Geomorphology, Surficial Processes, and Quaternary Geology Flashcards
What qualifies a snow or ice field to be considered a glacier?
• Large mass of ice
• Formed, at least in part, on land by the compaction and recrystallization of snow
• Moving slowly, by creep, downslope or outward in all directions due to the stress of its own weight
• Surviving from year to year
What are the characteristics of continental glaciers?
Advance along a wide front and cover large areas
What are the general characteristics of dunes?
Dunes are large, wind derived accumulations of sand that are located anywhere there is a source and a mode of a placement, such beach or desert environments
What is a parabolic dune?
• U-shaped mounds of sand
• Convex noses and elongated arms
• Well known in coastal deserts
• Crests point upwind
• Fixed by vegetation
What is a transverse or barchan dune?
• Crescent shaped mounds
• Wider than they are long
• Slip face is on the dunes concave side
• Form under winds that blow from one direction
What is a longitudinal dune?
• Elongate parallel to the prevailing wind
• Sharp crested
• Common in the Sahara
What is a arête? (Common pointed feature of a glacier)
A knife edged rock divide between two glacial cirques
What is a col? (Common pointed feature of a glacier)
A connection across the rock arête dividing two cirques
What is a horn? (Common pointed glacier feature)
A peek or pinnacle send an eroded by three or more glacial cirques.
What is a monument? (Common pointed glacier feature)
A horn that has been separated by itself by intersecting cirques
What is a truncated or faceted spurs? (Common pointed feature of glaciers)
Triangular, hillside features due to glacial erosion of the headlands between two former streams
How are natural bridges formed in karst terrain?
Formed by water that dissolves rock underneath karst terrain
How is a hum formed in karst terrain?
Individual remains of hills left behind after the dissolution of rock
How are caverns formed in karst terrain?
Interconnected caves with many levels, and extending in all directions
How is travertine formed in karst terrain?
Dense, finely crystalline limestone frequently, massive and concretionary. Typically white, tan or cream and commonly displaying a fibrous or concentric banded structure. Formed by a chemical precipitation of calcium carbonate from solution in surface and ground waters
How is dripstone formed in karst terrain?
Any cave deposits of calcite or other minerals formed by dripping water, including stalactites and stalagmites
How is helictite formed in karst terrain?
A small, thin structure formed by persistent, but small quantities of water trickling out of a hole, forming a distorted twig, like lateral projection of calcium carbonate
What is a sinkhole? (Depression on karst terrain)
Round or roughly elliptical depressions ranging in diameter from a few feet to hundreds of feet, created by bedrock collapse or the dissolution of bedrock by groundwater
What is a sinkhole pond? (Depression on karst terrain)
The result of clay clogging a developing or existing sinkhole, resulting in the formation of a localized perched water table
What is a swallow hole? (Depression on karst terrain)
The opening at the bottom of a sinkhole, through which water can flow into a space below the surface
What is a polje? (Depression on karst terrain)
A karst field or plain.
