Final

Question 1

What is pore space in geology?

Answer 1

Geologists call it pore space. Similar to holes in a sponge, pore space is the empty space between particles of sand and sediment or the space within and between rocks.

Question 2

Porosity

Answer 2

Primary porosity is the original porosity of the rock when it formed, and secondary porosity is the pore space created by subsequent processes such as fracturing.

Question 3

Permeability

Answer 3

a measure of the ability of a material (such as rocks) to transmit fluids

Question 4

Aquifer

Answer 4

Unconfined aquifers are where the rock is directly open at the surface of the ground and groundwater is directly recharged, for example by rainfall or snow melt. Confined aquifers are where thick deposits overly the aquifer and confine it from the Earth’s surface or other rocks.

Question 5

Aquitard

Answer 5

any geological formation of a rather semipervious nature that transmits water at slower rates than an aquifer

Question 6

Water Table

Answer 6

an underground boundary between the soil surface and the area where groundwater saturates spaces between sediments and cracks in rock

Question 7

Hydraulic Head

Answer 7

the mechanical energy per unit weight of groundwater. Groundwater flows from positions of high hydraulic head to positions of lower head. The rate of flow is proportional to the rate at which head decreases with distance along the path from high head to low

Question 8

Recharge

Answer 8

the place where water is able to seep into the ground and refill an aquifer because no confining layer is present

Question 9

Discharge

Answer 9

the volume of water moving down a stream or river per unit of time

Question 10

Artesian Well

Answer 10

well from which water flows under natural pressure without pumping

Question 11

Potentiometric surface

Answer 11

A hypothetical surface representing the level to which groundwater would rise if not trapped in a confined aquifer

Question 12

Cone of depression

Answer 12

Pumping from a well in a water table aquifer lowers the water table near the well

Question 13

Saltwater (saline) intrusion

Answer 13

If too much freshwater is pumped from the aquifer system, then saltwater can migrate landward by a process referred to as “saltwater intrusion.

Question 14

Pore collapse

Answer 14

a drastic, irreversible reduction in porosity due to the increase in effective stress on the rock matrix as a consequence of withdrawal of oil and gas

Question 15

Subsidence

Answer 15

sinking of the ground because of underground material movement

Question 16

Groundwater flow reversal

Answer 16

part of streamflow that has infiltrated the ground, entered the phreatic zone, and has been (or is at a particular time) discharged into a stream channel or springs; and seepage water

Question 17

Point source / non-point source pollution

Answer 17

There are two categories of water pollution: Point source pollution is pollution where the source of the pollution can be identified, such as a spill or discharge. Non-point source pollution is when the source of pollution either cannot be identified or may come from many sources.

Question 18

Ogallala Aquifer

Answer 18

The Ogallala Aquifer is a shallow water table aquifer surrounded by sand, silt, clay, and gravel located beneath the Great Plains in the United States.

Question 19

Glaciers

Answer 19

A slowly moving mass or river of ice formed by the accumulation and compaction of snow on mountains or near the poles.

Question 20

Mountain (alpine) glacier

Answer 20

An alpine glacier is a glacier that forms at high elevations within mountains. These glaciers flow down mountains and carve wide, ‘U’-shaped valleys.

Question 21

Continental glacier

Answer 21

A continuous sheet of land ice that covers a very large area and moves outward in many directions.

Question 22

Plastic vs Brittle

Answer 22

Brittle deformation may be described as structural cracking without shape change of the individual broken pieces, whereas plastic deformation is described as shape change without breakage.

Question 23

Zone of accumulation

Answer 23

The accumulation zone is also defined as the part of a glacier’s surface, usually at higher elevations, on which there is net accumulation of snow, which subsequently turns into firn and then glacier ice.

Question 24

Zone of ablation

Answer 24

Ablation zone or ablation area refers to the low-altitude area of a glacier or ice sheet below firn with a net loss in ice mass due to melting, sublimation, evaporation, ice calving, aeolian processes like blowing snow, avalanche, and any other ablation.

Question 25

Zone of Ablation

Answer 25

Ablation zone or ablation area refers to the low-altitude area of a glacier or ice sheet below firn with a net loss in ice mass due to melting, sublimation, evaporation, ice calving, aeolian processes like blowing snow, avalanche, and any other ablation.

Question 26

Ablation

Answer 26

reduction of the water equivalent of a snow cover by melting, evaporation, wind and avalanches

Question 27

Equilibrium line

Answer 27

marks the boundary between the zones of accumulation (above) and ablation (below)

Question 28

Toe

Answer 28

the bottom, or baseline section, of the soil mass comprising the slope.

Question 29

Toe

Answer 29

the bottom, or baseline section, of the soil mass comprising the slope.

Question 30

Glacial advance/retreat

Answer 30

If more snow and ice are added than are lost through melting, calving, or evaporation, glaciers will advance. If less snow and ice are added than are lost, glaciers will retreat

Question 31

Glacial plucking

Answer 31

Plucking, also referred to as quarrying, is a glacial phenomenon that is responsible for the weathering and erosion of pieces of bedrock, especially large “joint blocks”. This occurs in a type of glacier called a “valley glacier”.

Question 32

Glacial abrasion

Answer 32

the surface wear achieved by individual clasts, or rocks of various sizes, contained within ice or by subglacial sediment as the glacier slides over bedrock.

Question 33

U-shaped valley

Answer 33

U-shaped valleys, also called trough valleys or glacial troughs, are formed by the process of glaciation. They are characteristic of mountain glaciation in particular. They have a characteristic U shape in cross-section, with steep, straight sides and a flat or rounded bottom.

Question 34

*Moraine (lateral, end, terminal)

Answer 34

Lateral Moraines: These are mounds of debris that are found along the sides of a glacier and are formed by the accumulation of material that falls off the sides of the glacier. Terminal Moraines: Terminal moraines are mounds of debris that mark the furthest extent of a glacier.

Question 35

*Glacial till

Answer 35

the sediment deposited by a glacier

Question 36

*Glacial outwash

Answer 36

outwash, deposit of sand and gravel carried by running water from the melting ice of a glacier and laid down in stratified deposits

Question 37

Varve

Answer 37

successive layers of fine sediments deposited by meltwater streams into glacial lakes. During the summer months when discharge is higher, more sediments flow into the lake and deposits accumulate more rapidly.

Question 38

Weather vs climate

Answer 38

Weather reflects short-term conditions of the atmosphere while climate is the average daily weather for an extended period of time at a certain location.

Question 39

Paleoclimate

Answer 39

Paleoclimate research uses geologic and biologic evidence (climate proxies) preserved in sediments, rocks, tree rings, corals, ice sheets and other climate archives to reconstruct past climate in terrestrial and aquatic environments around the world.

Question 40

Paleontological evidence

Answer 40

Paleontological resources, or fossils, are any evidence of past life preserved in geologic context. They are a tangible connection to life, landscapes, and climates of the past. They show us how life, landscapes, and climate have changed over time and how living things responded to those changes.

Question 41

Sedimentological evidence

Answer 41

Sedimentology is the study of sediment grains in marine and other deposits, with a focus on physical properties and the processes which form a deposit.

Question 42

Isotopic evidence

Answer 42

Isotope evidence is a powerful tool for reconstructing past human diets and subsistence adaptations (1–3), and it has been applied to a number of Neanderthals and early modern humans from Europe (4–12).

Question 43

Oxygen isotopes

Answer 43

Periodic Table–Oxygen. Oxygen has three stable isotopes: 16O (99.63%), 17O (0.0375%) and 18O (0.1995).

Question 44

Glacial / interglacial

Answer 44

We call times with large ice sheets “glacial periods” (or ice ages) and times without large ice sheets “interglacial periods.”

Question 45

Milankovitch cycles

Answer 45

The Milankovitch cycles include: The shape of Earth’s orbit, known as eccentricity; The angle Earth’s axis is tilted with respect to Earth’s orbital plane, known as obliquity; and. The direction Earth’s axis of rotation is pointed, known as precession.

Question 46

*Feedback (positive & negative)

Answer 46

Feedback loops come in two flavors: positive and negative. A negative feedback loop reduces the effect of change and helps maintain balance. A positive feedback loop increases the effect of the change and produces instability.

Question 47

Greenhouse effect

Answer 47

The greenhouse effect is the process through which heat is trapped near Earth’s surface by substances known as ‘greenhouse gases.’ Imagine these gases as a cozy blanket enveloping our planet, helping to maintain a warmer temperature than it would have otherwise.

Question 48

Greenhouse gas

Answer 48

Greenhouse gases (also known as GHGs) are gases in the earth’s atmosphere that trap heat. During the day, the sun shines through the atmosphere, warming the earth’s surface. At night the earth’s surface cools, releasing heat back into the air. But some of the heat is trapped by the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Question 49

*Keeling curve

Answer 49

The Keeling Curve is a graph that represents the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Earth’s atmosphere since 1958. The Keeling Curve is named after its creator, Dr.

Question 50

*Carbon cycle

Answer 50

The carbon cycle is nature’s way of reusing carbon atoms, which travel from the atmosphere into organisms in the Earth and then back into the atmosphere over and over again. Most carbon is stored in rocks and sediments, while the rest is stored in the ocean, atmosphere, and living organisms.