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82 Cards in this Set
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Chemical Weathering |
Decomposition; rock is broken apart at the molecular level; atomic bands are broken, causing rock reducing in size
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Fall |
Mass of rock that free falls down a vertical or nearly vertical slope, very fast, due to lack of friction
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Flow |
Mass of soil/rock moving as a viscous fluid down a steep slope; often involves high water content
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Frost action |
Water seeps into fractures & freezes & expands exrting pressure against the rock
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Mass Movement |
Movement of rock/soil downslope due to gravity.
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Physical Weathering |
Disintegration of a solid rock, caused by external forces applied to the rock
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Root Action |
Small roots work into fractures in rock; as plant grows, root acts as a wedge that breaks rocks
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Salt Crystal Growth |
Salts dissolved in water re-crystallize after water seeps into fractures, breaking up rock
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Sinkhole |
A depression produced in a region where soluble rock has been removed by ground water
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Slide |
Soil/rock moving across an inclined "slip surface" mass periodically moves as long as it remains on the incline
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Solution |
Rock dissolves in water
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spheroidal weathering
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Chemical weathering processes occur along fractures in bedrock, resolution spherical rock formations
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Subsidence |
Collapse of the land surface into a void, due to removal of subsurface material. Creates a circular depression(sinkhole)
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Thermal Expansion |
Rock volume changes in response to dramatic temp. change, causing rock to break apart
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Unloading |
Buried rock structures uncovered through weathering erosion & crustal uplift
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Consistence |
Cohesion of soil particles
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Eluviation |
The washing out of fine soil components from the horizon by downward water
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Friable |
easily crumbled |
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Humus |
organic matter in soil produced by the decomposition of plants and animals
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Illuviation |
the introduction of salts or colloids into one soil horizon from another by percolating water.
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Loam |
fertile soil
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Soil Horizon |
a layer of soil that has identifiable characteristics produced by chemical weathering and other soil forming
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Soil Profile |
a vertical section through a soil showing its secession of horizons and the underlying parent material |
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Structure |
Arrangement of soil particles; shape of soil peds.
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Texture |
Size and organization of particles within a soil; percentages of sand, silt and lay in a soil
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Ablation |
Removal of glacial ice involves melting, sublimation and calving(breaking off) |
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Abrasion |
Scouring of the streambed by sediments moving through the channel
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Arete |
a narrow knife like ridge separating two adjacent valleys
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Calving |
breaking off
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Drumlin |
hill made out of glacial til, steep side of the slope
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Esker |
ridge composed of sand ans gravel deposited by a stream flowing in a tunnel beneath a glacier
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Fiord |
a steep sided inlet of the sea formed when a glacial trough was partially submerged |
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Glacial Trough |
a mountain alley that has been widened deepened and straightened by a glacier |
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Hanging Trough |
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Horn |
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Laterial Moraine |
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Medical Moraine |
a ridge of till formed
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Plucking |
pieces of bedrock are lifted out of place
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Stratified Drift |
sediments deposited by by glacial meltwater |
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Sublimation |
the conversion of a solid directly to a gas without first going to a liquid
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Tarn |
a small lake
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Till |
unsorted sediment deposited directly by a glacier
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Alluvial Terrace |
Clear evidence of rejuvenation
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Alluviam |
unconsolidated sediment deposited by a stream
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Channelization |
human modification of the river channel
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Cut Bank |
the area of active erosion on the outside of a meander
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Delta |
an accumulation of sediment formed where a stream enters a lake or ocean
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Distrubutaries |
a section of a stream that leaves the main flow
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Evapotranspiration |
Combined vaporization of water from soil/rock surfaces & vegetation
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Floodplain |
Relatively flat land along a stream
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Infiltration |
Water penetrating the surface; rate depends on surface conditions
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Interception |
water held within a canopy of trees; never reaches the surface |
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Maturity (Davis Cycle) |
downcutting decreases because steam approaches its base level lateral erosion increases and the stream begins to widen its valley |
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Meandering |
stream flowing in a winding channel formation of cut banks, points bars and oxbows
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Old Age (Davis Cycle) |
Base level is reached; down cutting stops
the stream begins meandering across a flood plain |
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Oxbow Lake |
a curved lake produced when a stream cuts of a meander
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Point Bar |
a crescent-shaped accumulation of sand and gravel deposed on the inside of a meander |
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Rejuvination |
stream begins to downcut its chennel, after reaching "old age"
caused by crustal uplift and lowering the streams base level |
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Runoff |
Excess water moving across the surface after a precipitation event
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Saltation |
Hopping, bouncing motion of particles along the bed of the stream |
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Surface Detention |
Water held within puddles at the surface |
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Traction |
Rolling, sliding of the largest bedlood particles in the channel
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Youth (Davis Cycle) |
Stream downcutting bc its situated above base level
Ex. Canyon, gorge |
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Aquifer |
Permeable rock layer, transmits water
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Aquitard |
impermeable layer that hinders the movement of water
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Artesian Well |
Water under pressure rising from a confined & inclined aquifer
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Cavern |
Large void in the bedrock caused by chem weathering
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Cone of Depression |
circular depression in the water table
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Drawdown |
Lowering of the water table caused by excessive groundwater extraction
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Karst Topograpghy |
Landscape that has been shaped by groundwater action
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Perched Water Table |
Existence of an aquitard may lead to this
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Permability |
ability of a material to transmit water; the smaller the pores, the slower the groundwater moves |
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Porosity |
The availability of pore spaces
% of rock/soil that consists of pores |
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Potentiometric Surface |
level to which water will rise from an artesian well |
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Saltwater Intrusion |
Near the coast,saltwater may be drawn into a well from below
Wells are unusable due to high salinity levels |
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Spring |
Natural flow of ground water onto the surface; occurs where water table intersects the surface
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Stalatutes |
Cling tight to the roof and hang down |
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Stalagmite |
grows from the ground
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Well |
Hole bored into the zone of saturation from which water is extracted
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Water Table |
Top of the zone of saturation
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Zone of Aeration |
Pore spaces filled with air
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Zone of saturation |
pore spaces filled with water |