Geomorphology Flashcards
Formed when weathering, together with mass collapse (and in arid areas with wind erosion), creates a tunnel through a slab of rock.
Rock Arch or Window
Where do most Arid areas are located?
Near Equator
A wind-eroded depression in the side of a cliff of a homogenous rock type.
Alcove and yardang windows
Low, triangular-shaped deposits built from the accumulation of sediments deposited at the mouth of a valley (i.e., from a mountainous or upland into a larger mainstream valley or lowland).
Alluvial Fan
The size of Alluvial fan depends on the following:
a. area of drainage basin
b. climate
c. lithologies in the source area
d. tectonic activity
e. space available for fan growth
A type of igneous rock that forms when magma rises into the earth’s crust, but does not erupt onto the surface. The magma cools beneath the earth’s surface, forming a rock structure that extends at least one hundred square kilometers across (40 square miles), and extends to an unknown depth.
Batholith
Generally concordant with the intruded strata with dike or funnel-shaped feeder bodies below the body.
Lopolith
An intrusion that has a surface exposure of less than 100 square kilometers and is smaller than a batholith. It has a discordant relationship with the surrounding rocks, meaning it cuts across the pre-existing rock layers.
Stock
Submarine, circular, steep-sided holes which occur in coral reefs. Blue holes are formed by the erosion of limestone bedrock over thousands of years.
Blue Hole (marine sinkhole)
A compound alluvial fan where neighboring alluvial fans converge into a single apron of deposits against a slope.
Bajada
Also called pan, flat, or dry lake, flat-bottom depression found in interior desert basins and adjacent to coasts within arid and semiarid regions, periodically covered by water that slowly filtrates into the ground water system or evaporates into the atmosphere, causing the deposition of salt, sand, and mud along the bottom and around the edges of the depression.
Playa
Their slopes are generally less than 0.2 metre per kilometre. When filled with only a few centimetres of water, many kilometres of surface may be inundated. It is the process of inundation that develops and maintains the near-perfect flatness so characteristic of these arid-region landforms.
A small steep-sided and flat-topped hill, built of flat lying soft rocks capped by a more resistant layer of sedimentary rock, lava flow or duricrust, surrounded by a plain.
Butte
A deeply incised, steep-sided river valley.
Canyon
Asymmetrical upland feature usually associated with gently dipping rocks and comprising a steep scarp slope (or escarpment) and a longer, gentler dip slope.
Cuesta
Also pericline; formed by tectonic warping, igneous intrusion, or diapir. The oldest rock layers are found at the core, with younger layers around them.
Dome
Convex upward, resembling an upside-down bowl. Can be caused by various geological processes, including compression, volcanic activity, or the intrusion of magma.
Formed by the downward warping or sinking of rock layers. Concave upward, similar to a bowl. The youngest rock layers are at the center, with older layers surrounding them.
Basin
Result of compression
A depositional landform produced by sedimentation at and around the mouth of a river.
Delta
These deltas occur where tidal forces are strong and significantly influence the distribution and reworking of the sediment. They often have features like tidal channels and mudflats, and the sediment can be extensively reworked by the tidal action.
Tide-dominated deltas
In these deltas, wave action is the primary force shaping the delta. Waves redistribute the sediment, sorting it and creating features like barrier islands and lagoons. The sediment is typically coarser, and the delta has a smoother, more regular shoreline.
Wave-dominated deltas
These deltas form when the river’s sediment load is high and the marine influence in terms of waves and tides is weak. As the river water slows down when it meets the sea, it deposits its sediment load, creating a delta that often has a characteristic ‘bird-foot’ pattern, with elongated projections into the sea.
River-dominated deltas
A large area of sand dunes.
Erg
A long winding ridge of stratified sand and gravel that are frequently several km long and are somewhat like railroad embankments. Probably former sites of sub-glacial streams and rivers.
Esker
A steep slope coinciding with the line of a fault.
Fault scarp
Associated with hogback ridges. Triangular-shaped remnants of the bed between V-shaped notches. Steeply sloping wedge shaped landscape features created by differential erosion.
Flatirons
