Final Exam Flashcards
Mass movement
Gravitationally caused displacement and downslope transport of rock, regolith, and/or snow
Differentiated by material and speed of movement
Kinds:
- Creep
- Slump
- Mud/debris flow
- Rock/debris slide
- Avalanche
- Fall
Creep
Gradual downslope movement of regolith (unconsolidated material)
- Occurs slowly
- Over years causes trees, fences, foundations, etc. built on a hillside to tilt downslope
Slump
Mass of regolith detaches from substrate along a spoon-shaped sliding surface and then slips downslope
Failure surface
Surface upon which a slump slips
Head scarp
Distinct, curving step at the upslope edge of a slump, where the regolith detached
Mud/debris flow
During a period of heavy rainfall, water mixes with regolith, creating a slurry that moves downslope
Speed depends on slope angle and amount of water present
Rock/debris slide
Sudden movement of rock or debris down a nonvertical slope
Leaves landslide scar on slope and debris pile at the base of the slope
Avalanche
Turbulent cloud of debris mixed with air, rush down steep hill slopes at high speed
Can be snow or debris
Rock/debris Fall
Mass of rock or debris free-falls from a cliff
Desert condition
Region is dry due to aridity
- Mountain rain shadows (Okanagan)
- Along cold ocean currents (Atacama, Namib)
- Because of global wind patterns (convergence of cells - Sahara, Australia)
- Continental interiors (Gobi)
Desert Varnish
Dark coating of iron oxide/manganese oxide and clay that forms on the surface of desert bedrock
- Created by bacteria
Dry Wash
AKA wadi
Dry stream channel within a desert - forms when flash flood creates stream and is subsequently evaporated
Playa
Evaporated desert lake; becomes a smooth crust of clay and salts
Ventifacts
Rocks that have been faceted by the wind
Mesa
Large, flat topped hill with a surface area of several km
- Strata has been eroded
Butte
Medium-sized, flat topped hill
- Smaller mesa
Lag deposit
Wind in deserts carries away fine sediment so that only coarser materials remain
- Lag deposit is these coarser materials
Dune
Pile of sand that is deposited by the wind
Slip face forms the cross-bedding seen in desert sediments
Continental shelf
Edge of the continental part of a plate which remains underwater
Continental slope
Steep slope at the edge of the shelf
- Goes down to ~4.5 km
Abyssal Plain
Vast, almost horizontal plain at the bottom of the ocean
Pelagic sediment
Blanket of plankton and clay flakes overlying the basalt of the ocean floor
Gets thicker the further away from a mid-ocean ridge the sediment is, due to increasing age
Coastal zones
- Shoaling Zone
- Surf Zone
- Intertidal Zone
- Backshore Zone
Progress from being composed more of silt and mud to sand
Delta
Wedge of sediment formed at a river mouth when the running water of the stream enters standing water
- Current slows, stream loses competence, and sediment settles out
Fjord
Deep, glacially carved valley that has been flooded by rising sea level
Turbidite
Graded bed of sediment built up at the base of a submarine slope
- Deposited by turbidity currents
Submarine canyon
Narrow, deep valley that cuts through the continental shelf/slope
Reef
Mound of limestone that was made from coral calcite shells
- Surface of the mound is living coral
Protect the coast from erosion by absorbing wave energy
Continental drift
Idea that continents have moved in the past and are still moving slowly across earth’s surface
Continents used to match up, evidenced by matching coastlines, matching rock deposits, and matching fossil taxa across continents
Lithospheric plate
Consists of continental and/or oceanic crust as well as the uppermost part of the mantle and moves as a coherent unit
- Floats on asthenosphere
- 20 pieces, involved in plate tectonics
Divergent plate boundary
New crust is being formed at a mid-ocean ridge or continental rift
Characteristics: mid-ocean ridge (duh), volcanoes, hot spot tracks
Mid-ocean Ridge
2km-high submarine mountain belt that forms along a divergent oceanic plate boundary
Hot spot track
Chain of volcanoes (most of which are now dead) transported over a hot spot by the movement of a plate
Hot spot
Location at the base of the lithosphere that lies at the top of a mantle plume and has high temperatures that can cause rock melting
Continental rift
Linear belt along which continental lithosphere stretches and pulls apart
If completed, a rift will split a continent into two smaller parts that are separated by a divergent boundary
Convergent plate boundary
A plate boundary where one plate subducts under another (continental-oceanic, oceanic-oceanic)
- If two continental crusts, they will collide
Characterized by: volcanic arcs, trenches
Volcanic arc
Curving chain of active volcanoes formed adjacent to a convergent plate boundary
Trench
Deep elongate trough bordering a volcanic arc
- Defines the trace of a convergent plate boundary
Transform plate boundary
Boundary at which one plat slips laterally past another
- Connects two other boundaries, usually MORs
- Point in direction of Euler pole
Sea-floor bathymetry
Recording the variation in depth of the ocean floor and recording this, pointing out the location of MORs
Apparent polar-wander path
Path on the globe along which a magnetic pole appears to have wandered over time
Since they do not match up between continents, it appears that the continents themselves have moved, and NOT the magnetic pole
Sea-floor spreading
The gradual widening of an ocean basin as new oceanic crust forms at a mid-ocean ridge axis and then moves away from the axis
Euler pole
AKA pole of rotation
Axis around which plates move (?)
- Location can be determined by the directions of transform faults and hot spot tracks
Triple junction
A point at which three plate boundaries intersect
Felsic
- Increased silica
- More sodium and potassium
- Reduced magnesium and iron
- Reduced density
- Reduced melting temperature
- Reduced melting temperature
- Increased viscosity (sticky)
Occurs in batholiths, subduction zones, composite volcanoes
Mafic
- Reduced silica
- More calcium
- Increased magnesium and iron
- Increased density
- Increased melting temperature
- Decreased viscosity (runny)
Occurs in hot spots, mid-ocean ridges, and shield volcanoes
Classification of igneous rocks
Mineral content, texture, intrusive vs extrusive
Igneous rock texture
Determined by the rate of cooling and depth of formation
- Fine grained = extrusive
- Coarse grained = intrusive
Batholith
Vast composite, intrusive igneous rock up to several hundred km long and 100km wide
Formed by the intrusion of numerous plutons in the same region
- Felsic
Composite volcano
AKA stratovolcano
Large, cone-shaped subaerial volcano composed of alternating layers of lava and tephra
- Felsic magma
- Tend to be explosive, ashy, and therefore dangerous
Shield volcano
Subaerial volcano with a broad, gentle dome
- Formed from either low-viscosity basaltic lava or large pyroclastic sheets
- Mafic magma
- Runny lava flows, less dangerous than composite volcanoes
Phase diagram
Shows the temperature/pressure needed for a material to move from liquid to solid state
- With more pressure, higher temperatures are needed for melting
Decompression melting
Hot mantle rock rises to shallower depths in the earth; pressure decreases and temperature stays the same
- Occurs at divergent boundaries
Heat-transfer melting
Transfer of heating from a hotter magma to a cooler rock causes the rock to melt
- Occurs at hot spots and other hot mantle upwellings
Volatile melting
Volatile chemicals (water, CO2) mix with hot mantle rock, causing the rock to melt - Occurs in subduction zones as water moves into a trench
Cinder cone
Subaerial volcano that consists of cone-shaped pile of tephra whose slope approaches the angle of repose for tephra
Tephra
Unconsolidated accumulations of debris that was erupted out of a volcano