Chapters 4-5 Test
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31 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 renewable resource | can be replenished over fairly short time spans such as months, years or decades; examples include solar and wind energy. |
| nonrenewable resource | takes millions of years to form and accumulate; examples include fossil fuels. |
| 90% | percentage of the energy used in the US that comes from fossil fuels. |
| fossil fuels | any hydrocarbon that may be used as a source of energy; includes oil, coal and natural gas |
| moving water | hydroelectric power produces electricity using |
| talus slopes | frost wedging is the major weathering process contributing to the formation of this regolith material. |
| rock characteristics, climate, surface area | factors that affect rates of weathering |
| high temperature and abundant moisture | two factors that speed up rates of chemical reaction and weathering in rocks and soils. |
| frost wedging | important mechanical weathering process for enlarging fractures and extending them deeper into large boulders and bedrock. |
| mechanical weathering | occurs when physical forces break rock into smaller and smaller pieces without changing the rock's mineral composition; this reduces the grain size of rock particles and allows for faster rates of chemical weathering and (through frost wedging) is important in the formation of talus slopes |
| mass wasting | those processes that move weathered rock materials and soils downslope |
| erosion | the process by which weathered rock and mineral particles are removed from one area and transported elsewhere |
| agriculture | because the laterite soil in tropical rain forest has little organic matter and few nutrients it is generally not suitable for this |
| rock avalanche | could be triggered by an earthquake |
| creep | the slowest type of mass movement |
| mass wasting | water, slope angle, gravity, removal of vegetation, and earthquakes are all factors that affect this process. |
| slides | one of the most rapid types of mass movement in which a block of material moves suddenly along a flat inclined surface. |
| slump | downward movement of a block of material along a curved surface; does not travel very fast or very far; leave a crescent-shaped cliff. |
| flow | mass movements of material containing a large amount of water, which move downslope as a thick fluid. |
| rockfall | occurs when rocks or rock fragments fall freely through the air; common on slopes |
| gravity | the basic force that moves or accelerates soil and regolith down a slope. |
| carbonic acid | the most abundant, naturally produced, weak acid involved in chemical weathering and soil formation |
| erosion | disintegration and decomposition of rocks and minerals at the surface. |
| hydroelectric power | power generated by falling water |
| geothermal energy | harnessed by tapping natural underground reservoirs of steam and hot water |
| soil | the part of the regolith that supports the growth of plants |
| pedalfer | type of soil that usually forms in temperate areas; contains large amounts of iron oxide and aluminum-rich clays, giving it a brown to red-brown color |
| pedocal | type of soil found in drier areas that have grasses and brush vegetation; contains abundant calcite and calcium carbonate and are typically a light gray-brown |
| horizons | variations divide the soil into these zones |
| profile | a vertical section through all of the soil horizons |
| talus slope | an accumulation of angular rock fragments at the base of a steep bedrock slope or cliff |
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