Geology 105: Midterm 3: Water on Earth/Rivers
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24 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 97% is found in oceans | Where's most water on Earth found? |
| glaciers | Where's most water on land found? |
| a model that describes the movement of water through the reservoirs of the Earth system, the water cycle | What's the hydrologic cycle? |
| evaporation and condensation | what are the 2 important phase changes of water in the hydrologic cycle? |
| solar energy cause water to evaporate from the ocean moving it into the atmosphere. evaporated water condenses into clouds. the water falls back to land or to the ocean as precipitation either rain hail or snow from the clouds. some water returns to the atmosphere by evaporation or transpiration. some of the water infiltrates the ground where it joins the ground water reservoir and may eventually be locked up in the lithosphere in the form of hydrous minerals. some of the moisture flows back to the sea as surface run off while a small amount is captured by the biosphere. | What are the steps in the hydrologic cycle? |
| the process by which water changes from liquid to vapor, liquid to gas | evaporation |
| the process by which water changes from vapor to liquid, gas to liquid | condensation |
| heat is absorbed | how is heat transferred in evaporation? |
| heat is released | how is heat transferred in condensation? |
| rivers | What's the most powerful agent of erosion of continental rocks? |
| the total area from which water flows into a stream, where the water drains into, could be on land or in a large body of water | What is the drainage basin of a river? |
| Mississippi river drains into the Gulf of Mexico, largest in north America | what are examples of drainage basins? |
| Amazon river drains into the Atlantic Ocean | what is the largest drainage basin in the world? |
| the boundaries of the river are over topped by water that the river carries, over flow of water | why does a river flood? |
| when the water level becomes too much to handle | when does a river flood? |
| heavy rains, fast pace snow melt | what causes floods? |
| the relatively flat valley floor adjacent to a stream channel, which is inundated when the stream overflows. People historically settle around flood plains | what is a flood plain? |
| regional floods and flash floods | what are the two types of floods? |
| sudden, short-lived. Don't encompass huge areas, may occur without a river, get speed flowing through canyons or streets sometimes, can happen practically everywhere. happen in 1 day or less | flash flood |
| great inundation of flood plains. Need a river and floods the flood plain plus areas around that. Product of prolonged rains, quick snow melts. Prolonged months of rains, rivers fill up to capacity. More deadly, causes enormous property loses | regional flood |
| they must be entering another body of water or another dry land area | What happens when rivers lose velocity? |
| alluvial fans and deltas | what landforms do rivers form when they lose their velocity? |
| sediment build up by a body of water, in body of water. causes there to be rich soil leading to agriculture | delta |
| unconsolidated sediment deposited by a stream in an area of semiarid conditions where there is infrequent rain fall, on land. | alluvial fan |
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