Shared Flashcard Set

Details

Earth10: Geologic Principles [FINAL]
N/A
92
Geology
Undergraduate 1
06/08/2009

Additional Geology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Basin
Definition
a fold or depression shaped like a right-side-up bowl
Term
Drainage Network
Definition
an array of interconnecting streams that together drain an area
Term
Catchment
Definition
drainage network
Term
Sheetwash
Definition
a film of water less than a few millimeters thick that covers the ground surface during heavy rains
Term
Dentritic Drainage Network
Definition
like veins on a leaf or branches on a tree, gentle slopes, uniform rock type
Term
Radial Drainage Network
Definition
flows out from central location, common around volcanoes or other conical features
Term
Rectangular Drainage Network
Definition
streams join together at right angle because of a rectangular grid of fractures that breaks up the ground and localizes channels
Term
Trellis Drainage Network
Definition
drainage network that forms over valley-and-ridge sequences
Term
Headwaters
Definition
the beginning point of a stream
Term
Channel
Definition
a trough dug into the ground surface by flooding water
Term
Floodplain
Definition
the flat land on either side of a stream that becomes covered with water during a flood
Term
Terraces
Definition
the elevated surface of an older floodplain into which a younger floodplain had cut down
Term
Thalwag
Definition
the deepest part of a stream’s channel
Term
Meandering Streams
Definition
a reach of stream containing many meanders (snake-like curves)
Term
Braided Streams
Definition
a sediment-choked stream consisting of entwined subchannels
Term
Bedrock Streams
Definition
streams made of rocks still attached to the Earth’s crust
Term
Superposed
Definition
stream channels cut down through resistant rock, can end up with channels having a shape based on rocks that are now eroded away
Term
Antecedent
Definition
topography comes up around stream, which can erode at the same rate
Term
Turbulent
Definition
chaotic twisting and swirling motion in flowing fluid
Term
Laminar
Definition
when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between the layers
Term
Bed Load
Definition
large particles, such as sand, pebbles, or cobbles that bounce or roll across a stream bed
Term
Suspended Load
Definition
tiny solid grains carried along by a stream without settling to the floor of the channel
Term
Dissolved Load
Definition
ions dissolved in a stream’s water
Term
Fluvial Deposits
Definition
sediments transported and deposited by streams
Term
Alluvium
Definition
sediment transported by flowing water that is dropped when there is a sudden loss in water capacity, reduction in velocity
Term
Flood
Definition
an event during which the volume of water in a stream becomes so great that is covers areas outside the stream’s normal channel
Term
Hotspot
Definition
a location at the base of the lithosphere, at the top of a mantle plume, where temperatures can cause melting
Term
Sea-Floor Spreading
Definition
the gradual widening of an ocean basin as new oceanic crust forms at a mid-ocean ridge axis and then moves away from the axis
Term
Seamounts
Definition
an isolated submarine mountain
Term
Carbonate Compensation Depth
Definition
line below which CaCO3 dissolves
Term
Shallow Currents
Definition
driven mainly by wind and modified by the corriolis effect
Term
Deep Currents
Definition
driven mainly by gravity and the corriolis effect
Term
Gyres
Definition
subcircular current systems, in which water flows in a circular pattern
Term
Centrifugal Force
Definition
the force due to Earth’s rotation about the center of the Earth-Moon system
Term
Spring Tides
Definition
Sun, Moon, & Earth are aligned (highest, high tides)
Term
Neap Tides
Definition
Sun & Moon form 90 degree angle with the Earth (lowest, high tides)
Term
Berm
Definition
a deposit of sand and gravel at the edge of the swash zone
Term
Swash
Definition
the upward surge of water that flows up a beach slope when breakers crash onto the shore
Term
Wave-Cut Bench
Definition
a platform of rock, cut by wave erosion, at the low-tide line that was left behind a retreating cliff
Term
Wave-Cut Bench
Definition
a platform of rock, cut by wave erosion, at the low-tide line that was left behind a retreating cliff
Term
Wave-Cut Notch
Definition
a notch in a coastal cliff cut out by wave erosion
Term
Wave-Cut Cliff
Definition
a coastal cliff that is cut by wave erosion
Term
Ground Water
Definition
subsurface water that occurs below the water table within geologic formations that are saturated (pore spaces filled). This is not the same as soil moisture - there is often water trapped between grains of soil, but generally it will not flow to a well (held by capillary forces)
Term
Infiltration
Definition
water passing through ground surface
Term
Recharge
Definition
water reaching the water table, level of water than can be produced from wells
Term
Porosity
Definition
the volume fraction of open spaces in a rock or soil
Term
Hydraulic Conductivity
Definition
ease of ground water flow
Term
Aquifer
Definition
geologic unit that is completely saturated by water, that stores and transmits water in usable
quantities
Term
Confining Layer
Definition
geological unit with much lower transmissive properties than surrounding
formation (aquiclude versus aquitard)
Term
Aquiclude
Definition
sediment or rock that transmits no water
Term
Aquitard
Definition
sediment or rock that does not transmit water easily and therefore retards the motion of the water
Term
Unconfined Aquifer
Definition
one in which the upper surface of the aquifer is defined by the water table
Term
Perched Aquifer
Definition
an aquifer of limited lateral and vertical extent that is underlain by a confining layer
Term
Confined Aquifer
Definition
one in which the level to which water in the aquifer would rise in a pipe,
emplaced in the ground and open at the bottom, is higher than where the top of the aquifer meets the overlying confining layer
Term
Capillary Fringe
Definition
a region above the water table that is also saturated, but within this zone
water is held in place by suction
Term
vadose zone
Definition
the region above the saturated zone
Term
Hydraulic Head
Definition
elevation of water table that tells you how much energy is available to drive flow
Term
Adiabatic
Definition
the abrupt rise or fall of air, without gaining or losing heat
Term
Sensible Heat
Definition
heat you can feel
Term
Latent Heat
Definition
hidden heat
Term
Weather
Definition
short-term conditions, wind speed, temperature, humidity, precipitation, etc.
Term
Climate
Definition
long-term conditions, seasonality, variability, average conditions, etc.
Term
Albedo
Definition
the reflectivity of an object
Term
Monsoons
Definition
seasonal reversals in winds, leading to very wet and very dry seasons
Term
El Niño
Definition
trade winds die, water moves back to east, gets very warm offshore west US and SA, little or no upwelling
Term
Sabkhas
Definition
deserts near the ocean
Term
Glacier
Definition
streams or sheets of recrystallized ice/snow that last through warm season, move under the
influence of gravity
Term
Mountain Glaciers
Definition
found in or near mountains, shape controlled by mountain topography,
flow from high elevation to low elevation
Term
Continental Glaciers
Definition
cover vast expanses of continental areas, flow outward toward margins
Term
Temperate Glaciers
Definition
most ice is close to melting, moves mainly by sliding at the bed
Term
Polar Glaciers
Definition
ice is well below melting point, frozen to underlying ground under most of
the glacier, move mainly by internal deformation
Term
Three Conditions For Glacier Formation
Definition
(1) local climate must be cold
(2) enough snowfall for accumulation
(3) gentle enough slope to avoid removal by sliding
Term
Erratics
Definition
rocks that are out of place, carried by glaciers
Term
Earthquake
Definition
the abrupt release of energy due to slipping of rock masses (usually along a fault), leading to shaking of the ground
Term
Seismicity
Definition
a measure of the amount of energy released
Term
Elastic Strain
Definition
reversible. release the stress and the strain vanishes.
Term
Ductile and Brittle Strains
Definition
not reversible. release the stress and strain stops accumulating, but the
rock does not return to its original shape.
Term
Aftershocks
Definition
smaller earthquakes that follow any large earthquake
Term
Body Waves
Definition
(1) P-waves (primary, primus, "push")
(2) S-waves (secondary, "side-to-side", slower)
Term
Surface Waves
Definition
(1) Rayleigh waves - up and down (kind of like waves on the ocean)
(2) Love waves - side to side
Term
P Waves
Definition
a wave that propagates as a series of compressional and expansional vibrations is known as a compressional
wave
Term
Bulk Modulus
Definition
a measure of how difficult a solid (or fluid) is to compress
Term
Shear Modulus
Definition
a measure of how difficult a solid is to shear
Term
S Waves
Definition
shear waves. travel slower than P waves and arrive later.
Term
Surface Waves
Definition
seismic surface waves
propagate only along the surface of the planet, they do not pass through the planet
Term
Love Waves
Definition
create vibrations somewhat like those of S waves. makes rocks near the surface vibrate horizontally back and forth perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation
Term
Rayleigh Waves
Definition
create vibrations that trace out circular paths aligned with wave propagation. resemble ocean waves with one major exception: the orbits rotate in the opposite direction.
Term
Divergent Boundaries
Definition
lots of little, shallow earthquakes
Term
Transform Faults
Definition
strike slip, somewhat larger, rarer earthquakes, also generally shallow, sometimes intermediate
Term
Convergent Boundaries
Definition
complex, many kinds of earthquakes normal faults, shallow quakes where plate is flexed
Term
Seismographs
Definition
sensitive instruments designed to record the vibratory motion (strains) of passing
seismic waves
Term
Greenhouse Effect
Definition
long-wave radiation becomes trapped within Earth's atmosphere, helping to increase the heat stored
Supporting users have an ad free experience!