Mountains and the weather Flashcards
What are the changes in the weather that happen when you climb up a mountain?
As you climb up a mountain, the weather changes. The higher you go, the colder it gets. The temperature falls by about 2 degrees Celsius for each 300 meters you climb.
What is a rain shadow?
A rain shadow is a sheltered side of a where there is less rainfall than on the other, windward side.
What is the step-by-step process of how rain shadows form?
the upper parts of mountains are often covered in clouds. Clouds are made up of tiny water droplets. Mountains cause the clouds to rise so high that the droplets join together. The bigger drops fall as rain or snow. Often the rain or snow falls on only one side of the mountain, called the windward side.
The other side of the mountain, the leeward side, which receives much less rain or snow, is said to be in a rain shadow.
How does the sun affect different sides of a mountain differently?
The sun affects the different sides of a mountain differently. One side may be in sunshine and the other in shadow.
What kind of air sink into the valleys?
Since cold air is heavier than warm air, cold air tends to sink into the valleys.
What kind of trees are planted on the lower slopes of a mountain?
Orchards of fruit trees are planted on the lower slopes of a mountain and not in the bottom of a valley.
Where are villages often built near the mountain?
Villages are often built on the lower slopes of a mountain. They are not built in the colder valley bottom.
What is weathering?
Weathering is the breaking up of rocks by heat, cold, ice and rainwater.
What are the 3 causes of weathering mountains?
- weathering because of ice
- weathering because of water
- weathering because of changes in temperature
How are mountains becoming weathered with ice?
Since rocks have tiny cracks in them, when rain falls or dew forms, water gets in the cracks, and when it gets very cold, the water freezes to form ice. When water turns into ice, it expands. The ice presses hard against the sides of the cracks and eventually pieces of rock break off and slide down the mountain.
How are mountains becoming weathered with water?
Rainwater is not just water, but also a weak kind of acid so it gradually dissolves rocks made of chalk and limestone.
How are mountains becoming weathered because of the changes in temperature?
In hot, dry places, such as the hot deserts, the big differences in temperature between day and night weakens the rocks. Over time, rocks break up into smaller pieces that slide down the sides of the mountain.
What are the slow-moving rivers of ice called? What do they do?
In some high, snowy mountains, there are slow-moving rivers of ice called glaciers. When a glacier moves down a river valley, it wears away the rocks, making a deep U-shaped valley.
What is another additional way that mountains can get weathered by?
Plant roots can grow into the cracks in rocks. As the roots grow bigger, they force the cracks open and pieces of the rock break off.
What is the result of weathering?
The pieces of rock formed by weathering may form a loose bank of fragments, called a scree, near the bottom of a mountain
