Final Exam Flashcards
the amount of uniformity in the size of rock particles
sorting
Finger lakes form where ___.
moraines block existing streams
What affects the depth of the water table below ground?
surface topography,
permeability of the aquifer,
rainfall
the area where water from the surface can move through permeable rock to reach an aquifer
recharge zone
What are two land features formed by hot groundwater?
geysers & hot springs
the aquifer zone that lies between the water table and the Earth’s surface
zone of aeration
How are wells, springs, and artesian formations similar?
All bring groundwater to Earth’s surface.
A cavern is a natural cavity in rock that forms as a result of ___.
dissolution of minerals
What affects the flow of groundwater through an aquifer?
porosity,
gradient,
permeability
Open spaces in rock must be connected in order for the rock to be ___.
permeable
Pumping water from a well causes a ___.
cone of depression
calcite formations standing on the floor of a cavern
stalagmites
What formation could be produced by hot springs when water mixes with sediment?
mud pot
uncollapsed rock between sinkholes can form arches
natural bridges
Which features are all produced by glacial erosion?
cirque, arête, horn
What is a continental glacier?
A mass of ice that is not confined by local topography.
What are all formed by glacial deposition?
erratic, till, glacial drift, moraine, drumlin
How can an iceberg be formed?
tidal action that breaks a large block of ice from an ice shelf
What explanation is the cause of glacial periods according to the Milankovitch theory?
cyclical changes in Earth’s movement relative to the sun
a bowl-shaped depression in a glacial drift deposit
kettle
the natural steepness of a slope
gradient
the process by which glaciers flow slowly as grains of ice deform under pressure and slide over each other
internal plastic flow
a sloping layer of permeable rock sandwiched between two layers of impermeable rock
artesian formation
the process by which a glacier slides due to the melting of ice at its base
basal slip
the ability of rock to let water pass through its pores
permeability
a large crack in a glacier
crevasse
a long period of cooling during which the continents are repeatedly glaciated
ice age
the percentage of the total volume of rock consisting of open spaces
porosity
irregular landforms created by chemical weathering on soluble rock characterized by caverns and sinkholes
karst topography
a large rock transported by a glacier
erratic
a circular depression that forms when rock dissolves
sinkhole
water beneath Earth’s surface
groundwater
a deep, bowl-shaped depression produced by glacial erosion
cirque
a body of rock that stores underground water and allows it flow
aquifer
changes in the shape of Earth’s orbit between nearly circular and elongated
eccentricity
the upper boundary of the zone of saturation
water table
an almost motionless mass of permanent ice and snow
glacier
Both rivers and glaciers can shape landscapes through the processes of erosion and ___.
deposition
When a glacier deposits till in the form of a ridge, on the ground, or on the glacier itself, a ___ is formed.
moraine
Another name for a continental glacier is ___.
ice sheet
Loess deposits are ___.
fertile and good for farming
About how much of the solar energy that reaches Earth is absorbed by the land, oceans, and atmosphere?
70%
small, closely packed rocks left behind by deflation
desert pavement
What type of dune forms at a right angle to the wind?
transverse
During high tides, sand deposited on a beach can form a raised section called a ___.
berm
a sea cliff that becomes worn into a nearly level platform
wave-cut terrace
Most submergent coastlines have beaches that are ___.
short, narrow, and rocky
Most sand grains are made of ___.
quartz
Berms are high and deep in winter because storms erode sand from the seaward side of the berm and deposit it ___.
offshore to form an underwater ridge called a sand bar
What are formed by wave erosion?
sea cave, sea arch, sea stack
What pairs are components of the atmosphere?
- nitrogen/ oxygen
- ozone/ argon
- water vapor/ particulates
Solar radiation that is not reflected back into the atmosphere is absorbed by ___.
surface materials
What make up the global wind belt?
trade winds,
westerlies,
polar easterlies
Local wind patterns are affected by local conditions and ___.
temperatures
Because of the Coriolis effect, an object that travel north from the equator will curve to the ___.
East
Interactions between solar radiation and the ionosphere cause ___.
auroras
What are common sources of particulates?
volcanic dust,
salt particles,
pollen
Radiation whose wavelengths are among the shortest are ___.
x rays
In general, the Coriolis effect is noticeable only on objects that move very fast or travel ___.
long distances
the force per unit area that is exerted on a surface by the wight of the atmosphere
atmospheric pressure
sediment deposited along the shore of an ocean or lake
beach
movement of water parallel to and near the shoreline
longshore current
process by which wind moves sand grains in a series of jumps and bounces
saltation
the layer of the atmosphere in which temperature decreases as altitude increases; where weather conditions exist
troposphere
the curving path of an object from an otherwise straight path due to Earth’s rotation
Coriolis effect
bay where salt and fresh water mix
estuary
the coldest layer of the atmosphere, in which temperature decreases as altitude increases
mesosphere
process by which wind removes the top layer of fine, dry soil particles
deflation
the waves that make up all forms of radiation, or solar energy
electromagnetic waves
large hole that forms at the base of a sea cliff
sea cave
the fraction of solar radiation that is reflected off the surface of an object
albedo
formation created when waves cut through a headland
sea arch
the zone of indefinite altitude, which extends thousands of kilometers above the ionosphere
exosphere
resistant rock formations that project out from the shore
headland
the phenomenon that makes the sky appear blue and the sun red at sunset
scattering
rock pitted, grooved, or polished by wind abrasion
ventifact
Most barrier islands migrate toward the ___.
shore
A narrow region of shallow water between the shoreline and a barrier island is a ___.
lagoon
When a sea arch collapses, a ___ forms.
sea stack
The warming of the surface and lower atmosphere of Earth, which occurs when carbon dioxide, water vapor, and other gases in the air absorb and radiate infrared radiation, is known as the ___.
greenhouse effect
fog that is common along coasts, where warm, moist air over water moves over land
advection fog
when a fast-moving cold front overtakes a warm front and lifts the warm air mass off the ground completely
occluded front
What might happen if enough energy is absorbed by liquid water?
the water will change to a gas
an instrument that measures precipitation by bouncing radio waves off rain or snow
doppler radar
A cloud whose name has the prefix nimbo- or the suffix -nimbus is ___.
rain-producing
In cloud seeding, silver-iodide crystals are used as ___.
freezing nuclei
the mass of water vapor in a unit of air relative to the mass of the dry air
absolute humidity
A drop of liquid precipitation that is 2 mm in diameter is ___.
rain
When ice melts, latent heat ___.
is released
clouds that often bring thunderstorms
cumulonimbus
precipitation that occurs when rain falls through a layer of freezing air close to the ground
sleet
The dew point is where the rate of evaporation ___ the rate of condensation.
equals
When air moves slowly, it takes on the temperature and humidity of its region, becoming a ___.
air mass
When a bend forms in a cold, it begins the process of forming an area of low pressure with rotating winds that move toward the rising air of the central low-pressure region. This storm is called a ___.
midlatitude cyclone
What are the types of air masses?
- maritime polar
- maritime tropical
- continental polar
- continental tropical
What do scientist use to convey information on a weather map?
colors and symbols
What measure lower-atmospheric weather conditions?
thermometer,
barometer,
wind vane
What do meteorologists use to help them make forecasts from data they have input into computers?
computer models
Storms along a cold front are usually short-lived and sometimes violent, while storms along a warm front ___.
produce precipitation over a large area and are occasionally violent
An air mass that originates in the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean and brings warm, moist air to a region is classified as ___.
maritime tropical
a system that uses reflected radio waves to determine the velocity and location of objects
radar
An air mass that originates in the southwestern United States and brings dry, warm air to a region is classified as ___.
continental tropical
a usually brief, heavy storm that brings rain, strong winds, lightning, and thunder
thunderstorm
cooling a substance below its freezing point, condensation point, or sublimation point without changing its state
supercooling
a weather event in which air sinks and flows outward from a center of high pressure, with winds circulating clockwise in the northern hemisphere
anticyclone
a line of thunderstorms that forms as a cold air mass overtakes a warm air mass
squall line
process in which small droplets join to form a large droplet
coalescence
decrease in temperature of an air mass as the air rises and expands
adiabatic cooling
a destructive, rotating column of air that has very high wind speeds and that may be visible as a funnel-shaped cloud
tornado
changing of a solid directly into a gas
sublimation
an area of low pressure characterized by rotating wind that moves toward the rising air of the central low-pressure region
midlatitude cyclone
a severe storm that originates over tropical seas with strong winds that spiral in toward an intense low-pressure center
hurricane
The altitude at which net condensation causes clouds to form is called the ___.
condensation level
The process that causes cloud formation when a moving mass of air meets a mountain range is ___.
lifting
The clouds with the highest altitude in the sky are ___.
cirrus
Clouds that begin to form at very low altitudes, covering large areas of sky and often blocking out the sun, are ___.
stratus
the deepest and largest ocean on Earth
Pacific
the soft, fine material that covers about 40% of the ocean floor
ooze
The voyages of the HMS Challenger ___.
laid the foundation for oceanography
Biogenic sediments come from ___.
marine plants and animals
An atoll changes into a guyot because of ___.
wave erosion
What tools do scientists use to study the deep ocean?
drilling ships,
bathyscaph,
sonar
Sediment found close to a Pacific shore would most likely be ___;
sand
The Mariana Trench is best known for its ___.
depth
The source of most calcium carbonate in biogenic sediments is ___.
foraminifera
the process of removing salt from ocean water
desalination
As the temperature changes, the ocean and atmosphere are continuously exchanging ___.
gases
Trace elements in the ocean are the minerals that are ___.
smallest in amount
By studying variations in color in the ocean, scientists can determine the presence of ___.
phytoplankton
The main gases dissolved in ocean water are ___.
oxygen and nitrogen
When surface ocean water is warmed by solar energy, its density ___.
decreases
Sea sponges are an example of ___.
benthos
The curving of the path of ocean currents and wind belts is due to ___.
the Coriolis effect
Deep currents are caused by ___.
differences in density in ocean water
What forms when water from large breakers returns to the ocean through channels that cut through underwater sandbars?
rip currents
the highest point of a wave
crest
the force that causes tides
gravity
What occurs when the gravity of the sun and moon work against each other to create a small daily tidal range?
neap tides
shallow sea floor between the shoreline and deep-ocean basin
continental margin
the mass of microscopic organisms that float or drift freely in water environments
plankton
a layer in a body water in which water temperature drops with increased depth faster than it does in other layers
thermocline
cylinder of sediment collected by drilling the ocean floor
core sample
organisms that live on the ocean floor
benthos
the difference in levels of ocean water at high tide and low tide
tidal range
all organisms that swim actively in open water
nekton
lump of minerals found on the ocean floor
nodule
deep v-shaped valley in the continental shelf of continental slope
submarine canyon
the streamlike movement of water in the ocean
current
a measure of the amount of dissolved solids in a given amount of a liquid
salinity
part of the ocean floored up of oceanic crust and a thin sediment layer
deep-ocean basin
the distance wind blows over open ocean water
fetch
formed when wind blows the crest of a wave off
whitecap
spreads sediments over the continental rise and abyssal plains
turbidity current
the ratio of the mass of a substance to the volume of the substance
density
the movement of deep, cold, and nutrient-rich water to the surface
upwelling
A constellation’s changing position in the sky, at the same time of the evening over a period of several weeks, is evidence that ___.
Earth revolves around the sun
When fast-moving planets pass slow-moving planets in their orbits, planes that orbit appear to be moving backward in a path called ___.
retrograde motion
The Coriolis effect provides evidence that ___.
Earth rotates on its axis
The period between successive full moons is approximately
29.5 days
Each of Earth’s standard time zones covers about ___.
15 degrees
Different colors are the result of ___.
varying wavelengths of different colors of light
Our current calendar is most like that of the ancient ___.
Romans
When it is Saturday east of the International Date Line, what day is it west of the line?
Sunday
a type of electromagnetic radiation that has wavelengths that are longer than the wavelengths of visible light
infrared radiation
The Northern Hemisphere has the most hours of daylight at the ___.
summer solstice
The beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere is mad by the ___.
vernal equinox
Kepler’s first law states that planets orbit the sun in paths called ___.
ellipses
The two inner planets that are most alike in size, mass, and density are ___.
Venus and Earth
Kepler’s third law describes the relationship between the average distance of a planet from the sun and the planet’s ___.
orbital period
Which planet has volcanic regions that may still be active?
Mars
Kepler’s second law states that equal areas are covered in equal amounts of time as an object ___.
orbits the sun
Which planet has the most complex ring system?
Saturn
Which planet has seasons like Earth’s because its axis tilts at an almost identical angle?
Mars
What separates the outer planets from the inner planets?
the asteroid belt
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and Neptune’s Great Dark Spot are both ___.
raging storms
a region of the solar system that is just beyond the orbit of Neptune and contains small bodies made mostly of ice
the Kuiper belt
planet-like bodies that circle stars other than Earth’s sun
exoplanets
a group of stars organized in a recognizable pattern
constellations
instrument invented by Isaac Newton to solve the problem of color separation
reflecting telescope
the point in time when the sun appears to cross the celestial equator
equinox
unit of measure that equals approximately 150 million km
astronomical unit
the motion of a body around another body in space
revolution
an astronomer who believed that the planets moved in epicycles as they revolved in larger circles around Earth
Ptolemy
unit of measure that equals 9.46 x 10^12 km
light year
instrument used by Galileo to see craters on the moon for the first time
refracting telescope
a type of planet that has a deep, massive atmosphere made mostly of gas and is denser than an inner planer
gas giant
the day on which the sun is as far north or as far south of the equator as possible
solstice
a scientist who hypothesized that a moving body will stay in motion and resist a change in speed or direction until an outside force acts on it
Newton
the spin of a body on its axis
rotation
an astronomer who proposed a heliocentric model of the solar system
Copernicus
a planet that is made of solid rock and has impact craters and a metallic core; another name for inner planet
terrestrial planet
the point in a planet’s orbit at which the planet is closest to the sun
perihelion
a collection of stars, dust, and gas that are held together by gravity
galaxy
a spherical region that surrounds the solar system and contains billions of comets
oort cloud
On what moon of Jupiter did an engineer discover volcanoes by studying images from the Voyager spacecraft?
Io
Characteristics of Ganymede and Callisto are, respectively, ___.
a magnetic field & craters
What planet has rings that are divided into hundreds of small ringlets, each containing billions of pieces of rock and ice?
Saturn
The gravitational interaction of Earth, the moon, and the Sun causes ___.
tides
Notable characteristics of Io and Europa are, respectively, ___.
volcanoes & an ice crust
What happens when the shadow of one celestial body falls on another celestial body?
an eclipse
What are the names of the two tiny, irregularly shaped rocky moons of Mars, which may be captured asteroids?
Phobos & Deimos
What are the types of meteorites?
- stony
- iron
- stony-iron
A meteor is produced by a meteoroid that ___.
burns up in Earth’s atmosphere
What kinds of bodies do scientists monitor, hoping to predict and avoid future collisions?
near-Earth asteroids
How long is the average sunspot cycle?
11 years
What is the hottest layer of the sun’s atmosphere called?
corona
Production of energy in the sun is the result of ___.
nuclear fusion
How do sunspots form?
magnetic fields reduce energy transfer in the convective zone
What elements make up most of the sun’s atmosphere?
hydrogen & helium
particles thrown off the sun’s corona that can affect Earth’s magnetic field
coronal mass ejection
What occurs during nuclear fusion in the sun?
Hydrogen nuclei combine to produce a helium nucleus.
Einstein’s equation E=mc^2 helps scientists understand the sun’s energy because the equation ___.
explains how mass is converted to huge amounts of energy
Auroras form when charged particles from he solar wind ___.
react with particles in Earth’s upper atmosphere
Why do stars seem to move in the night sky?
because Earth is in motion
By analyzing the light that a star emits, astronomers can determine ___.
its composition and temperature
Supernovas are ___ than novas.
thousands of times more violent
What is apparent magnitude?
the brightness of a star as it appears from Earth
What is absolute magnitude?
the true brightness of a star
What are constellations?
apparently fixed, recognizable patterns of stars and the regions of space around them
What can parallax be used to calculate?
the distance to a star within 1,000 light-years of Earth
Bubbles discovery that there is red shift in the spectra of galaxies led to an understanding that the universe is ___.
expanding
a group of stars that is elongated in shape with two branching arms
elliptical galaxy
visible surface of the sun; innermost layer of the sun’s atmosphere
photosphere
layer of sun’s atmosphere that glows with a reddish color
chromosphere
a group of stars of no particular shape; rich in dust and gas
irregular galaxy
a small object that orbits the sun, whose composition is similar to that of the inner planets
asteroid
glowing cloud of gas that arches over the sun’s surface
prominence
a neutron star that emits radio waves
pulsar
a star group with a nucleus of bright stars and arms that spin around the center
spiral galaxy
a small, rocky body that travels through space
meteoroid
dark, cooler area of the sun’s surface
sunspot
a bright streak that occurs when a meteoroid burns up in Earth’s atmosphere
meteor
region of the sun from which energy moves upward
convective zone
a meteoroid that survives Earth’s atmosphere and hits Earth’s surface
meteorite
outermost layer of the sun’s atmosphere
corona
object at the center of some galaxies that produces energy at a hight rate
quasar
a small orbiting body of rock, ice, and cosmic dust that has ion and dust tails
comet
