EXAM 4 (FINAL) Flashcards
what is a hanging trough?
where tributary glacier intersects primary alpine glacier
what is a tarn?
lake left in a cirque after glacial retreat
what is a valley train?
debris left in the alley as the glacier retreated
(often leads to braided stream)
what are fiords?
where troughs open to the sea with glacial retreat
what are landslides?
when failure steep sided trough walls
what is a trough lake?
elongated lakes left in glacial trough after glacial retreat
what is a col?
gap or opening in the glacial trough wall
what is a crevasse?
deep open crack in glacial ice surface
what are three causes of environmental impact?
disrupted drainage
disrupted soils
some hydropower production
what is disrupted drainage?
- disruption of a drainage pattern
- alters flow
what are ice shelves?
floating sheet of ice permanently attached to a landmass (enormous and may be several hundred feet thick)
what are the two continental ice sheets today?
Antarctica & Greenland
how big is Antarctica?
5.4 million sq miles
[ice – up to 13,000 ft thick]
how big is Greenland?
656,000 sq miles (3 times size Texas)
[ice – up to 10,000 ft thick]
for Greenland, what percentage of icebergs are below sea level?
90%
how is Greenland set up structurally?
- many outlet glaciers that extend to the sea
- tongues break off creating calving (icebergs)
how is Antarctica set up structurally?
- ice in interior extends well below sea level
- thus, at sea interface creates large ‘ice-shelves’
- ice shelves are enormous and may be several hundred ft thick (largest is ross ice shelf)
when did the Pleistocene Glaciation occur?
approximately 2.5 million to 11,700 years ago
what was the Pleistocene Glaciation?
over 20 glacial events occurring during this time period with periods of glacial retreat
what causes these cycles of glaciation?
variations in…
- the earth’s tilt
- Earth’s eccentricity in its orbit about the sun
- the arrangement of the continents through plate tectonics
- the ocean-air systems
what were some impacts of the Pleistocene Glaciation?
1) temperature change – 5 to 10 degrees cooler
2) isostatic adjustment – ice weight forced continents down 300m
3) change in sea level – off Atlantic decrease 137 meters
4) modified drainage systems (Missouri river once flowed north into Lancaster Sound)
what are striations?
abrasion marks
(trend in direction of ice movements)
what are stratified drift/tills?
glacially sorted debris at edge of glacier
what are glacial erratics?
rock derived from poleward locations but carried south by glacial ice
what are kettles?
when block of stagnate ice melts leaving a pitted area
what are drumlins?
smooth elongated hills (resemble inverted spoon)
what are eskers?
winding ridges composed of sand & gravel (remnants of streams beneath glacial ice)
what’s a kame?
steep sided hill where sand and gravel accumulated in ice crack or fissure
what are marginal glacial lakes?
elongated valleys were carved & lakes were left as remnants
what are some environmental impacts of continental glaciation?
drainage, glacial erratics, loess, till plains, lakes
what is the primary energy source of waves?
wind
what are “swells”?
large waves when there is stronger wind
what is the wave structure?
height, trough, length
what is longshore drift?
the movement of material along a coast by waves which approach at an angle to the shore, but recede directly away from it
what is the wave pattern?
oscillatory
what is beach drift?
movement of sand along the shoreline
what are jetties?
a landing stage or small pier at which boats can dock or be moored
what are groins?
smaller version of jetties along coastline to help slowdown beach drift and longshore drift
what is artificial nourishment?
dumping in sand on coastline to reduce erosion
what is backwash?
waves that wash back into the body of water
what is swash?
waves that wash up on the beach after an incoming wave has broken (at an angle)
what’s a breaker?
collapse of wave crest
what are sea arches?
a natural arch or bridge made of stone that has been created when water wears away the underside of a rock, leaving just the top behind
what are wave cut terraces?
formed where a seacliff is eroded by marine action, resulting in the deposition of cliff material and formation of a bedrock area where erosion occurred
what are sea caves?
caves formed primarily from erosion caused by waves
what are sea stacks?
isolated outcrops of rock standing in the ocean
what’s a beach?
a pebbly or sandy shore, especially by the ocean between high and low-water marks
what’s a spit?
narrow coastal land formation that is tied to the coast at one end
what’s a baymouth bar?
a depositional feature as a result of longshore drift
what’s a tombolo?
a narrow piece of land made of sediment such as sand or gravel that connects an island to the mainland or another island
what’s a high to low tide called?
ebb/seaward
what do wave action and saline water create and do?
create solutions
abrade physical features
how does an ebb current move?
seaward
what is a low to high tide called?
flood/landward
how does a flood current move?
landward
explain spring tides…
strongest tides
two times/month caused by alignment sun
moon with gravity
explain neap tides…
lowest tides
when sun and moon are at right angles
two times per month
what’s a mud flat?
a stretch of muddy land left uncovered at low tide
what’s a salt marsh?
an area of coastal grassland that is regularly flooded by seawater
what are polders/fenlands?
drained marshes
what is a ria coast? some examples?
- significant rise of sea level or crustal sinking
- New England Coast, Coastal UK, Coastal France and Spain
what is a fiord coastline? some examples?
- a long, deep, narrow body of water created by glaciers that reaches far inland
- (often set in a U-shaped valley with steep walls of rock on either side)
- Norway, Canada, Greenland, etc.
what is a barrier island coast?
some examples?
- recently emerged coastal plain – very gradual slope
- includes lagoons, tidal inlets, and is vulnerable to over wash
- examples: US Atlantic and Gulf Coasts
what is a delta coast? an example?
- where major river flows into an ocean
- Ganges Delta Coast
what is a volcanic coast? some examples?
- created by lava flows, usually very rugged
- examples: Hawaii, Oregon Coast
** what is a coral reef coast?
where carol grows on the coast (?)
- mostly between tropics (Cancer & Capricorn)
what are atoll reefs?
volcanic activity didn’t reach sea level but shallow to allow algae to thrive and form
what are fringing reefs?
attached to mainland
what are barrier reefs?
not attached to mainland, parallel to shore but separated by channel of water
what are eolian landforms?
wind related landforms
what is the importance of wind?
erodes, transports, and deposits materials
what is deflation?
lifting and removal of loose sand and dust particles
what are grus or reg?
rock-like deserts
what is abrasion?
sand blasting by wind particles
(can polish rocks & impact trees and other structures)
what is wind transportation?
sand creep, dust storms, and sandstorms
what’s a haboob?
large dust storm
what is wind saltation?
movement of particles by a series of short bounces along the surface of the ground
what’s a barchan dune?
- crescent-shaped
- face the wind
- made by wind that comes from one direction
what’s a parabolic dune?
- u-shaped (like a parabola fr)
- where sparse vegetative cover
- creates blowout like dune in coastal areas
what’s a transverse dune?
- large supply of sand
- constant wind direction
- sinuous ridges of sand
- best example: Sahara Desert (like a sand sea)
what’s a longitudinal dune?
elongated dune in general direction of convergence energy (converging winds)
what are star dunes?
high central point
multiple wind directions
what are foredunes?
narrow belt of sand landward of ocean beach
what’s a loess?
wind transported sediment from glaciated areas or deserts
what are examples of a loess?
- deposits around Yellow River area from Gobi Desert
- soils of Midwest USA from continental glaciation
what’s a scabland?
rough, barren, volcanic topography with thin soils and little vegetation
what is desertification?
process in which relatively stable and fertile land is destabilized and eventually becomes desert-like
what is the magnitude of desertification?
(globally, according to the U.N.) approx. 1 million hectares (29.6 million acres) are lost each year due to desertification
how many acres of prime agricultural land are lost per year?
3.9 to 8.1 million
what percent of the population lives within 93 miles of a coastline?
44%
what are the controls on soil formation?
- climate
- plants, animals, microorganisms
- slope and slope aspect
- time period of weathering
- parent material
- human activity
what about soil profile?
collective horizons
what is soil structure?
the way soil aggregates
what is soil texture?
proportion of sand, silt, and clay
what are some characteristics of soil?
1) soil color
2) soil texture
3) soil structure
4) soil acidity and alkalinity
5) soil pH – measure of acidity or alkalinity of soil
what does soil temperature influence?
chemical processes
– usually needs to be above 41ºF
most common type of soil in Ohio?
alfisols
what are biotic communities?
local associations of plants and animals
what are factors that influence biogeography?
solar radiation, temperature, water, wind, altitude, fire, insects/parasites, animals, humans
what is the impact of mountain pine bark beetle?
- about 4 million acres impacted since 1996 in Rocky Mtn Region
- reduced CO sequestration, increased fire hazard, reduced effective snow storage
how many forest fires a year?
70,000
what are krummholz?
stunted windblown trees growing near the tree line on mountains
what’s the pioneer stage?
first
after a fire, flood, or clearing
hardy species first to colonize
what’s the serial stage?
- each one of the temporary communities
- advancing towards climax community
what is sere?
series of communities that follow one another in succession
what’s the climax stage?
final in ecological succession, brings stability
where are more forest fires located?
southeast
what is ecological succession?
sequence of biotic communities moving toward ecosystem stability
what are the six major biomes?
- forest (tropical, temperate, coniferous)
- savanna
- grassland
- shrubland
- desert
- tundra
importance of tropical rainforests?
- 25% of medicines from here
- help stabilize the world’s climate
- provide a home to many plants and animals
- protect against flood, drought, and erosion
- support indigenous people
importance of temperate forests?
- diversity
- potential for sustainable management
- carbon sink
- modulate hydrological processes, nitrogen, and carbon cycles
importance of coniferous forests?
- wildlife
- products like resin, nuts, gums, pulp, paper, lumber
- snowpack insolation
importance of the savannah biome?
- biodiversity (exotic animals/birds)
- migration corridor
- world’s largest watersheds
- help regulate global climate (store carbon)
importance of the shrubland biome?
- drought tolerant
- protect land from erosion
- stabilize steeper slopes from mass wasting
- rich habitat
- carbon storage
importance of the grassland biome?
- bison
- agriculture
- biochemical cycling
- carbon storage
- biodiversity
how many bison were there when the USA was first settled?
30 million
how many bison are there today?
about 350,000 (about 15,000 on public lands)
importance of the desert biome?
- biodiversity
- mineral (gypsum, nitrates, potassium, salts, copper, diamonds, bauxite)
- bioprospecting
- carbon sinks – even in bacteria on Kalahari sands
importance of the tundra biome?
- lumber production
- resins: fir (glue), hemlock (tan leather)
- permafrost
biggest continental glacier in the world?
Antarctica
top energy consuming nations?
China & USA
which country has the most oil usage?
Venezuela
what is the largest fossil fuel reserve?
coal
what are the percentages of wind and solar usage in the USA?
wind: 10%
solar: 5%
what will be the increase in temperature due to climate change?
3ºC
who are the top energy consuming countries PER CAPITA?
Canada
Russia
Saudi Arabia
what are the producers of CO2?
- coal
- oil
- biomass
how many barrels of oil does the US use per day?
18 million
which countries have natural gas reserves?
- Russia
- Iran
- Qatar
- USA
globally, what is the % of solar and wind use?
wind: 6%
solar: 3%
what countries have lithium reserves?
- Chile
- Australia
expected population in 2050?
10 billion
what is BRICS and its importance?
- Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa
- will become major energy users
according to the 2022 UN report, what are some possible solutions to global warming?
- fix methane gas issue
- more forests
- fertilize ocean and plankton
- capture CO2
- faster conversion renewables
what are entisols?
little if any horizon development
what are aridisols?
soils located in arid climates
what are alfisols?
deciduous forest soils
what are ultisols?
extremely weathered soils
what are gelisols?
soils containing permafrost
what are andisols?
soils formed in volcanic material
what are inceptisols?
beginning horizon development
what are mollisols?
soft, grassland soils
what are spodosols?
acidic, coniferous forest soils
what are oxisols?
extremely weathered tropical soils
what are histosols?
soils formed in organic material
what are vertisols?
shrinking and swelling clay soils
what is rock flour?
fine pulverized rock
what is till?
unconsolidated sediment
what is plucking?
lifting of rocks and associated movement
what is moraine?
debris of till at margins of the ice sheet
(medial, terminal, recessional)
what is arete?
knife-like ridge produced by parallel intersecting glacial trough walls
what is a horn?
three or more adjacent cirques leaving pointed peek
what is a cirque?
bowl shaped depression often near the glacial accumulation zone
