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Definition
| A weak acid (H2CO3) that forms from the reaction of water and carbon dioxide. Most rain water is a very weak carbonic acid solution formed by the reaction of rain with small amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. |
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| The breaking down of surface rock material by solution or chemical alteration. Common alteration processes are oxidation and hydrolysis. |
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| The slowest form of mass movement, measured in millimeters or centimeters per year and occurring on virtually all slopes. cross bed A bed made up of particles dropped from a moving current, as of wind or water, and marked by a downward slope that indicates the direction of the current that deposited them. |
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| A general term applied to the wearing away and movement of earth materials by gravity, wind, water and ice. |
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| A physical weathering process in which concentric layers of rock are removed from an outcrop. |
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| A chemical reaction involving water that results in the breakdown of mineral material. |
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Definition
Mechanical weathering process in which water freezing in crakcs of rock wedges rocks apart. |
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| A downslope movement of rock and soil over a failure surface and under the influence of gravity. Slumps, earthflows, debris flows and debris slides are examples. |
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Definition
| A general term used for any downslope movement of rock, soil, snow or ice under the influence of gravity. Includes: landslides, creep, rock falls and avalanches. |
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Term
mechanical weathering [image] |
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Definition
| A general term applied to a variety of weathering processes that result in the particle size reduction of rock materials with no change in composition. Frost action, salt crystal growth and pressure relief fracturing are examples. Also known as physical weathering. |
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Definition
| A type of mass movement composed mainly of clay-size materials with a high enough water content that it flows readily. |
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Definition
| A chemical reaction in which substances combine with oxygen. For example, the combination of iron with oxygen to form an iron oxide. |
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| The source from which a given soil is chiefly derived, generally consisting of bedrock or sediment. |
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Definition
| soil that has the local bedrock as its parent material. |
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| All loose, unconsolidated earth and organic materials above bedrock that support plant growth. |
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Removal of valuable topsoil by wind or moving water. |
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| A vertical strip of soil stretching from the surface down to the bedrock and including all of the successive soil horizons. |
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Definition
| the b-horizon of soil that contains clay and iron oxides washed from the topsoil . |
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Definition
a-horizon of soil contains organic material or humus that formed to decay plant and animal materials. |
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process in which rocks are broken up by the action of the atmosphere and organisms. |
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Definition
| An underground bed or layer of earth, gravel, or porous stone that yields water. |
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artesian formation [image] |
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Definition
| the arrangement of a permeable layer sandwiched between two layers of impermeable rock. |
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evapotranspiration [image] |
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Definition
| loss of moisture as water vapor from the ground or from plant leaves . |
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Definition
| boiling hot spring that erupts from time to time. |
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Definition
| water of earth, including surface and subsurface water. |
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