Weathering and Erosion Full Set
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64 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Exfoliation Dome | Process: A magma chamber hardens under ground and formed into a pluton. The pluton is then put under pressure and pushes back against the pressure. Resulting in sheeting on the surface of the rocks. |
| Continental Divide | Imaginary line. To west, water will flow to Pacific and to east, water will flow to Atlantic |
| Spheroidal Weathering | Idea that edges of objects tend to weather first, therefore rounding the object |
| Frost Wedging | When water freezes it expands about 10% in volume. Therefore in cold climates, the most weathering and erosion is done by frost weathering. Water seeps into cracks of rocks, freezes, expands, and eventually the rock will break apart. |
| Clastic Sedimentary Rocks | formed from mechanically weathered sediments and rock fragments |
| Chemical Sedimentary rocks | form when minerals are precipitated from a solution or left behind when a solution evaporates |
| Cementation | when the sediments are put under pressure, the water is squeezed away. minerals are left behind. Resulting in sedimentary rocks. |
| Breccia | Sedimentary Rock made up of angled pebbles |
| Conglomerate | Sedimentary Rock made up of rounded pebbles |
| Sandstone | Sedimentary Rock made up of cemented sand |
| Lithification | Process of turning something into a rock |
| Cleopatra's Needle | Large monument in desert in Egypt for 3,000 years, moved to NYC, after 100 years very weathered by chemicals (acid rain and pollution) |
| Wind Gap | A pass carved through a rock outcrop by flowing water |
| Ventifact | any rock that has been shaped by the wind |
| Checkerboard Mesa | Fossilized Sand Dune |
| Valle Grande | is a 12-mile-wide collapsed volcanic caldera in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico. |
| Caldera | collapsed volcanic crater |
| Ponderosa Pine | Bark smells like vanilla or sugar cookies |
| Crater Lake | Large caldera created in Oregon from emptied magma chamber (collapsed) after eruption |
| Lava Dome | a bulbous mass associated with an old-age volcano produced when thick lava is slowly squeezed from the vent, lava domes may act as plugs to deflect subsequent gaseous eruptions |
| Mesa | broad, flat-topped landform with steep sides; smaller than a plateau |
| Butte | a flat topped rock or hill formation with steep sides, highly weathered Mesa |
| Talus Slope | Pile of debris at the base of a cliff, roughly 45 degree angle |
| Columnar Jointing | Basalt lava flows contract and may fracture in roughly hexagonal columns. |
| Volcanic Neck | solid igneous core of a volcano left behind after the softer cone has been eroded |
| Differential Weathering | Varying rates of weathering resulting from some rocks in an area being more resistant to weathering than others. |
| Cattle Guard | grate in the road which cattle will not walk over |
| Mushroom Rock | Rock shaped like a mushroom, created when wind blown sand erodes the base of the rock |
| Desert Pavement | A layer of coarse pebbles and gravel created when wind removed the finer material. |
| Deflation | Erosion from wind lifting up and removing loose material, moves finer particles in the air and rolls the larger grains |
| Monument Valley | a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster sandstone buttes, including the mitten rocks |
| Cap Stone | A rock that protects other rocks beneath it |
| Hoodoo | a column of weathered rock |
| Desert Varnish | Is the dark coating which is found on exposed rock surfaces in arid environments, contains magnesium |
| Petroglyph | A carving or inscription on a rock. |
| Ice Wedging | Water seeps into cracks, freezes and expands |
| Stratification | forming or depositing in layers |
| Fossil | the remains (or an impression) of a plant or animal that is preserved in a rock |
| Organic Sedimentary Rock | Sedimentary rock that forms from the remains of plants or animals. |
| Box Canyon | A box canyon is a small ravine or canyon with steep walls on three sides, allowing access and egress only through the mouth of the canyon. ... |
| Magma Chamber | an underground pool that holds magma, below a volcano |
| Volcanic Pipe | brings magma from magma chamber towards the surface |
| Sheeting | outer surface of rocks will break off due to reduction in pressure fom where it formed |
| Avalanche | A falling mass of snow that contains rocks, dirt and ice |
| Mass Movement | the downhill movement of rock and soil because of gravity |
| Creep | Slow, imperceptible movement of material downhill (curved Trees) |
| White Death | Whispered Nickname for an avalanche |
| Surface Hoar | forms when snow is exposed to the air, crystals get larger. Creates weak layer of snow. |
| Cornice | Overhang of snow that is created as wind blows snow over the top of a mountain |
| Snow slab | Large block of snow that breaks free when a weak layer of snow is below stong layer(s) |
| Shale | Sedimentary Rock made up of cemented mud particles |
| Coquina | organic sedimentary rock formed from cemented pieces of shell |
| Sediment | broken pieces of rock, categorized by size |
| Compaction | when pressure forces water out of pore spaces of sediment |
| Deposition | the depositing of river carried sediments on the ocean floor. largest sediments are deposited closest to shore |
| Erosion | Removal and transport of weather materials by natural processes |
| Weathering | The breaking down of rocks and other materials on the Earth's surface. |
| Mechanical Weathering | The type of weathering in which rock is physically broken into smaller pieces |
| Chemical Weathering | the process in which rock is broken down by changes in its chemical makeup |
| Abrasion | the wearing down of rock particles by friction due to water or wind or ice |
| Oxidation | the chemical reaction of oxygen with other substances |
| Acid Rain | precipitation that is more acidic than normal because of air pollution |
| Hydrolysis | chemical decomposition in which a compound is split into other compounds by reacting with water |
| Sorting | The process by which sediments are separated by size as they move down through the water column |
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