GEL341 Exam 01 Review Flashcards
Uniformitarianism/law or principle of uniformity
Stratigraphic law that states:
”Present is the key to the past.”
Assumption that earth processes have probably worked pretty much the same way they do now throughout geologic time.
Law of original horizontality
Stratigraphic law that states:
Sedimentary layers are initially deposited in horizontal layers
Law of superposition
Stratigraphic law that states:
Oldest layer is on the bottom, younger ones are on top
Law of cross-cutting [relationships/relations]
Stratigraphic law that states:
Material that is cut is older than what did the cutting
Law of lateral continuity
Stratigraphic law that states:
Sedimentary rocks are laterally continuous over large areas
Law of inclusions
Stratigraphic law that states:
Rock fragments within another rock must be older than the rock containing the fragments
Principle of faunal succession
Stratigraphic law that states:
Fossils and groups of fossiles exist for limited amounts of time, thus they appear in the rock record in a definitive pattern
Geomorphology
Investigates landforms and the processes that fashion them
Form, process, and the interrelationaships between them are central to understanding the origin and development of landforms
Form (or morphology)
Has three facets (form variables):
- Constitution
- Configuration
- Mass flow
Constitution
Chemical and physical properties described by material property variables
Configuration
Size and form described by geometry variables
Mass flow
Rates of flow described by such mass-flow variables as discharge, precipitation rate, and evaporation rate.
Form variables
Constitution, configuration, and mass flow.
Form variables contract with dynamic variables.
Dynamic variables
Chemical and mechanical properties representating the expenditure of energy and the doing of work.
e.g. power, energy flux, force, stress, momentum
Endogenic processes
Tectonic and volcanic processes driven by geological forces.
Forces orginating from inside the Earth.
Exogenic processes
Geomorphic processes driven by climatic forces.
Forces originating at or near the Earth’s surface and in the atmosphere.
Extraterrestrial processes
Forces coming from outside the Earth.
e.g. asteroid impacts
Four approaches used by geomorphologists
- Process-response (process-form or functional) approach
- Landform evolution approach
- Geographical spatial science approach
- Environmentally sensitive approach