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Geology 101 > Test 4 > Flashcards

Test 4 Flashcards

1
Q

porosity

A

the total amount of open space within a material

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2
Q

permeability

A

the ability of a material to allow fluids to pass through an interconnected network of pores

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3
Q

aquifers

A

sediment or rock with high permeability and porosity

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4
Q

aquitard

A

low permeability regardless of porosity

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5
Q

water table

A

the horizon that separates the unsaturated zone above from the saturated zone below

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6
Q

capillary fringe

A

thin layer of water that fills the pore spaces just above the water table

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7
Q

Perched water table

A

a local, small, water table that lies above the regional water table

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8
Q

How does water move in the unsaturated zone

A

straight down in response to gravity

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9
Q

How does water move in the saturated zone

A

in response to changes in pressure

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10
Q

Hydraulic head

A

the energy available to drive the flow of groundwater at a given location

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11
Q

spring

A

natural outlet from which groundwater flows or seeps onto Earth’s surface

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12
Q

Artesian spring

A

the ground surface intersects a natural fracture that extends down to an aquifer that has sufficient pressure to drive the water up to the surface

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13
Q

cone of depression

A

if people pump water out of a well too quickly then the water table will sink around the well

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14
Q

geothermal region

A

places that are currently or were recently volcanically active

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15
Q

geyser

A

a fountain of steam and hot water that erupts episodically from a vent

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16
Q

pore collapse

A

when the water is pumped out of an aquifer the remaining pores space is only held up by air a may collapse

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17
Q

contaminant plume

A

cloud of contaminated groundwater that moves away from the source of contamination

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18
Q

Stalactite

A

calcite drips from the ceiling of a cave to form icicles

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19
Q

stalagmite

A

calcite drips and hits the floor to form “upward pointing cones”

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20
Q

Karst topography

A

where surface landforms develop when limestone bedrock dissolves both at the surface and in underlying caves

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21
Q

sheet wash

A

water flowing downslope in a thin film

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22
Q

downcutting

A

extra water flow deepens the channel relative to its surroundings

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23
Q

runoff

A

all water flowing on the surface of Earth

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24
Q

headward erosion

A

a stream channel begins to lengthen at its head. upward

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25
tributaries
small secondary channels that flow into the main trunk stream
26
Drainage networks
look at page 466 in textbook
27
watershed
the broad region from which a drainage network collects water
28
drainage divide
a highland or ridge that separates one watershed from another
29
Permanent streams
water flows year round
30
Ephemeral streams
flow seasonally
31
discharge
volume of water passing through a cross section of the stream at a given time
32
Scouring
running water can remove loose fragments of sediment
33
Breaking and lifting
flowing water can break off chunks of solid rock
34
Abrasion
sediment-laden water grinds away at the channel floor and walls
35
Dissolution
running water dissolves soluble minerals
36
dissolved load
minerals dissolved in the water
37
suspended load
tiny solid grains that swirl along with the water without settling to the floor of the channel
38
Bed load
large particles that bounce or roll along the stream floor
39
Saltation
each saltating grain follows a curved trajectory up through the water and back down the the bed where it strikes another grain upward
40
competence of a stream
max particle size the stream can carry
41
capacity
total quantity of sediment a stream can carry
42
sediment sorting
stream deposits tend to be segregated by size
43
alluvium
sediments deposited by a stream
44
delta
where a stream empties at its mouth into a standing body of water
45
Stream gradient
slope of the stream channel
46
longitudinal profile
a cross-section image showing the variation in the river's elevation along its length
47
base elevation
the lowest elevation of a stream's surface
48
stream terraces
see page 474 | the stream starts to cut down into its own alluvium and stream terraces appear bordering the present floodplain
49
Stream rejuvenation
a stream starts to downcut into a land surface whose elevation had previously been close to the stream's base level
50
Stream piracy
when headward erosion by one stream causes it to intersect another stream and rob water from it
51
superposed stream
when a stream downcuts into folded strata it maintains its original slope and doesn't follow the slope of the folds
52
Antecedent streams
if the stream downcuts as fast as the range rises
53
sublimate
ice evaporates directly to a vapor
54
firn
packed snow containing 25% air
55
glacial ice
contains about 20% air and absorbs red light so it appears bluish
56
glacier
a stream or sheet of recrystallized ice that stays mostly frozen all year and flows under the influence of gravity
57
cirque
bowl-shaped depressions on the flank of a mountain
58
How does glacial ice deform?
ductile towards the base but brittle towards the top
59
ablation
the removal of ice by melting
60
calving
chunks of ice breaking off the glacier
61
How does ice move through a glacier as it flows?
it tend to follow a curved path
62
tidewater glaciers
glaciers whose toe lies in the water
63
how much mass of floating ice is underwater?
88%
64
glacial incorporation
ice picks up loose rock
65
glacial plucking
breaking off chunks of bedrock
66
glacial abrasion
sand and silt in the ice grinds and pulverizes rock into a fine powder
67
striations
clasts moving with the ice carve grooves
68
arete
residual knife-edge that separates two cirques
69
fjords
the floors of valleys cut by costal glaciers were cut hundreds of meters deeper than present sea level
70
moraine
a pile of sediment carried or left behind by a glacier
71
till
sediment deposited by a glacier
72
erratics
relatively large cobbles and boulders left behind by a glacier
73
marine
clasts carried out to sea by icebergs
74
outwash
sorted till by streams
75
varve
two lake-bed sediment layers deposited in the same year
76
kettle holes
block of ice becomes buried by till and melts, creating an empty space
77
drumlins
elongate hills created by glaciers
78
pluvial lakes
fed by enhanced rainfall, lakes accumulate in low-lying areas a great distance from the glacier front
79
tillites
larger class distributed throughout a matrix of sandstone and mudstone
80
Eccentricity, tilt, and precession of the Earth
see page 596
81
Milankovitch cycles
climate cycles related to eccentricity, tilt, and precession
82
albedo
snow reflects incoming light and cools the earth

Geology 101 (4 decks)

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