What is geomorphology? Flashcards
What is geomorphology?
The study of the characteristics, origin, and development of landforms.
Geomorphology studies the processes of what?
Processes that shape the landscape.
The internal structure of the earth is made up of what two crusts?
Oceanic and continental.
Oceanic crust is what % of earth’s crust and how many ~ thick?
75% and 3-5 ~ thick.
Continental crust is what % of earth’s crust and how many ~ thick?
25% and 20-40 ~ thick.
What are the three different rock classifications covered in class?
Igneous, Sedimentary, and Metamorphic.
What is an igneous rock?
Rocks formed from cooled magma.
Igneous rocks have what?
Crystalline strutures.
Two types of igneous rock covered in class is?
Extrusive and intrusive.
Igneous extrusive?
Extrudes onto earth’s surface, quick cooling, small crystals.
Most common igneous extrusive?
Basalt (dark, dense, heavy, iron)
Majority of the oceanic crust is what?
Basalt.
Igneous intrusive?
cools below the ground, called the mother rock or country rock, slow cooling, large crystals.
What is the most common igneous intrusive rock?
Granite.
What is the majority of cont. crust?
Granite.
What is sedimentary rock?
compacted ad cemented earth materials, organic remains, or chemical precipitates.
These sedimentary rock earth materials are also called what?
Clastic rocks.
Common sedimentary cementing agents are?
CaCO3, SiO2, Fe2O3.
What are three clastic rocks covered in class?
Conglomerate, sandstone, shale.
Clastic sizes from latest to smallest?
Boulders, cobble, pebble, sand, silt, clay.
What’s organic?
Formed from the remains of organisms.
What is a chemical precipitate?
A minerals that has been dissolved and precipitated from solution “evaporites” ex.) table salt.
What is metamorphic rock?
Rocks that at one point have been igneous or sedimentary that have been altered by heat and or pressure.
Sandstone turns into what?
Quartzite
