Weathering and mass movement Flashcards
What is a cliff
A steep high rock face formed by weathering and erosion
What is a steep high rock face formed by weathering and erosion
A cliff
What is weathering
The weakening or decay of rocks in their original place
What is the weakening or decay of rocks in their original place
Weathering
What are the 3 types of weathering
Mechanical, chemical and biological
What type of weathering is freeze-thaw
Mechanical
What type of weathering is salt weathering
Mechanical
What type of weathering is carbonation
Chemical
What type of weathering is flora
Biological
What type of weathering is fauna
Biological
What is flora
Plants
What is fauna
Animals
What is mechanical weathering
The disintegration of rocks
What is scree
Rock fragments
What is chemical weathering
Weathering caused by chemical changes
What is biological weathering
Weathering due to the actions of flora and fauna
What are the 4 steps of freeze-thaw weathering
Water collects in pores in the rock, at night it freezes and expands making cracks bigger, in the day it melts seeping deeper into the rock, the process repeats
What are pores
Cracks and holes
What are the 3 steps of salt weathering
Salt evaporates from seawater and leaves behing crystals, the crystals collect in pores and expand, this puts pressure on rocks and they flake away
What are the 2 steps of carbonation
Rainwater absorbs CO² becoming acidic, it reacts with alkali rocks such as chalk and limestone and dissolves them
What is flora weathering
Plant roots grow in cracks in the rocks
What is fauna weathering
Animals such as rabbits burrow into weak rocks such as sands
What is erosion
Wearing away and removal of material by a moving force
What is the wearing away and removal of material by a moving force
Erosion
What does impermeable mean
Rocks that dont allow water to pass through
What type of rocks allow water to pass through
Impermeable
What is pearmeable rock
Rocks that allow water to pass through
What types of rock allow water to pass through
Permeable
What does saturated mean
When a meterial cant hold anymore water
What is it called when a meterial cant hold anymore water
Saturated
What is the base of a cliff
The bottom
What is the bottom of a cliff called
The base
What is mass movement
The downward movement of material due to gravity
What is the the downward movement of material due to gravity
Mass movement
What is solution
The dissolving of soluble chemicals in rocks
What is the dissolving of soluble chemicals in rocks
Solution
What is hydraulic action
Water compresses air into cracks causing the rocks to break apart
What is water compressing air into cracks causing the rocks to break apart
Hydraulic action
What is cavitation
The explosive force of trapped air operating in a crack
What is the explosive force of trapped air operating in a crack
Cavitation
What is attrition
Rock fragments smashing into each other making them smaller and rounder
What is it called when rock fragments smash into each other making them smaller and rounder
Attrition
What is corrasion
Rock fragments are pucked up and thrown at cliffs by the sea, scraping and gouging to erode the rock
What is it called when rock fragments are pucked up and thrown at cliffs by the sea, scraping and gouging to erode the rock
Corrasion
What is abrasion
The sandpapering of rocks over a rocky platform making it smoother
What is the sandpapering of rocks over a rocky platform making it smoother
Abrasion
What are the 4 types of mass movement
Mudslide, landslide, rockfall and slumping(rotational slip)
What are mudslides, landslides, rockfalls and slumping(rotational slip) examples of
Mass movement
What are the 5 steps of slumping
Soft boulder clay is left behind from glaciers, it is eroded by hydraulic action and abrasion, prolonged rainfall saturates the permeable soft boulder clay increasing its weight, the clay slumps due to increased weight and gravity, debris at the base of the cliff is eroded by the sea and the cliff is exposed again
What are the 5 steps of a landslide
There is cliff made of resistant material, the base of the cliff is eroded by hydraulic action and abrasion, not weathering processes, creating a wave cut notch, at the notches size increases the weight of the cliff above becomes too much to support causing a landslide
What are the 2 steps of a rockfall
Freeze-thaw weathering occurs, arter many times rocks break off and fall to the base of the cliff as scree
What is scree
Rock fragments at the base of a cliff
What are rock fragments at the base of a cliff
Scree
What are the 4 steps of a mudslide
The form from boulder clay, the less resistant permeable boulder clay becomes saturated after prolonged rainfall, due to gravity the boulder clay slides, it slides faster than slumping, occuring on steeper cliffs
