General Geomorphology

Question 1

Change in storage =

Answer 1

Input - Output

Question 2

Process rates are modulated by…

Answer 2

Properties of earth surface materials (resistance)
Climate (e.g. rainfall intensity, windspeed, runoff) 
Inherited topography (tectonics, slope gradients)

Question 3

Erosion (or deposition) is driven by

Answer 3

spatial differences in sediment transfer across the slope

Question 4

Erosion rate must be greatest where

Answer 4

spatial differences in sediment flux are greatest

Question 5

Sediment motion depends on

Answer 5

(i) the forces applied by agents of transportation

(ii) the resisting strength of the materials involved

Question 6

What forces influence earth surface materials?

Driving/motivating forces

Answer 6

– Shearing forces
– Gravitational force (influences weight)
– Lift force (fluids only)
– Buoyancy (fluids only)

Question 7

What forces influence earth surface materials?

Resisting/impeding forces

Answer 7

– Gravitational force

– Intrinsic strength

Question 8

What does intrinsic strength vary according to?

Answer 8

Material properties, especially grain size and moisture content

Question 9

Material moves downslope via:

Answer 9

– Creep
– Solifluction
– Mass-wasting e.g. Rolling/Sliding/Falling

(Diffusive processes)

Question 10

What processes and factors control the (gradual) downslope movement of sediment?

Answer 10

– Rainsplash

– Bioperturbation

– Ground ‘heaving’ due to
• wetting/dryingcycles
• freeze/thawcycles
• thermal expansion/contraction

Question 11

Hillslope transport Rate (length/time) is dependent on…..

Answer 11

heave distance, heave frequency and slope

Question 12

The hillslope diffusion coefficient (kc) is used to describe

Answer 12

the relationship between heave distance and heave frequency

Question 13

Remember a slope is

Answer 13

just an increase in elevaton (z) over a given distance (x)

Question 14

First law of motion:

Answer 14

An object either remains at rest or continues to move at a constant velocity, unless acted upon by an external force.

Question 15

Second law of motion:

Answer 15

F = ma.

Question 16

Third law of motion:

Answer 16

When one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction on the first body.

Question 17

First law of thermodynamics :

Answer 17

Energy cannot be created or destroyed

Question 18

Second law of thermodynamics :

Answer 18

The entropy of an isolated system never decreases.

Question 19

Third law of thermodynamics :

Answer 19

Systems which best use energy survive

Question 20

Fluid flow over an object

High velocity fluid=

Answer 20

Low pressure

Lift force occurs which depends velocity gradient.

Question 21

Fluid flow over an object

Low velocity fluid=

Answer 21

High pressure

Lift force occurs which depends velocity gradient.

Question 22

On a slope, weight has components that act down the slope and normal to the slope
– The down slope component is a

Answer 22

Driving force

Question 23

On a slope, weight has components that act down the slope and normal to the slope
– The ‘slope normal’ component is a

Answer 23

Resisting force

Question 24

Archimedes Principle

Answer 24

An object immersed in a fluid is lighter by an amount equal to the weight of the fluid it displaces

Question 25

Shear stress

Answer 25

Force exerted as two substances pass over each other

Question 26

Fluid lift

Answer 26

Force associated with pressure differences around an

object imposed by flow around an object

Question 27

Buoyancy

Answer 27

Upwards force exerted by a fluid

Question 28

Sediment flux is controlled by…

Answer 28

the balance between resisting and driving forces

Question 29

Uniformitarianism

Answer 29

The same laws (processes) observed today have always operated in the same way in the past

Question 30

Catastrophism

Answer 30

The Earth is shaped by sudden, violent, episodes interrupted by long periods of quiescence