Data

Copy and paste the text below. It is read-only. Select All

What are the three sizes of soil? Clay, silt and sand What are soils properties with respect to water and soil fertility? Sand-drainage Silt and clay-movement and retention of capillary water Clay-attach ions of dissolved minerals like calcium and potassium and are great for soil fertility What is loess? Large quantities of fine-grained clays and silts left as glacial outwash deposits; subsequently blown by the wind great distances and redeposited as a generally unstratified, homogenous blanket of material covering existing landscapes What is the difference between gravitational, capillary, and hygroscopic water? Gravitational water: that portion of surplus water that percolates downward from the capillary zone, pulled by gravity to the groundwater zone Capillary water: move towards relatively low quantity of water, used by vegetation Hygroscopic water:thin film of water that is attached to particles. It is a strong force, that can't be removed. The more the water the thicker the film and the molecular force decreases with distance. What is the cation exchange capacity? The ability of soil colloids to exchange cations between their surfaces and the soil solution; a measured potential that indicates soil fertility. Stronger in clayier soils. What are soil horizons? The various layers exposed in a pedon; roughly parallel to the surface and identified as O, A, E, B, C and R (bedrock) What is the difference between eluviations and illuviations? Eluviation is the washing out of soil material and illuviation is the accumulation of soil material. What is a longshore current? Forms when a wave hits the beach at an oblique angle -water deflects downwind and parallel to the beach What are depositional coastal features? Beaches, spits, barriers, and lagoons. What is a spit? Consists of material deposited in a long ride extending out from a coast. What is a barrier island? A broadened barrier beach Where do we find salt marshes versus mangrove swamps? Salt marshes are generally found north of the 30th parallel, whereas mangrove swamps form equator-ward of that line. Where do we find most coral reefs? 30 degrees North latitude to 25 degrees South latitude How does an erosional coast look like? Headlands and an arch, stacks, debris, and headlands, collapsing cliffs and failing houses, and wave-cut platforms What kind of landforms do you find at an erosional coast? Sea caves, sea arches, sea stacks Where, and how are waves generated? Waves are oscillations in water due to the force of friction from wind blowing across its surface. Waves form at the coast seafloor. What is a tsunami? How is it formed? Caused by earthquakes with vertical displacement, volcanic eruptions, or landslides due to vertical displacement of water causing fast waves with long wavelengths. What is a warning sign for a tsunami? Ocean recedes How does the ocean at Ocean Beach change over the year and why? The dunes are pushed back further and further due to erosion and deposition. Three factors influence arid climates: what are they? Subtropical high pressure, distance from large bodies of water, rainshadow How is wind similar and different to water? Wind acts like a fluid like water, but it is more dense. How is particle transport by wind similar to that by water? Faster wind can move larger particles. What is desert pavement? Desert pavement is erosion in the form of coarse pebbles and stones as a result of wind blowing loose soil away. Where are the most deserts? Ergs How do you determine wind direction from dune morphology? The wind blows in the direction of the backslope. What is a barchan? A barchan is a crescent-shaped dune with horns pointed downwind. What are the three main geomorphic agents? Erosion, transportation, and deposition What is the formula for discharge (Q)? WidthxDepthxVelocity How is velocity in a stream cross section distributed? Where is it highest, where is it lowest? Fastest at the cutbank or undercut bank and slowest at the point bar What is a hydrograph? What sustains base flow in a stream? A graph of stream discharge over time for a specific place. Rainfall. What are the three types of sediment loads in a river? Dissolved, suspended, and bedload What is a graded stream? A portion of a stream that is balanced among available discharge, channel characteristics, its velocity, and the load supplied from the drainage basin. What is the difference between aggradation and degradation? Aggradation is the accumulation of sediment whereas degradation is the erosion of channel bed due to increased discharge or decreased load What are the differences between a meandering and a braided stream? Braided streams are clear and have bedload while meandering streams are muddy and have suspended load. What are point bars and cutbanks? Point bars are the inner portion of a meander that experiences the slowest water velocity and thus receives sediment fill. Cutbanks are the outer portion of a meander that has the fastest water velocity and therefore the greatest scouring erosive action. What is an oxbow lake? When a meander neck is cut off as two undercut banks merge, the meander becomes isolated and an oxbow lake forms as a result. What is a floodplain? Is this part of the river or not? The flat, low-lying area flanking many stream channels that is subjected to recurrent flooding. It is part of the river because a floodplain is the overflowing of its channel during times of high flow. How does glacial ice form? What is firn? Glacial ice forms when the snow left over from the summer melt thickens and compacts to create firn Further compaction results in an alignment of ice crystals and denser glacial ice. Firn is the transition from snow to ice. How does a glacier behave like a river? They both can carry sediment. What is involved in the glacial mass balance? What is the significance of the equilibrium line? Where are the zone of accumulation and ablation? Glacial input of snow and glacial output of ice, meltwater, or water vapor. The equilibrium line is when the glacial input and glacial output are equal. The zone of accumulation is the top of the glacier where temperatures are cooler and the input is greater than output. The zone of ablation is the lower part of the glacier where the temperature is higher and the output is greater than the input. What is a cirque? The bowl-like feature on mountain flanks in which is the area of origin for glaciers. What is an arete? An arete are narrow steep ridges between cirques What is a horn? A horn is a mountain with 3 or more aretes at the summit. What is a lateral moraine? A lateral moraine is a winding ridge formed by till along former edges of a glacier What is a hanging valley? A hanging valley is a side trough above a main trough and can possibly be a waterfall. What is a U-valley? A U-valley is a U-shaped valle eroded by a glacier What is a tarn? A small lake in bottom of lake What is an erratic? An erratic is a retreating glacier. What is a terminal moraine? Terminal moraine is eroded debris dropped at the glacier's terminus. What is a ground moraine? Ground moraine is a winding ridge formed by till at the front or side of a lacier with irregular deposition as he glacier recedes What is an esker? An esker is a winding ridge from water flowing in tunnel through ice under glacier What is a drumlin? Drumlins are streamlines, sometimes teaspoon-shaped feature of deposited till; blunt end upstream and may appear in "swarms" What is a kame? A kame is a large mound deposited near glacier front What is a kettle lake? A kettle lake is when a big block of ice fallen off is buried by outwash, melts later forming a lake What are the types of glacial erosional landforms? Cirque, tarn, horn, arete, u-shaped valley/glacial trough, hanging valley What are the types of glacial depositional landforms? Glacial till, moraine, drumlin, kame, esker, kettle lake