GEO 215 Exam 2 Flashcards
A =
Tropical
B =
Dry
C =
Subtropical (Daytona)
D =
Continental
E =
Polar
AF =
Constantly rainy, examples: tropical rain forest
AM =
Monsoon Example wet season and dry seasons.
AW =
Dry cool season, rainy warm season, Example Tropical Savanna
BS =
Semiarid (slightly rainy season)
BW =
Arid (desert)
CF =
Constant/even precipitation (Humid subtropical)
CS =
Dry warm season, wet cool season (Mediterranean)
CW =
dry cool season, warm wet season (rainy season and a very dry season)
DF =
Constant/even precipitation (Humid continental)
DW =
Dry cool season, wet warm season (continental/subarctic monsoon)
ET =
Tundra
EF =
ice cap
What affects soil formation?
- Parent material -Climate of area - gravity, erosion - plants and animals
Laterization
- Tropical areas
- Soils deep
- Nutrient poor
- Red color
Salinization:
- Hot dry areas
- Salty soil
- Crackly and dry
Calcification:
- Like salinization but more precipitation
- Great Plains area
Podzolization:
- Cool and rainy
- Pacific Northwest
- Acidic and nutrient poor
Gleization:
- Very cold locations
- Tundra
- No evaporation or runoff
Igneous rocks:
- When lava cools as it reches Earth’s surface.
- Granite
- Cools quickly - fine grained, smoother appearance
- Cools slowly – coarse-grained, specked appearance (granite countertop)
- Lighter color - felsic
- Darker – mafic
Sedimentary rocks:
- Many layers of sediment moved to a location by wind or water and compacted over time.
- Soft
- Great Plains
- Limestone
Metamorphic rocks:
- Eposed to extreme pressure/chemical reactions that changed them.
Continental Drift theory:
- Continents drift over time
- Alfred Wegener 1912
Types of plate boundaries:
Tectonic, divergent, convergent, transform.
Tectonic Plates:
- Constantly moving
- Faults (crust breaks and moves) form here
Divergent Boundaries:
Two plates moving apart due to tension stress of molten moving up.
Normal faults (hanging wall slips down along foot wall)
Convergent Boundaries:
Two plates move toward one another, compression stress.
Ocean-Continent Convergence:
Plates sink (subduction)
Ocean-Ocean convergence:
Form islands (Alaska’s)
Continent-Continent Convergence:
Reverse faults
Mountain ranges form (Himalayas)
Transform Boundaries:
- Plates move past laterally
- Shear stress
- Strike slip
Faults:
Folding:
deformation to crust in response to stress.
Faults:
Anticlines:
upfolds and produce ridges.
Synclines:
downfolds that produce valleys.
Volcanoes:
- Form in subduction zones or hot stoops
o Hot spots: magma rising up
- Felsic magma:
doesn’t flows, explosive eruptions
- Mafic magma:
flows, weak eruptions
Shield Volcanoes:
- Sloped volcanoes
- Mafic magma
- Weak explosions
Composite Volcanoes: (Stratovolcanoes)
- Large big explosions
- Felsic magma
Physical Weathering:
- Disintegration of rocks without any change in rocks chemical compostion.
- Done by water, salt, exfoliation.
Chemical weathering:
- Chemical alternation
- Oxidation
Biological Weathering:
- Weaken over time.
Rockfalls:
- High speed, low moisture, falling of rocks downslope.
Landslides:
instant collapse of slopes moving across flat sliding planes.
Slumps:
collapse of a slope with rotation along curved sliding planes.
Mudflow:
water-logged material flows rapidly through drainage after rain.
Earthflow:
water-saturated slopes shift downhill a short distance some time after rain.
Soil Creeps:
gradual downhill movements of soil and regolith of an entire slope.
Cirriform clouds
are thin and wispy, and exist at high altitudes. Cirrus clouds are a specific example.
Stratiform clouds
are wider than they are tall and are usually closer to the ground. Think of a gray, cloudy day. Stratus clouds are a specific example.
Cumuliform clouds
are puffy and taller than they are wide. Cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds are examples.
Nimbo- or -nimbus
is a Latin root that means rain or precipitation. You often see this with various cloud types (cumulonimbus or nimbostratus for example).
