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2nd test in physical geography
the solid earth, floods, groundwater, the atmosphere
85
Geology
Undergraduate 1
11/07/2010

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Cards

Term
saprolite
Definition
"rotten rock," lies under soil and above bedrock
Term
mass wasting
Definition
spontaneous downslope movement of earth materials due to gravity or other processes
Term
regolith
Definition
non-bedrock rocks and soil
Term
soil creep
Definition

very slow downslope movement of soil

clues: bent tree trunks and rock layers

Term
erosion
Definition
the lowering of the Earth's surface by removal of materials
Term
marble
Definition

metamorphosed limestone

pretty soft

Term
hydrolysis
Definition
aggressive hydrogen ion substitution for cations in minerals
Term
fractures
Definition
water in cracks freezes and expands repeatedly
Term
thermal expansion
Definition

outside of rock gets hot (forest fire) while inside stays cold 

causes fractures

Term
soil
Definition
natural terrestrial surface layer containing minerals, organic matter, and living organisms
Term
soil horizons
Definition

O, A, B, C, unaltered rock

layers of soil

Term
zone of leaching
Definition
horizon A leaks down into horizon B (zone of accumulation)
Term
watershed/drainage basin
Definition
area that contributes water to a particular river
Term
discharge
Definition
Q=VxA where V=average velocity and A=cross sectional area
Term
% runoff
Definition
volume from stream flow/volume from precipitation
Term
base level
Definition
sea level, lowest elevation stream can flow to
Term
base flow
Definition
discharge without rain; no contribution from runoff
Term
lag time
Definition
time between rainfall and rise in discharge
Term
flood
Definition
discharge exceeds the bank full discharge
Term
recurrence interval
Definition

flood frequency 

years of record +1/rank

percent probability per year: 1/recurrence interval x100

Term
headwaters
Definition
very close to drainage basin boundary (gradient usually steepest)
Term
knickpoints
Definition
steeper gradient spots (ex: waterfalls)
Term
stream load
Definition
bed load, suspended load, dissolved load
Term
bed load
Definition
stuff on river bottom that rolls along with current
Term
suspended load
Definition
solid mineral particles; makes water cloudy
Term
dissolved load
Definition
from chemical weathering (like granite - Na Feldspar - clay mineral + Na+1 ion)
Term
point bar
Definition
inside of curve of stream
Term
cutbank
Definition
outside of curve of stream, often steep
Term
floodplain
Definition
area inundated when water flows over, usually flat
Term
stream drainage patterns
Definition
dendritic, parallel, trellis, rectangular, radial, annular
Term
spring
Definition
place where groundwater discharge onto surface
Term
unsaturated zone
Definition
basically dry area of rock under surface
Term
water table
Definition
boundary between saturated and unsaturated zones
Term
saturated zone
Definition
filled with water, above unsaturated zone
Term
groundwater
Definition
found under water table, in saturated zone, flows downhill
Term
porosity
Definition
percent of non-mineral space in a rock, sediment, or soil (void space)
Term
permeability
Definition
extent to which fluids can pass through a rock, sediment, or soil (connected void spaces)
Term
recharge
Definition
rate at which water is provided to water table
Term
cone of depression
Definition
occurs after heaving pumping when recharge rate is not fast enough
Term
aquifer
Definition
permeable rocks/materials that hold water, such as sand and gravel, weakly cemented sandstone, porous limestone, and heavily fractured rocks
Term
aquiclude
Definition
materials impermeable to water, such as clay/mud, mudstone/shale, unfractured igneous and metamorphic rocks
Term
confined aquifer
Definition
stuck between layers of aquicludes
Term
High Plains aquifer
Definition
world's largest (174,000 square miles of area, 456 trillion gallons of water)
Term
sinkhole collapse
Definition
due to overpumping of water
Term
caves
Definition
formed from soluble limestones
Term
karst
Definition
landscape dominated by features formed from limestone dissolution and underlain by cavern systems
Term
groundwater pollution
Definition
ex: poultry farms emit fat and steroids into groundwater
Term
emergent coast
Definition
sea cliffs, Ireland
Term
submergent coast
Definition
islands, low-lying coast
Term
barrier islands
Definition
sit in front of mainland in submergent coasts
Term
littoral/longshore drift
Definition
zigzag particle motion from swash and backwash causes overall movement of sand/land
Term
seawall
Definition
along beach to prevent coastal erosion, manmade, often no beach at high tide; doesn't allow deposit of sediment
Term
jetties
Definition
perpendicular to beach, prevents longshore drift
Term
rip-rap
Definition
big rocks to prevent coastal erosion
Term
beach replenishment
Definition
dredge or pump sand back onto shoreline; short term solution to coastal erosion
Term
atmosphere's ingredients
Definition
78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% argon, .04% carbon dioxide, water vapor
Term
air
Definition
simple mixture of gases, odorless, tasteless, colorless, formless
Term
surface temperature inversion
Definition
during early morning, atmosphere is heated at the bottom, gets cooled
Term
troposphere
Definition
layer of atmosphere in which we live, where most weather occurs, air temperature decreases with height
Term
tropopause
Definition
in between troposphere and stratosphere, where temperature begin to rise again
Term
stratosphere
Definition
above tropopause, includes ozone layer, temperature increases with height
Term
heat
Definition
form of energy that flows from one object to another
Term
temperature
Definition
measure of average kinetic energy of molecules in matter, changes caused by gain/loss of sensible heat energy
Term
sensible heat
Definition
opposite of latent heat, able to be perceived by a thermometer, transferrable
Term
net radiation
Definition
difference between all incoming and outgoing radiation
Term
atmospheric pressure
Definition
"weight" or mass over area
Term
psi
Definition
pounds per square inch, atmosphere is 15
Term
Hg
Definition
measuring atmospheric pressure by mercury barometer, 29.2 at sea level
Term
Pa
Definition
Pascals, metric units for atmospheric pressure, 101,320 at seal level, 10,000=1 Bar=1000 millibars (mb)
Term
wind
Definition
exists because air is a fluid, flows when there is a pressure gradient
Term
isobars
Definition
lines of equal pressure on weather maps
Term
Coriolis effect
Definition
apparent deflection of moving materials in a rotating reference frame (things are deflected because of Earth's turning - to right in N, to left in S)
Term
cyclones
Definition
low-pressure systems that have counter-clockwise inspirals (in N)
Term
anticyclones
Definition
clockwise outspirals, high pressure systems
Term
humidity
Definition
amount of water vapor in the air
Term
specific humidity
Definition
mass of water vapor/mass of air
Term
relative humidity
Definition
ratio of content/capacity (as percent)
content=amount of water vapor in air; capacity=maximum amount of water vapor air could hold at given temperature
Term
saturation curve
Definition
shows amount of water that can be held at given temperature
Term
saturation
Definition
air filled to capacity with water, leads to condensation - clouds, fog, precipitation
Term
dew point temperature
Definition
temperature at which given mass of air becomes saturated (like cold glasses)
Term
frost
Definition
frozen dew
Term
sling psychrometer
Definition
measure humidity, two thermometers, one dry and one wet
Term
air parcel
Definition
body of air with specific temperature and humidity
Term
stability
Definition
tendency of air parcel to stay in same place, determined by difference in temperature of parcel and surrounding air
Term
adiabatic process
Definition
change in temperature of a material caused entirely by a change in pressure (temperature change without heat exchange)
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