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77 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
geyser
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an eruption of water and stream from the ground
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Artesian well
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A well where water rises above the ground surface
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Aquitard
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a body of rock that does not allow the transmission of water
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Spring
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where the water table meets the ground surface
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Recharge area
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the zone through which water enters the aquifer
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Permeability
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the ability of a rock body to transmit water
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sea water intrusion
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a threat to aquifer systems and the cleanliness of fresh water everywhere
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aquifer
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a body of rock sediment that allows the transmission of water
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The process of changing water from liquid to gas is called __________.
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evaporation
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The process of changing water from a gas to a liquid is called _________.
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condensation
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The second largest "reservoir" of water in the water cycle is _________.
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glaciers
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About 2% of all water is found in ____________.
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glaciers
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Groundwater is an excellent source of drinking water because it is ________.
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pleantiful and clean
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Excellent aquifers (water bearing rocks) are both _______________.
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porous and permeable
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The water table is _______________.
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The top of the zone of saturation
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A spring is _______________.
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where the water table meets the ground surface
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The best hypothesis regarding where water originally came from is ___________,
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differentiation of the planet or degassing of the mantle
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____________ is caused by the withdrawl of fluids like water and oil and can cause substantial property damage.
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Subsidence
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porosity
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Amount of empty space in something. (How much water you can pack into it).
It is a measure of the void (i.e., "empty") spaces in a material, and is a fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume. |
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When was the last glacial maximum?
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about 21,000 years ago
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what is above the zone of saturation (saturation zone) and the water table?
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The unsaturated zone
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what is sublimation?
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water cycle process where water turns from a solid into a gas without going through a liquid state.
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Most of this material formed 200-300 million years ago.
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coal
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This material formed in a non-marine, swamp environment.
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coal
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This is still in abundant supply in the U.S.
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coal
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These energy resources are formed by pressure and heat on sedimentary rocks.
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both oil and coal
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This type of energy uses water heated inside Earth near volcanoes.
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geothermal
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In this process, natural radioactivity is used to heat water in a man-made reactor.
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nuclear
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Which energy process generates substantial amounts of potentially harmful waste.
a. All the above b. nuclear c. geothermal d. oil e. coal |
a. all the above
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Every oil trap requires ______________.
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b. a source rock, reservoir rock and a seal (cap) rock
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The theory that explains the movement and interaction of Earth's crust is ________.
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plate tectonics
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The concept that the processes operating on Earth now are the same that have always operated on Earth or "the present is the key to the past".
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uniformitarianism
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What are the Earth's 2 sources of energy and what do they do?
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Solar Energy - drives climate
Earth's internal energy - drives plate tectonics |
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List the three main properties of water and how these properties make water a unique substance
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1. Covalent bonded hydrogen and oxygen (atoms share electrons) ,pssst H2O duh.
2. Water is a polar molecule(allows it to react and form compounds with other elements) 3. Water occurs in three states (liquid, gas, solid) |
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What are the two main hypotheses of where Earth’s water came from?
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1. Degassing of the mantle
2. Comets |
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What is the degassing of the mantle?
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As Earth cooled, gasses (H2O and CO2, water and carbon dioxide) released into the atmosphere. (differentiation during the initial phases of planet formation and continues today on a smaller scale through volcanoes)
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What does the comet theory say about where water came from?
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Comets are largely made of water. Collisions with the earth could have brought lots of water.(The water from the comets accumulated as vapor in the atmosphere and became pools of liquid water on the Earth's surface.)
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What is the valley shape that a stream (running water) cuts?
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a V shape
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What are the 5 main processes of the water cycle?
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1. condensation
2. precipitation 3. infiltration 4. runoff 5. evaporation |
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What valley shape does a glacier form?
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U-shaped valleys
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What % of Earth’s water is freshwater?
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about 2.5%
glaciers = 2.1% groundwater = 0.6% |
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Where are deltas found?
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Where rivers meet a base level the velocity drops
and sediment cannot be carried and is deposited. Where this happens at a body of water; the feature formed is a delta. Deltas are formed when rivers lose velocity at a base level. |
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What 3 factors determine whether a stream is meandering or braided?
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1. Downstream river discharge, width, and depth increase
2. Gradient decreases 3. Average velocity increases |
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Base level
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Theoretical lowest level to which land will erode. (Lowest = sea level)
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Discharge(Q)
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Discharge(Q)= cross section area (A) * velocity (V)
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Meandering channel
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-relatively low gradient and composed of easily eroded sediment
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Braided channel
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contains more sediment than it can transport. Excess sediment forms bar and islands. Braided channels split water into multiple channels
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Ablation
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removal of material from the surface of an object by vaporization, chipping, or other erosive processes
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Fluvial
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Fluvial is a term used in geography and Earth science to refer to the processes associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them. When the stream or rivers are associated with glaciers, ice sheets, or ice caps, the term glaciofluvial or fluvioglacial is used.
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Thalweg
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In geography and fluvial geomorphology, a thalweg is the line of lowest elevation within a valley or watercourse
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Delta
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A river delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river, where the river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, or reservoir. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river. Over long periods of time, this deposition builds the characteristic geographic pattern of a river delta.
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Hjulstrom Diagram
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relationship between water velocity and sediment size
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Stalactite
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formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves
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Stalagmite
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is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings.
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Unsaturated zone
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AKA Vadose zone. A subsurface zone of soil or rock containing fluid under pressure that is less than that of the atmosphere. Pore spaces in the vadose zone are partly filled with water and partly filled with air. The vadose zone is limited by the land surface above and by the water table below.
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Water table
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the level below which the ground is saturated with water
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Why is groundwater such a useful water resource compared to surface water?
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It is clean and plentiful
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What is the saturated zone?
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A zone below the water table in which all voids are filled with water. the zone below the unsaturated zone where all the pores, cracks, and spaces between rock particles are saturated(filled) with water.
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What is freshwater?
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water existing on the land surface
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What potential problems can withdrawing more groundwater than is being recharged cause?
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cone of depression, less water, water table dropped, difficulty pumping,
can allow for sea water infiltration. |
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What are the 2 kinds of geysers?
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pool and column
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Where and in what percentages is Earth’s water distributed?
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97% ocean
2.1% glaciers 0.6% groundwater 0.0001% atmosphere |
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Moraine
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deposits of glacial till.
Marks former position of ice. (till is unsorted sediment deposited by melting ice.) |
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What are the 3 basic elements of geysers?
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1. Supply of hot and cold water
2. Heat source 3. Reservoir (ground water) and plumbing system |
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Aquifers are most commonly in what type of rock?
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loosely packed sands and gravels
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Milankovitch cycles
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Three different aspects of rotation and orbit. (eccentricity, obliquity, precession). Says that ice ages will peak every 10,000 years (+41,000 years maybe)
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What is the main energy source for climate?
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the earth's internal energy through:
mountain building and volcanic eruptions |
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firn
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snow made of 25% air. Makes up glaciers.
snow -> neve -> firn -> glacial ice The process continues with more compaction. |
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Erratics
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boulders dropped by glaciers. These boulders are picked up by glaciers.
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striations
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grooves made (cut,scraped into) by rocks in the ice
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Non-renewable energy
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oil, coal, natural gas, nuclear
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What are the three main grades of coal?
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Lignite, Bitumin, Anthricite
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How does coal form?
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Coal forms when dead plant material builds up and up to form peat, which is the first step. This is compacted between layers of sedimentary rock, forming a rock called lignite. Then this is compacted even more. Then, heat and pressure deep deep beneath the surface create anthracite, or coal. Coal is a metamorphic rock.
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What are the approximate carbon contents of the various grades of coal?
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Lignite - 30% Carbon
Bitumen - 30-90% Carbon Anthricite - >90% Carbon |
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Eccentricity
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Eccentricity of the Earth's orbit moves the Earth closer and farther from the sun
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Obliquity
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Obliquity changes the angle that the sun's rays hit the Earth
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Precession
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Precession in the wobble of the Earth which also changes the angle of the sun's rays
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