Geography Christmas Exam Flashcards
Weathering
Weathering is the process where rock is dissolved, worn away or broken down into smaller and smaller pieces.
Erosion
The process by which soil and rock is removed from one area of the Earth through natural causes such as wind, water, and ice and transported elsewhere.
Exfoliation
Exfoliation, also called unloading, which is when the outer layers of rock break away from the rest of the rock.
Gradient
A gradient is the measure of the steepness of the slope.
Transportation
The movement of things.
V shaped valley
A V-valley is formed by erosion from a river or stream over time.
Interlocking spurs
When there are areas of hard rock which are harder to erode, the river will bend around it. This creates interlocking spurs.
Meander
A meander is a curve in a river.
Oxbow lake
An oxbow lake is a lake, or area of water, in a U-shape.
Drainage basin
A river basin or drainage basin is an area of land drained by a river. This can be compared to a sink or basin, which catches the water falling into it.
Delta
A delta is a triangular piece of land which is found at the mouth of a river. It is formed when a river deposits the sediments as it flow towards its mouth (a place where a river drain into a lake, sea or an ocean).
Glaciers
Glaciers are huge masses of ice that “flow” like very slow rivers. They form over hundreds of years where fallen snow compresses and turns into ice.
Corries
A corrie is an semi-circular hollow found on the side of a mountain. This is where a glacier forms.
Corry lake
After the glacier has melted in the corrie a lake forms in the hollow. This is called a corrie lake or tarn.
Arete
A sharp ridge between two corries.
U shaped valley
U-shaped valleys have steep sides and a wide, flat floor. They are formed in river valleys which, during the ice age, have been filled by a large glacier
Hanging valley
A high-level. tributary valley from where there is a sharp fall to the level of the lower, main valley. A hanging valley is a valley that leads into another valley. This can often lead to waterfalls.
Truncated spur
The glaciers slice through the interlocking spurs leaving thee truncated which really means “Cut off”.
Moraine
The material that the glaciers carry is called moraine.
Till
All of the rock , sand and mud that it was carrying gets left behind when a glacier melts.
Weather
Weather is what the sky and the air outside are like, such as cold and cloudy. Weather changes every day.
Climate
Climate is like the weather, but over a long time
Troposphere
The weather takes place mainly in the lowest layer, the troposphere. This layer has the air we breathe and the clouds in the sky. The air is densest in this lowest layer.
Tropic of cancer
The Tropic of Cancer is an imaginary latitude line located above the equator that runs across the globe at about 23 degrees north.
