Landscapes and Mass Wasting Flashcards
How is “uplift” caused?
It’s caused by fault movements and stress within the crust
What is “subsidence” and how is it caused?
Subsidence is the sinking of the land surface, and it is caused by fault movements and stress within the crust
What processes work to tear down elevated areas that have been uplifted
Mass wasting and erosion
What process causes sediment to fill in low areas that have subsided?
Deposition
What happens to mountains when the rate of uplift is higher than the rate of erosion?
Mountains rise
What happens to mountains when erosion rates are higher than uplift?
Mountains are worn down
What are the features of a landscape called?
Landforms
What are landforms created by the
buildup of sediments called?
Depositional landforms
What are landforms sculpted by erosion of the landscape called?
Erosional landforms
Term for when resistant materials stand up as ridges and mountains, while softer materials form valleys.
Differential erosion
A slope is ___ when the frictional resistance to movement is greater than the gravitational force pulling the material down slope.
Stable
Anything that reduces the resistance or increases the downslope component of the force will make the slope ___
Unstable
A ___ such as an earthquake can make an unstable slope ___, resulting in mass wasting movement.
Trigger; Fail
What is Angle of repose?
the angle of repose of an unconsolidated material is the steepness of the slope at which the gravitational force and the frictional resistance are precisely balanced.
How does water affect a slope?
The added weight of
the water can make a slope fail.
What is “Creep”?
The slow movement of soil or other material down a slope due to freeze-thaw or wet-dry cycles.
What is “Slump”?
The (usually) slow movement of a block of material along a curved surface at its base.
In a ___ the material remains mostly coherent and moves along a defined surface.
Slide
In a ___ the material is saturated with water and flows as a viscous fluid.
Flow
A ___ is a type of flow that occurs on volcanic landscapes when water-saturated ash flows down steep volcanic slopes.
Lahar
