Study Guide for test #4 Flashcards
Rock cycle
an idealized cycle of processes undergone by rocks in the earth’s crust, involving igneous intrusion, uplift, erosion, transportation, deposition as sedimentary rock, metamorphism, remelting, and further igneous intrusion.
Detrital
Pertaining to particles of rock derived from the mechanical breakdown of preexisting rocks by weathering and erosion.
Evaporation
the process of turning from liquid into vapor.
Run-off
(of a liquid) flow over and away from a surface.
Permeable
a material that allows liquids or gases to pass through.
Zone of aeration
where gaps between soil are filled with both air and water.
Erosion
the process of eroding or being eroded by wind, water, or other natural agents.
Meander
a bend in a river channel.
Sedimentary
(of rock) that has formed from sediment deposited by water or air.
Frost wedging
the mechanical disintegration, splitting or break-up of rock by the pressure of water freezing in cracks, crevices, pores, joints or bedding planes.
Condensation
water which collects as droplets on a cold surface when humid air is in contact with it.
Precipitation
the action or process of precipitating a substance from a solution.
Impermeable
not allowing fluid to pass through.
Zone of saturation
Where raw wastewater is exfiltrating from a sewer pipe, the area of soil that is moistened around the leak point is often called the zone of saturation.
Flood
an overflowing of a large amount of water beyond its normal confines, especially over what is normally dry land
Mandering river
Rivers flowing over gently sloping ground begin to curve back and forth across the landscape.
Texture
the disposition or manner of union of the particles of a body or substance, a visual or tactile surface characteristic resulting in a certain appearance.
Root wedging
A process where plants and their roots wedge into cracks in bedrock, and widen them.
Transpiration
he loss of water from a plant in the form of water vapor.
Aquifer
a body of permeable rock which can contain or transmit groundwater.
Porosity
the quality of being porous, or full of tiny holes. Liquids go right through things that have porosity.
Mechanical weathering
causes rocks to crumble. Water, in either liquid or solid form, is often a key agent of mechanical weathering. … Changes in temperature cause rock to expand (with heat) and contract (with cold).
Chemical weathering
the erosion or disintegration of rocks, building materials, etc., caused by chemical reactions (chiefly with water and substances dissolved in it) rather than by mechanical processes.
Oxbow lake
a curve, or meander, in a river. A lake forms as the river finds a different, shorter, course.
Clastic
denoting rocks composed of broken pieces of older rocks.
Erosion
the process of eroding or being eroded by wind, water, or other natural agents.
Infiltration
permeation of a liquid into something by filtration.
Aquitard
Poorly permeable underground layer that limits the flow of groundwater from one aquifer to another.
Water table
the level below which the ground is saturated with water.
