment is matched by the long-term rate at which it receives sediment, known as a graded stream.

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31
Q

Evolution of Stream Valleys

A

1) Downcutting produces canyons and gorges
2) Stream becomes graded and begins to build a floodplain
3) River moves freely from one side of the valley to the other
4) Floodplain and alluvial meanders form

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32
Q

plateau

A

forms when flat-lying rocks are eroded in an arid climate and successive rock layers are stripped or washed away (such as the American southwest)

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33
Q

Playas

A

dry lake, typically high salt content from evaporation

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34
Q

Pediments

A

gently sloping erosion surface of low relief formed by running water (alluvium cover) at the base of a receding mountain front

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35
Q

Pluvial Lakes

A

ancient lakes that were once much larger due to different climates

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36
Q

hydraulic action

A

Streambeds and banks are eroded by hydraulic action (power of falling water), abrasion, and corrosion

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37
Q

Thalweg

A

point of fastest flow

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38
Q

mesas and buttes

A

Erosion by wind and water creates plateaus, mesas (bigger), and buttes (smaller) from resistant rock layers

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39
Q

Waves are driven by

A

wind

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40
Q

Wave height is related to

A
  • Wind speed
  • Duration
  • Fetch (distance traveled)
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41
Q

Wave crests

A

high point of the wave

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42
Q

wave trough

A

low point of the wave

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43
Q

Wave height

A

vertical distance between trough and crest

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44
Q

Wave length

A

horizontal distance from trough to trough or from crest to crest

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45
Q

orbit

A

is the same diameter as the wave height and decreases with depth

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46
Q

wave circulation

A

As wave crest passes, particles move forward on the wave crest, downward as the crest passes, backward in
trough, and upward as the next crest approaches

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47
Q

Break

A

when the height exceeds vertical stability

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48
Q

Beach drift

A

Swash approaches shore at oblique angle. Backwash
flows back along the most direct downhill direction. Sand particles move to one side of the starting point many times, transporting particles long distances along the shore.

49
Q

Longshore drift

A

waves approach a shoreline at an angle to beach,

creating current parallel to the shore – longshore current. Current is capable of carrying sand along the sea bottom.

50
Q

Littoral drift

A

beach drift and longshore drift together move particles in the same direction for a given set of onshore winds

51
Q

Straight or long curved shoreline

A

littoral drift moves the sand along the beach in one direction

52
Q

Bay feature

A

– sand is carried out into open water as a long finger, or sandspit, that may form a barrier, called a bar, across the mouth of the bay

53
Q

Wave Refraction

A

When a wave approaches a coastline of cliffs, its energy is concentrated at the headlands. Sediment is eroded from cliffs on the headland and carried by littoral drift along the sides of the bay. The sand is deposited at the head of the bay, forming a pocket beach.

54
Q

flood tides

A

Every day coastal regions experience two high tides

55
Q

ebb tides

A

Every day coastal regions experience two low tides

56
Q

spring tide

A

moon and sun aligned. gravitation pulled outward

57
Q

neap tide

A

sun and moon form triangle with earth. gravitation pulled out from top and bottom

58
Q

East Coast (Passive Boundary)

A

– no tectonic activity
– sediment from rivers on the continent accumulates over millions of years, provide
materials to build the coastal plain, beaches, and islands
– coastal landform characteristics are depositional—built by sediment moved by waves and currents

59
Q

West Coast (Active Boundary)

A

– high amount of tectonic activity
– rocks rise from the sea along subduction boundaries and transform faults
– landform characteristics are erosional, with waves and weathering slowly eroding the strong rock exposed at the shoreline

60
Q

erosional coastal landforms

A 
notch
cave
shore platform
arch
stacks
clif
61
Q

Beach (Depositional Coastal Landforms)

A

a wedge

-shaped sedimentary deposit, usually of sand, built and worked by wave action

62
Q

Foredunes (Depositional Coastal Landforms)

A

narrow belt of dunes that form from ample sand in the region landward of beaches
- protective barrier from waves

63
Q

barrier spit (Depositional Coastal Landforms)

A

dune in ocean connected to land on one side

64
Q

barrier islands (Depositional Coastal Landforms)

A

dunes in middle of ocean

65
Q

Tombolo (Depositional Coastal Landforms)

A

level of a strip of sand between higher earth

66
Q

Coral reefs

A

Large colonies of coral and algae.

67
Q

coral and algae relationship

A

symbiotic (they cannot survive without each other)

68
Q

Fringing Reefs

A

platforms attached to shore, widest in front of headlands where the wave attack is strongest

69
Q

Barrier reefs

A

offshore, separated from the mainland by a lagoon. Narrow gaps at intervals

70
Q

Atolls

A

– circular coral reefs enclosing a lagoon with no land inside. Most are rings of coral growing on top of old, sunken volcanoes (seamounts).

71
Q

coral bleaching

A
  • coral eject algae
  • bleaching = reef dying
  • natural process but occurring at unprecedented rates because polution
72
Q

Eolian (or Aeolian) erosion

A

wind erosion and leads to deflation (removal of lighter particles around heavier ones) and abrasion (grinding of rock surfaces through ‘sandblasting’)

73
Q

Desert pavement

A

fragments ranging in size from pebbles to small boulders concentrated into a surface layer due to rain, overland flow, and deflation removing fine particles.

74
Q

Desert pavement (hypothesises)

A

H1: Wind deflation can produce blowouts and help form desert pavement, a surface armor of coarse particles that minimizes further deflation. (blow away sand until all that is left is rocks)
H2: fine particles and rainwater work to uplift, or displace larger clasts which make the pavement.

75
Q

geoglyphs

A

Stone alignments or land pictures

76
Q

Barchan dune

A

a crescent -shaped heap of sand that moves across a flat, pebble -covered plain. Points of the crescent are directed
downwind.

77
Q

Parabolic dunes

A

are often found where shorelines provide a large sand

supply. long and scale like. points are directed upwind

78
Q

Transverse dunes

A

formed when there is so much sand that it completely covers the solid ground. Wave-like ridges separated by trough-like furrows. Crests are at right angles to the wind direction

79
Q

Longitudinal dunes

A

long, low sand ridges parallel to the prevailing wind direction.

80
Q

ventifact

A

Wind abrasion can carve stones on a desert plain into shapes with flattened or grooved sides

81
Q

yardangs

A

In some types of layered rocks, wind abrasion can produce tongue- or teardrop-shaped ridges oriented parallel to the prevailing wind direction.

82
Q

Loess

A

Deposit of wind-blown silt

- has excellent cohesion and often develops vertical faces as it wastes away or is removed to build road banks.

83
Q

Alpine glaciers

A

(mountain glaciers) are found in high mountain ranges

where snow accumulates and temperatures are cold enough to maintain year-round snow cover

84
Q

Cirque Glacier

A

Occupies a steep, bowlshaped depression near a mountain
summit. This glacier, has shrunk in the present warm interglacial climate and would have been much larger during the last glacial period.

85
Q

Valley Glacier

A

Valley glaciers flow down steep-sided valleys once carved by streams. Several glaciers have coalesced into this valley glacier in Saint Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska.

86
Q

Tidewater Glacier

A

A glacier that ends in a valley filled by an arm of the sea. They often produce icebergs that break off and float away.

87
Q

Piedmont Glacier

A

A mountain glacier that flows out of the mountains and

onto a surrounding lowland.

88
Q

Ice Sheet (Continental Glacier)

A

large thick plate of glacial ice moving outward in all directions from a central region of accumulation lowland
- thickest at the center

89
Q

glacier movement

A
  • Glaciers are very dynamic and move as a result of tremendous pressure, temperature, and gravity. Usually less than 1 m a year.
  • Does not move all at once, variable rates of torque, freeze and thaw, and motion
90
Q

crevasses

A

cracks in a glacier

91
Q

Moraines

A

are piles of debris and sediment that accumulate at the

front or sides of a glacier

92
Q

Eskers, drumlins, kettles, and kames

A

landforms of till and outwash plains left by ice sheets.

93
Q

zone of

accumulation

A

top of slope. gaining glacier. flows towards ablation

94
Q

zone of ablation

A

bottom of slope. losing glacier

95
Q

Formation of Glaciers

A

The mass balance of a glacier depends on snow input in the zone of accumulation, and melting and evaporation in the zone of ablation.

96
Q

equilibrium line

A

between accumulation and ablation zones. no gain or loss

97
Q

Paternoster lakes

A

one of a series of glacial lakes connected by a single stream

98
Q

horn

A

results when glaciers erode three or more arêtes, usually forming a sharp-edged peak

99
Q

aretes

A

a thin, crest of rock left after two adjacent glaciers have worn a steep ridge into the rock

100
Q

Fjord

A

A long, narrow, deep lake from the sea between steep slopes of a mountainous coast

101
Q

U shaped valley

A

literally a U shaped Valley. formed when glaciers travel across and down a slope

102
Q

Col

A

the lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks

103
Q

tarn

A

a small mountain lake

104
Q

hanging valley

A

a valley, the lower end of which opens high above a shore, usually caused by the rapid erosion of a cliff.

105
Q

Glacial drift

A

the deposits (sediments, rocks, boulders, etc.) that moved by the glacier

106
Q

Glacial Till

A

Upon melting, the drift material is deposited

107
Q

Patterned Ground

A

also has been found on Mars which
is good evidence that groundwater once was near
the surface.
- water fills cracks in ground

108
Q

Wisconsinan Glaciation

A
  • last ice age
  • triggered by motions of continents
  • provided a snow-covered Antarctic continent and an ice-covered Arctic Ocean, restricted ocean flow paths, and changed atmospheric circulation
109
Q

The Milankovitch Theory

A

As the Earth travels through space around the sun cyclical
variations in three elements of Earth-sun geometry combine
to produce variations in the amount of solar energy that
reaches Earth

110
Q

Orbital Eccentricity

A

the shape of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun

varies from nearly circular to slightly elliptical with a period of about 108,000 years.

111
Q

Precession

A

Earth’s axis of rotation slowly revolves, tracing a circle over a period of about 26,000 years.

112
Q

Obliquity

A

As the axis of rotation moves along the circle, it also varies its angle slightly from 22.1° to 24.5° with a period of about 41,000 years.

113
Q

Periglacial

A

denotes an area adjacent to a glacier or ice sheet or otherwise subject to repeated freezing and thawing

114
Q

felsenmeer

A

a surface covered with rocks

115
Q

firn

A

Surface snow melts and refreezes on warm days and cold nights, compacting the snow and turning it into granular ice

116
Q

glacial grooves

A
  • Kelley’s Island
  • resistant limestone bedrock was ‘grooved’ and ‘smoothed’ by the passing glaciers.
  • evidence of glaciers in N. America
117
Q

Glacial Erratics

A

are rocks that differ from native rocks in the area in size and type. These were used as additional evidence for the past presence of glaciers in southern latitudes

118
Q

glacial outwash

A

formed of glacial sediments deposited by meltwater

Geography 107 (3 decks)

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