Earth Science Exam #2

Front 1

Chemical Weathering

Back 1

Decomposition; rock is broken apart at the molecular level; atomic bands are broken, causing rock reducing in size

Front 2

Fall

Back 2

Mass of rock that free falls down a vertical or nearly vertical slope, very fast, due to lack of friction

Front 3

Flow

Back 3

Mass of soil/rock moving as a viscous fluid down a steep slope; often involves high water content

Front 4

Frost action

Back 4

Water seeps into fractures & freezes & expands exrting pressure against the rock

Front 5

Mass Movement

Back 5

Movement of rock/soil downslope due to gravity.

Front 6

Physical Weathering

Back 6

Disintegration of a solid rock, caused by external forces applied to the rock

Front 7

Root Action

Back 7

Small roots work into fractures in rock; as plant grows, root acts as a wedge that breaks rocks

Front 8

Salt Crystal Growth

Back 8

Salts dissolved in water re-crystallize after water seeps into fractures, breaking up rock

Front 9

Sinkhole

Back 9

A depression produced in a region where soluble rock has been removed by ground water

Front 10

Slide

Back 10

Soil/rock moving across an inclined "slip surface" mass periodically moves as long as it remains on the incline

Front 11

Solution

Back 11

Rock dissolves in water

Front 12

spheroidal weathering

Back 12

Chemical weathering processes occur along fractures in bedrock, resolution spherical rock formations

Front 13

Subsidence

Back 13

Collapse of the land surface into a void, due to removal of subsurface material. Creates a circular depression(sinkhole)

Front 14

Thermal Expansion

Back 14

Rock volume changes in response to dramatic temp. change, causing rock to break apart

Front 15

Unloading

Back 15

Buried rock structures uncovered through weathering erosion & crustal uplift

Front 16

Consistence

Back 16

Cohesion of soil particles

Front 17

Eluviation

Back 17

The washing out of fine soil components from the horizon by downward water

Front 18

Friable

Back 18

easily crumbled

Front 19

Humus

Back 19

organic matter in soil produced by the decomposition of plants and animals

Front 20

Illuviation

Back 20

the introduction of salts or colloids into one soil horizon from another by percolating water.

Front 21

Loam

Back 21

fertile soil

Front 22

Soil Horizon

Back 22

a layer of soil that has identifiable characteristics produced by chemical weathering and other soil forming

Front 23

Soil Profile

Back 23

a vertical section through a soil showing its secession of horizons and the underlying parent material

Front 24

Structure

Back 24

Arrangement of soil particles; shape of soil peds.

Front 25

Texture

Back 25

Size and organization of particles within a soil; percentages of sand, silt and lay in a soil

Front 26

Ablation

Back 26

Removal of glacial ice

involves melting, sublimation and calving(breaking off)

Front 27

Abrasion

Back 27

Scouring of the streambed by sediments moving through the channel

Front 28

Arete

Back 28

a narrow knife like ridge separating two adjacent valleys

Front 29

Calving

Back 29

breaking off

Front 30

Drumlin

Back 30

hill made out of glacial til, steep side of the slope

Front 31

Esker

Back 31

ridge composed of sand ans gravel deposited by a stream flowing in a tunnel beneath a glacier

Front 32

Fiord

Back 32

a steep sided inlet of the sea formed when a glacial trough was partially submerged

Front 33

Glacial Trough

Back 33

a mountain alley that has been widened deepened and straightened by a glacier

Front 34

Hanging Trough

Front 35

Horn

Front 36

Laterial Moraine

Front 37

Medical Moraine

Back 37

a ridge of till formed

Front 38

Plucking

Back 38

pieces of bedrock are lifted out of place

Front 39

Stratified Drift

Back 39

sediments deposited by by glacial meltwater

Front 40

Sublimation

Back 40

the conversion of a solid directly to a gas without first going to a liquid

Front 41

Tarn

Back 41

a small lake

Front 42

Till

Back 42

unsorted sediment deposited directly by a glacier

Front 43

Alluvial Terrace

Back 43

Clear evidence of rejuvenation

Front 44

Alluviam

Back 44

unconsolidated sediment deposited by a stream

Front 45

Channelization

Back 45

human modification of the river channel

Front 46

Cut Bank

Back 46

the area of active erosion on the outside of a meander

Front 47

Delta

Back 47

an accumulation of sediment formed where a stream enters a lake or ocean

Front 48

Distrubutaries

Back 48

a section of a stream that leaves the main flow

Front 49

Evapotranspiration

Back 49

Combined vaporization of water from soil/rock surfaces & vegetation

Front 50

Floodplain

Back 50

Relatively flat land along a stream

Front 51

Infiltration

Back 51

Water penetrating the surface; rate depends on surface conditions

Front 52

Interception

Back 52

water held within a canopy of trees; never reaches the surface

Front 53

Maturity (Davis Cycle)

Back 53

downcutting decreases because steam approaches its base level

lateral erosion increases and the stream begins to widen its valley

Front 54

Meandering

Back 54

stream flowing in a winding channel formation of cut banks, points bars and oxbows

Front 55

Old Age (Davis Cycle)

Back 55

Base level is reached; down cutting stops

the stream begins meandering across a flood plain

Front 56

Oxbow Lake

Back 56

a curved lake produced when a stream cuts of a meander

Front 57

Point Bar

Back 57

a crescent-shaped accumulation of sand and gravel deposed on the inside of a meander

Front 58

Rejuvination

Back 58

stream begins to downcut its chennel, after reaching "old age"

caused by crustal uplift and lowering the streams base level

Front 59

Runoff

Back 59

Excess water moving across the surface after a precipitation event

Front 60

Saltation

Back 60

Hopping, bouncing motion of particles along the bed of the stream

Front 61

Surface Detention

Back 61

Water held within puddles at the surface

Front 62

Traction

Back 62

Rolling, sliding of the largest bedlood particles in the channel

Front 63

Youth (Davis Cycle)

Back 63

Stream downcutting bc its situated above base level

Ex. Canyon, gorge

Front 64

Aquifer

Back 64

Permeable rock layer, transmits water

Front 65

Aquitard

Back 65

impermeable layer that hinders the movement of water

Front 66

Artesian Well

Back 66

Water under pressure rising from a confined & inclined aquifer

Front 67

Cavern

Back 67

Large void in the bedrock caused by chem weathering

Front 68

Cone of Depression

Back 68

circular depression in the water table

Front 69

Drawdown

Back 69

Lowering of the water table caused by excessive groundwater extraction

Front 70

Karst Topograpghy

Back 70

Landscape that has been shaped by groundwater action

Front 71

Perched Water Table

Back 71

Existence of an aquitard may lead to this

Front 72

Permability

Back 72

ability of a material to transmit water; the smaller the pores, the slower the groundwater moves

Front 73

Porosity

Back 73

The availability of pore spaces

% of rock/soil that consists of pores

Front 74

Potentiometric Surface

Back 74

level to which water will rise from an artesian well

Front 75

Saltwater Intrusion

Back 75

Near the coast,saltwater may be drawn into a well from below

Wells are unusable due to high salinity levels

Front 76

Spring

Back 76

Natural flow of ground water onto the surface; occurs where water table intersects the surface

Front 77

Stalatutes

Back 77

Cling tight to the roof and hang down

Front 78

Stalagmite

Back 78

grows from the ground

Front 79

Well

Back 79

Hole bored into the zone of saturation from which water is extracted

Front 80

Water Table

Back 80

Top of the zone of saturation

Front 81

Zone of Aeration

Back 81

Pore spaces filled with air

Front 82

Zone of saturation

Back 82

pore spaces filled with water