Study Guide for test #4

Question 1

Rock cycle

Answer 1

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.

Question 2

Detrital

Answer 2

Pertaining to particles of rock derived from the mechanical breakdown of preexisting rocks by weathering and erosion.

Question 3

Evaporation

Answer 3

the process of turning from liquid into vapor.

Question 4

Run-off

Answer 4

(of a liquid) flow over and away from a surface.

Question 5

Permeable

Answer 5

a material that allows liquids or gases to pass through.

Question 6

Zone of aeration

Answer 6

where gaps between soil are filled with both air and water.

Question 7

Erosion

Answer 7

the process of eroding or being eroded by wind, water, or other natural agents.

Question 8

Meander

Answer 8

a bend in a river channel.

Question 9

Sedimentary

Answer 9

(of rock) that has formed from sediment deposited by water or air.

Question 10

Frost wedging

Answer 10

the mechanical disintegration, splitting or break-up of rock by the pressure of water freezing in cracks, crevices, pores, joints or bedding planes.

Question 11

Condensation

Answer 11

water which collects as droplets on a cold surface when humid air is in contact with it.

Question 12

Precipitation

Answer 12

the action or process of precipitating a substance from a solution.

Question 13

Impermeable

Answer 13

not allowing fluid to pass through.

Question 14

Zone of saturation

Answer 14

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.

Question 15

Flood

Answer 15

an overflowing of a large amount of water beyond its normal confines, especially over what is normally dry land

Question 16

Mandering river

Answer 16

Rivers flowing over gently sloping ground begin to curve back and forth across the landscape.

Question 17

Texture

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

Root wedging

Answer 18

A process where plants and their roots wedge into cracks in bedrock, and widen them.

Question 19

Transpiration

Answer 19

he loss of water from a plant in the form of water vapor.

Question 20

Aquifer

Answer 20

a body of permeable rock which can contain or transmit groundwater.

Question 21

Porosity

Answer 21

the quality of being porous, or full of tiny holes. Liquids go right through things that have porosity.

Question 22

Mechanical weathering

Answer 22

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).

Question 23

Chemical weathering

Answer 23

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.

Question 24

Oxbow lake

Answer 24

a curve, or meander, in a river. A lake forms as the river finds a different, shorter, course.

Question 25

Clastic

Answer 25

denoting rocks composed of broken pieces of older rocks.

Question 26

Erosion

Answer 26

the process of eroding or being eroded by wind, water, or other natural agents.

Question 27

Infiltration

Answer 27

permeation of a liquid into something by filtration.

Question 28

Aquitard

Answer 28

Poorly permeable underground layer that limits the flow of groundwater from one aquifer to another.

Question 29

Water table

Answer 29

the level below which the ground is saturated with water.