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Mountains 101 > General > Flashcards

General Flashcards

1
Q

How much of the surface of earth do mountains make up?

A

1/4

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2
Q

Endemic

A

Regularly occuring

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3
Q

Topography is influenced by…

A

Avalanches, landslides, earthquakes

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4
Q

Mt. Fugi is known for

A

Strenght and peace

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5
Q

Mt. Etna is known for…

A

being menacing and devalish

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6
Q

Elevation

A

distance between land surface and reference (ie sea)

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7
Q

Altitude

A

object not in contact with refrence (ie. a plane)

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8
Q

Height

A

how far something protrudes above land

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9
Q

Permafrost

A

permanently frozen ground

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10
Q

James Usher

A

Thought earth began 4000BC at 9am

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11
Q

Thomas Burnet

A

Went on grand tour and proposed that earth smooth at first and water below burst up splitting apart land because he saw lots of rubble in the alps (mundane egg theory). First to reject that earth always has looked same.

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12
Q

Georges Buffon

A

Proposed earth was much older than what Usher thought. Two schools of geology (catastrophism and uniformitarianism)

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13
Q

Catastrophism

A

field of thought that water/ice/fire engulf earth causing major catastrophic change

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14
Q

Unifomitarianism

A

school of thought that localized event shape earth and history can be observed by present surface and local events shape what it looks like today

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15
Q

Charles Lyell

A

Wrote principles of geology with uniformitarian view; Darwin used his book

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16
Q

Burgess Shale

A

In Yoho national park, fossil deposits in mountains around emerald lake have preserved soft tissue

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17
Q

Alfred Wegner

A

Proposed Pangea and movement of the continents (fossils, continent’s like a puzzle, climatic evidence)

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18
Q

What are some factors to consider when defining a mountain?

A

Individuality, elevation, local relief, geology, climate, slope

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19
Q

Lithosphere

A

Crust and upper mantel (plates); move 1-10cm/year because of mantel convection

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20
Q

asthenosphere

A

what lithosphere glides over

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21
Q

mantel

A

earths hot, malleable inner layer

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22
Q

Divergent Plate Boundaries

A

Plates pull apart and volcanic material fills void (ie mid Atlantic ridge, east African rift)

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23
Q

Convergent Plate Boundaries (Ocean)

A

Denser plate subducts below buoyant plate and volcanos erupt from margin (ie pacific ring of fire)

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24
Q

Convergent Plate Boundaries (Continental)

A

Result in seismically active mountain ranges (ie Himalayas)

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25
Q

Transform Margins

A

Plates grind in horizontal motion. Can sometimes make mountains (ie San Andres Fault, San Gabriel Mountains)

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26
Q

Where do volcanos form?

A

rift valley spreading centers, convergent boundaries, above intraplate hotspots (within tectonic plates)

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27
Q

Fault Block Mountains

A

Portions of crust drop and portions rise (ie teton range)

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28
Q

Dome mountains

A

Magma pushes up slowly without breaking through and then cools and hardens (ie West Butte in Sweetgrass Hills, Montana))

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29
Q

Solar Radiation

A

Highest at the equator or where latitude is similar to slope angle

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30
Q

Seasonality

A

How much temperature fluctuates; controlled by latitude (tilt of earth, revolution of earth around the sun, variation in solar radiation)

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31
Q

Atmospheric Circulation

A

cool air is more dense and is pulled down by gravity; differences in atmospheric pressure creates with which moves from areas of high to low pressure.

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32
Q

Intertropical Convergence Zone

A

Air flows from high latitudes to equator where the air is warm and therefore low pressure

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33
Q

Circulation Cells

A

3/ hemisphere; cold air moves towards equator and warm air moves higher up away from the equator. Influenced by rotation of earth

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34
Q

Coriolis effect

A

Earth deflects wind to right in north and left in south

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35
Q

Trade winds

A

wind that blows west to equator in Hadley cell near equator

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36
Q

Westerlies

A

blow west to east at mid lattitudes

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37
Q

easterlies

A

blow wind east to west towards equator at high latitudes

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38
Q

Mountain Mass Effect

A

large mountains grouped together can influence climate

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39
Q

Orographic precipitation

A

Mountains close to oceans force air up leading to increased clouds so the windward side has lots of precipitation and the leeward side has less rain.

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40
Q

Continetinality

A

mountains in costal areas receive more precipitation and continental mountains receive more temperature flux and less precipitation

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41
Q

Local drivers of mountain climate

A

slope aspect/angle, inversions, microclimates (influenced by topography)

42
Q

Global drivers of mountain climate

A

latitude, elevation, continentality

43
Q

Alpine treeline ecotone

A

shift from trees to low plants

44
Q

Treeline and continentality

A

mountains that are more interior have higher tree lines (less cloud cover so more solar radiation, are better protected from wind, mountain mass effect)

45
Q

Ecotones

A

transitional zones between biomes

46
Q

How much O2 does Hemoglobin transport?

47
Q

Oxygen saturation

A

percent Hg molecules with O2 attatched

48
Q

Blaise Pascal

A

Tested theory that atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude on Puy de Dome in france

49
Q

Oxygen diffusion

A

depends on surface area of tissue and concentration gradient (which is influenced by atmospheric pressure)

50
Q

Immediate responses to hypoxia

A

breathing deeper (increases tidal volume), hyperventilation, increased heart rate (increases O2 circulation)

51
Q

Death Zone

A

8000m above sea level; O2 level insufficient for human survival

52
Q

Autonomic Nervous System

A

Controls heart rate, digestion, urination, influenced by low O2

53
Q

AMS

A

Acute mountain sickness (headache, fatigue, nausea, dizziness)

54
Q

Acetazolamide

A

Increases breathing rate to prevent AMS

55
Q

HACE

A

High altitude cerebral edema; fluid in brain

56
Q

HAPE

A

High altitude pulmonary edema; fluid in lungs

57
Q

High altitude adaptations (4)

A

increased lung volume, increased O2 uptake capacity in RBC, increased blood vessel diameter, faster and deeper breathing

58
Q

Andean Highlanders

A

South America; increased RBC and Hg levels

59
Q

Tibetan highlanders

A

breath faster and deeper, have increased blood vessel diameter

60
Q

CMS

A

chronic mountain sickness (can occur in highlanders too); makes blood sticky due to increased RBC

61
Q

Hydrology

A

understanding and predicting how water moves across land and through the atmosphere

62
Q

Watershed

A

land that drains into a commen water body; regulate water quality and quantity

63
Q

Infiltration

A

Ground soaking up precipitation; increased by vegetation and pourus rock (limestone, sandstone). Higher levels of infiltration slow run off

64
Q

Frontal Rainfall

A

low pressure systems travel over the mountains

65
Q

Convective storms

A

Local daytime heating causes evaporation. Usually generate hail and is during hot seasons

66
Q

Insulating property of snow_____ with density

67
Q

ground water

A

fills pore space in rocks and sediment

68
Q

Water table

A

top of where ground water completely saturates ground

69
Q

Diurnal signal

A

changes in river flow over 24h; higher in later season

70
Q

diurnal signal early spring

A

from snow melt

71
Q

diurnal signal mid summer

A

from rain and glacial melt

72
Q

Diurnal signal late summer

A

glacial melt

73
Q

Glacier lake outburst floods

A

When a lake being caused by a glacier blocking it bursts through the glacier

74
Q

Legacy Pollutants

A

Accumulated chemicals in glaciers such as DDT (evaporate in atmosphere and accumulate in mountains).

75
Q

How much of the world do glaciers make up?

76
Q

Firn

A

Intermediate between snow and ice, white in color, density = 400kg/m3

77
Q

Sintering

A

When snowflakes begin to interlock; melting begins at points of contact due to pressure

78
Q

What are the factors to consider for glacier formation

A

climate, air temperature through the year, percipitation

79
Q

Ice sheets

A

glaciers more than 50000 km2 (Antarctica and Greenland); flow independent of topography

80
Q

Ice Caps

A

glaciers in polar and sub polar reigons (at high elevations) that are less than 50000km2; constrained by topography

81
Q

Ice divide

A

high point in mtn where ice flows away from

82
Q

How much land area do glaciers occupy?

A

10% of earths surface

83
Q

Dry snow zones

A

Where there is little melting therefore glacier formation takes longer

84
Q

Mountain glaciers

A

Influenced by topography an climate; fluctuate through time

85
Q

Icefield

A

Largest mountain glacier

86
Q

Valley Glaciers/Outlet Glaciers

A

originate from icefields that spill into basins of mountain reigions

87
Q

Piedmont Glaciers

A

Originate from valley glaciers that spill into flat plains and fan out

88
Q

Tidewater glaciers

A

Valley glaciers that flow to the sea which then will break off into small icebergs

89
Q

Hanging glacier

A

major valley glaciers thin and end at cliff bands

90
Q

Cirque glaciers

A

small valley glaciers that occupy basin like structures (wide); require snow depositied by avalanches. Walls provide shade that limits melting and therefore size

91
Q

Vernagtferner Glacier

A

Had outburst floods; first depiction of glacier

92
Q

Mass Balance

A

annual input-annual output of glacier; positive means increasing in size

93
Q

Accumulation zone

A

positive mass balance; higher, colder, and snowier areas

94
Q

Ablation Zone

A

Negative mass balance; lower, warmer areas

95
Q

Equilibrium Line Altitude

A

where mass balance equals zero; high up if glacier is retreating (melting), and if low glacier is advancing it’s low (this means glacier will begin to be pulled down by gravity since its mass is increasing)

96
Q

Basil Sliding

A

slippage of ice over its surface, controlled by temp of surface and amount of water present

97
Q

Bed deformation

A

Glaciers deforming the surface it sits on; easier if dirt/soil

98
Q

Flow Rate

A

driven by gravity, thickness of ice, and slope angle (presence of water introduces variability)

99
Q

Crevasses

A

Deep cracks in glaciers formed from tension (usually in middle, around a bend, over bumps). Increases efficiency of debris transport (conveyer belt)

100
Q

Snow bridge

A

snow covering a crevasse

101
Q

Moraine

A

Accumulation of rocky debris in a glacier that extend to the bottom (can be lateral or medial); alter mass balance by changing albedo

Mountains 101 (2 decks)

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