Chapter 13: Weathering and Slopes

The fact that water expands as much as

Frost wedging

Chemical weathering is greatest under conditions of

higher rainfall and temperatures

Which of the following is NOT a denudation process?

orogeny

The weathering of limestone can create circular depressions known as

sinkholes

The type of mass movement in which material moves in a unit along a zone of weakness is

slides

In polar and alpine regions, thawing and saturation of the upper layer of soil, resulting in a slow downslope movement called

solifluction

The scientific study of caves is known as

speleology

These rounded granite outcrops are the result of which weathering process?

spheroidal weathering

What speleothem forms from groundwater emerging at a cavern roof, drips to the floor, evaporates, and leaving the dissolved materials it contained to accumulate as a deposit attached to the floor of the cavern?

stalagmite

How are mass movements classified?

their speed and moisture content

The maximum incline at which sediments on a slope can remain at rest before pulled downward by gravity is known as the

angle of repose

Which of the following human activities can contribute to mass movement?

any human disturbance of a slope, including road cuts, surface mining, and development

Which of the following is not necessary for well-developed karst to develop?

arid conditions

If material is to move downslope, it must overcome the force of

both friction and inertial resistance

Which of the following weathering processes is most likely to produce karst topography?

carbonation

Which of the following was caused by accelerated chemical weathering as the result of increased air pollution and acid rain?

corrosion of the Grand Buddha at Leshan, China

A __________ is a mixture of water and loosely consolidated sediment, such as gravels, boulders, and coarse rock fragments, moving downslope.

debris flow

A ________ is a type of debris flow associated with volcanic activity

lahar

The mass movement process responsible of the curved growing pattern in the trees and the downslope leaning of the utility posts and fences is

soil creep

Which of the following can lead to the slope failure that causes mass movement?

saturation, oversteepening of slopes, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions

Salt-crystal growth (salt weathering) is prevalent in which climate type?

arid

Rust, formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the presence of water, is an example of

oxidation

When the upper surface of consolidated rock undergoes constant weathering, it creates broken-up rock called

regolith

Exfoliation occurs because

overlying rock is removed, thereby allowing the underlying rock mass to expand and fracture

The presence of talus slopes indicates the occurrence of

rockfall