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25 Cards in this Set
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- Back
Angle of Repose
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The maximum slope angle that allows rock, sand, clay, and debris to stay in place without movement; depends on slope material and moisture content.
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Carbonation
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The process whereby carbonic acid weathers rocks by slowly dissolving minerals.
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Chemical Weathering
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The decomposition or decay of minerals in rocks by chemical reactions with water, oxygen, and acids.
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Creep
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The extremely slow downhill movement of soil and regolith.
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Debris Avalanche
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Formed when an unstable slope collapses and debris are translated away from the slope.
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Denudation
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The long term sum of processes that cause the wearing away of the earth’s surface leading to a reduction in elevation and relief of landforms and landscapes. (volcanoes and earthquakes uplift and expose the continental crust to weathering, erosion and mass wasting)
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Differential Weathering
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When softer rocks weather away leaving behind harder and more resistant rock.
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Exfoliation
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(layers of rock peeling away) The process of removal of overlying rock load from bedrock by processes of denudation, accompanied by expansion and often leading to the development of sheeting structure.
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Frost Action
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In cold climates frost cracking occurs, which is when water penetrates the joints or pores in the bedrock and then weakens or breaks the rock through freezing and expansion.
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Hydration Joints
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A fraction within bedrock, usually occurring in parallel and intersecting sets of planes.
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Landslide
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A rapid sliding of large masses of bedrock on a steep mountain slope of from a high cliff.
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Mass Movement:
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Also known as mass wasting, which is the process by which soil, sand, regolith, and rock move downslope typically as a mass, largely under the force of gravity but largely affected by water and water content as in mudslides.
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Mudflows
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A flowing mixture of water and soil or regolith that flows rapidly downhill.
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Oxidation
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The chemical union of free oxygen with metallic elements in minerals, which makes minerals unstable and causing rock to degrade in strength and crumble.
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Parent Material
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The underlying material from which soil horizon forms.
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Physical Weathering
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The breakup of massive rock (bedrock) by physical forces at or near the Earth’s surface.
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Pressure-Release Jointing
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There is a reduction in pressure on a rock due to removal of overlying material. This allows rocks to split along planes of weakness, called joints.
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Regolith
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The layer or rock and mineral particles that lies above bedrock.
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Rockfall
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The most visible form of mass wasting, in which rocks fall down steep slopes or cliff slides, bringing with them soil or regolith.
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Salt Weathering
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In dry climates salt crystal growth in crevices and pores creates pressure. It can disintegrate the rock, the water is then drawn up through the openings, and then evaporates once it reaches the surface, leaving behind the tiny salt crystals which over time will break the rock apart.
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Scarification
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A general term for artificial excavations and other land disturbances produced for extracting or processing mineral resources.
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Slopes
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Patches of the land surface that are inclined from the horizontal.
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Spheroidal Weathering
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A type of chemical weathering that creates rounded boulders whenever a mass of rock experiences a drastic reduction in ambient heat and pressure.
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Talus Slope
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An accumulation of rock fragments falling from a rock face or cliff, collecting at the bottom in a cone shaped pile.
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Weathering
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All the processes that physically disintegrate or chemically decompose a rock at or near the Earth’s surface.
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