GEOG EXAM 3

Periglacial: -means "____ _____" -refers to all ______ areas at ____ lat. and ____ elev. subject to persistent and intense freezing -as a result of climate change, they are one of the most rapidly changing physical systems

"around glaciers" -unglaciated ; high; high

Eolian (relating to ____) erosion moves particles through traction, saltation and _____ Transport: -____ Load of wind consist of particles moving by traction, rolling and saltation -_____ Load consists of fine sediment of silt and clay that are suspended in the atmosphere

(wind); suspension -Surface Load -Suspended Load

Koppen Climate Classification: --> Low Latitude: -Tropical Rainforest: forest biome in the ____, _____ tropics; characterized by a multilayered forest structure and ____ biodiversity -----> competition for light is major _____ _____ -vertical vegetation

--> Low Lat -Tropical Rainforest: lowland tropics; high --> major limiting factor

Plates of the Lithosphere: -broken into ____ major plates that move over earth's surface as ______ beneath them convects -as plates move: buckle into ____, bend and wrap into hills, and break, causing _____ -San Andreas Fault: boundary between _____ ____ plate and ____ plate

-14; mantle -mountains; earthquakes -NA Plate and Pacific Plate

Yellowstone Hot Spot: -____ million years ago, oldest of extinct volcanoes on Yellowstone hot spot track, McDermitt Caldera, was located over the hot spot -_____ direction of plate movement has transported Mcdermitt Caldera, and other now-extinct volcanoes produced by Yellowstone hot spot --> **result of the _____ _____ ____ that resides beneath the park

-16 -southwestern --> result of the active magma body

What defines a desert: -all deserts have severe moisture deficits for most or all of the year (generally less than ___ cm of precip annually) -more humid regions can be deserts if _____ rates are high and moisture loss exceeds _____

-25 cm (10 in) -evapotranspiration; precipitation

Teton Range WY: (Faulting) -fault block system formed it -formed when a ____ km long fault block was lowered, beginning about 13 mil yrs ago -erosion + glaciers subsequently cut into higher block, removing most overlying rocks + create jagged mountain topography

-65 km

New epoch, called the ________ , or the Age of Humans, is the age of human transformation of Earth's physical systems Beginning of the _______ ______, around 1800, is often cited as the beginning of the ______ .

-Anthropocene -Industrial Revolution; Anthropocene

Chemical Weathering: -______: CO2 dissolves in water forming carbonic acid and reacts with carbonate rocks -______: Oxygen atoms combine with minerals in rocks and weaken them.

-Carbonation -Oxidation

Igneous: -Fine-Grained: ______ (cooled ____ near surface of crust) -Coarse-Grained: ______ (cooled ____ deep in crust)

-Fine: Basalt (quickly) -Coarse: Granite (slowly)

________: the process in which rainwater carries dissolved nutrients downward ________: the process in which rainwater carries soil particles downward _________: the process in which soil particles are deposited (after being transported downward through eluviation)

-Leaching -Eluviation -Illuviation (all impt in development of soil horizons)

3) Organisms: (look at picture of diagram) -___ and ___ horizons of healthy soils are alive with organisms whose activities contribute to soil formation and health -invertebrates (help build soil); fungi (bind soil; nutrient transport); plant roots (channels 4 water); nitrogen-fixing bacteria; plant litter (moderate temp + moisture); earthworms (digest organic material); mammals (waste); microbes (decompose organic material)

-O and A horizons

Soil Taxonomy: -Oxisols: ____ ____ soils rich in iron and aluminum. ____ nutrient content. Form in _____ regions with high _____. -Vertisols: ___-____ soils that shrink and crack when _____ and swell when ____. Low ____ content. -Mollisols: ____-____ soils. Thick , ____ A horizon with a _____ texture. ____ nutrient content, among the most fertile soils in the world. Form within ____ at ______>

-Oxisols: heavily weathered; low nutrient; tropical; high rainfall -Vertisols: clay-dominated; dry; wet; low organic -Mollisols: humus-rich soils; dark; soft; high; grasslands at mid-altitudes.

How Soils Formed: -_______: Process of soil formation -Soils are formed through: --> weathering of rocks; activities of ____: movement of _____; and ______

-Pedogenesis --> organisms; rainwater; time

Relative Age: -_____________: Sequence of rock layers forms as layers of sediments are deposited and harden into sedimentary rock ---> oldest rocks at the ____; youngest rocks at the _____

-Principle of Superposition --> oldest: bottom; youngest: top

Earth's Internal Structure Sequence: -______ ---> _______ _____ --> _____ and _____ _____

-asthenosphere --> lithospheric mantle --> ocean and continental crust

Dissolution Contin: -Underground water is a weak solution of Carbonic Acid bc it contains dissolved ____ ____ gas -Dissolution= removal of ___ through chemical action of ____ -____ and ____ almost completely dissolved in water

-carbon dioxide -bedrock ; water -sodium and calcium

Carbonates: -form when ____ combines with other elements, particularly _____ -carbonate minerals often cement particles of sediment together to form _____ rocks --> one of the most common carbonate rocks is _____

-carbon; oxygen -sedimentary -** limestone

Karst Processes: -Through ______, acidic water reacts with calcite in limestone, causing _______ -Areas with limestone ____ form most widespread type of karst topography (forms fastest in ____ ____ regions)

-carbonation; Dissolution -bedrock; (warm tropical)

Folding: -wrinkle in crust from _____ caused by geologic stress -occurs most often where 2 plates are _____, particularly in regions of ____ and _____ -produces _____ and ______ (appalachian mountains)

-deformation -converging; subduction and collision -anticlines and syncline

Deposit: -streams shape Earth's surface by cutting into it and by transporting and _____ sediments downstream -Sediments deposited on a floodplain are called _____

-depositing -alluvium

Slumps -Regolith detaches and slides _____ along ____-shaped failure surface and comes to rest more or less as a unit -follow concave failure surface over which regolith moves -topmost point of detachment of slump + resulting cliff called ___ ____ *** triggered by ___ or ____ ___

-downslope; spoon-shaped -head scarp **earthquakes or heavy rains

Types Mass Movt: Soil Creep -Imperceptible _____ movement of soil and regolith as their _____ changes in seasonal expansion-contraction cycles -______form -fastest near the ____ and slower near ____ **causes structure and veg. on hillsides to ___ downslope bc of soil creep

-downslope; volume -slowest -land surface; bedrock **SAG; DOWNSLOPE

Frost Wedging (Physical Weathering) : -water trapped in opening in rock freezes and ____, causing opening to _____ -when liquid water freezes to ice, it expands by almost ____% -where temp. routinely drop below freezing, frost wedging is MOST IMPT type of phys weath

-expands; grow -10%

Faulting: -___ in crust where movement and ____ occur -occurs most often near ____ ____ , but regions far away from them are also faulted -can create blocks of crust that move vertically relative to each other called fault blocks.. create mountains

-fracture -plate boundaries

4) Topography and Moisture: -gentle slopes develop ____ soils than steep soils. Soils cannot form where topography is too ____

-gentle: thicker; too steep

Principle Of Uniformitarianism: -Earth's physical systems operate mostly under _____ changes that _____ over geologic time. -"_________________________________" -Catastrophic events occur intermittently, but uniformitarianism is _______ .

-gradual; accumulated -"Present is the key to the past" -constant

Physical Weathering: -greatest effect where ?? (temp. ?) -cracks in rock (joints) provide surface areas on which physical weathering can act

-greatest: high elevations; high lat.

Monitoring Glaciers: essential for understanding cryosphere response to atmospheric warming --> How Monitor??? - -

-historical photographs -field measurements placed on surface of glacier

After Faulting: -_____ and ____ fault block -material removed by_____ + ______

-lifted/ sunken -weathering and erosion

Koppen Climate Classification: ---> Low Latitude: -Most tropical rainforest soils, called _____, are poor in nutrients ------> soil weathering

-oxisols

-Slope stability depends on relationship btw ______ force and _____ force --> ____ Force: Keeps material in place --> ____ Force: Induces material to slip downhill -mass movements can be caused by any factor that increases downslope force or decreases ___ force

-resistance; gravitational --> Resistance --> Gravitational -resistance

Silicates: -____ and ____ combine with each other and with other elements to form silicate minerals -____ % of continental crust is formed from silicate minerals -rocks formed from silicates are structurally ____ and relatively resistant to _____

-silicon and oxygen -95% -strong; weathering

Dissolved Load: ____ minerals that are carried in solution by a stream Suspended Load: small particles that remain suspended in ____ water (gives streams ___ appearance) Bed Load: Material in stream channel that is too ____ to become suspended in current

-soluble -flowing; muddy -heavy

Koppen Climate Classification: categorizes climates based on ____ and _____ -___ major groups ; ___ climate zones

-temp and precip -6; 25

Chemical Weathering: -dominant where temp....? and what else? -rocks in ____ tropics are most altered -(More fragments rocks become: greater SA--> more weathering!!!)

-temp. are above freezing and ample moisture -lowland

Differential Weathering: -_____ weathering across a ___ surface --> weathering acts on ___ minerals more than on relatively resistant minerals -Landforms Created: Devil's Tower WY: less resistant sedimentary surrounding weathered -Arch: sandstone; weak bedding eroded fastest (Iran) -Resistant Cap: Canada

-unequal; rock -weaker

1) Climate: -soils develop quickly where climate is ____ and ____ -____ weathering predominates in warm and wet such as lowland tropics -Polair High: ____ -Subpolar Low: ___ and ____ (well developed soil) -Subtropical High: ____ and ____ -ITCZ: ____ and ____(****soils are deeply _____ )

-warm and wet -chemical weathering -Polar High: Cold (poor) -Subpolar Low: Cold and Moist (rich topsoil) -Subtropical High: Warm and Dry (poor developed) -ITCZ: Warm and wet (soils deeply weathered)

2) Parent Material (rock + mineral weathered into particles of sand, silt, and clay) -bedrock resistant to ____ form soils more slowly, resulting soils are ______ -Thick Soil over_____ rock; Thin Soil over ____ rock; No soil over ____ rock

-weathering; thinner -Thick: Weaker rock; Thin: Harder rock; No: Hardest rock

TWO Types of Glaciers: 1) ____ Glaciers: found where? 2) _____ ____: domed sheets of ice that cover significant portion of a continent (only Greenland and Anatartica have)

1) Alpine Glaciers: mountainous 2) Ice Sheets

5 Soil Formation Factors:

1) Climate 2) Parent Material 3) Organisms 4) Topography and Moisture 5) Time

3 Types of Stream Load: 1) 2) 3)

1) Dissolved load 2) Suspended Load 3) Bed Load

Factors that Cause Mass Wasting: (5) (for each: effect downslope force? )

1) Earthquakes: shaking INC downslope force 2)Rivers + Roadcuts: steeper slope greater downslope force 3) Ground Saturation: saturated--> heavy--> downslope incr 4) Weathering: Incr weather: weekend strength of rock 5) Removal Of Veg: decreases resistance force

Plate Tectonics: Oceanographic Evidence (3)

1) Mapping Seafloor (bathymetry) 2) Age of seafloor rocks 3) Patterns of magnetization

2 Ways Scientists Date Materials: 1) 2)

1) Relative Age: order of event 2) Absolute Age: specified in years (actual #)

3 Factors Cause Aridity: 1) 2) 3)

1) Subtropical high-pressure zone btw 20-30 deg (** most widespread cause) 2) Rain shadows (leeward side) 3) Inland Location (high elevation where air is cold and wv low)

3 Physical Limiting Factors:

1) Temperature 2) Water 3) Light

1) Igneous rocks form: 2) Sedimentary rocks form: 3) Metamorphic rock form:

1) cool from magma or lava 2) through cementation and compaction of sediments 3) heat and pressure applied to preexisting rocks

3 principle layers earth's interior:

1) core 2) mantle 3) lithosphere

Absolute Age: -Dating Techniques used: 1) ________: tree ring analysis 2) ________ :assigning ages to materials based on radioactive decay of unstable elements in those materials

1) dendrochronology 2) Radiometric Dating -oldest rocks on earth--> about 4 billion years before present

3 Plate Boundaries: 1) ______: where 2 plates move apart as new crust is formed (what's created?) 2) ______: where 2 plates move toward each other (what's created) 3) ______: where 1 plate slips laterally past another

1) divergent (mid-ocean ridge created) 2) convergent (chain of volcanoes) 3) transform

2 Types of Crust: 1) Continental Crust: makes up continents composes mainly of ______ (forms from ____) 2) Oceanic Crust: beneath the oceans, composed mainly of _____ (forms from ____)

1) granite (magma) 2) basalt (lava)

1) ___ rock (magma cools deep w/in the crust; lava cools on crust surface) 2) ____ and _____ (rocks broken down into smaller fragments + chemically altered by weathering) 3) ____ rock 4) _____rock (rocks can be crushed and heated, as they are in subduction +collision) 5) _____ lithosphere

1) igneous rock 2) weatering and erosions 3) sedimentary rock 4) metamorphic rock 5) recycled lithosphere

3 rock families:

1) igneous rocks 2) sedimentary rocks 3) metamorphic rocks

Evidence for Continental Drift (3) :

1) matching rock types on separated continents (and mountains) 2) Deposits of glacial gravels 3) Fossils of organisms

Plate movement result of 3 factors: 1) ____ ____: magma rising along mid-ocean ridge lifts ocean litho and forms slope 2) _____ ____ : caused by convection w/in asthenosphere; astheno moves, frictions drags litho above it 3) ____ ______: weight of subducting portion of plate accelerates plate movement by pulling plate deeper into mantle

1) ridge push 2) mantle drag 3) slab pull

Overall, the effect of disintegration, wearing away, and removal of rock material--> implies a lowering of land surfaces --> interaction of 3 types of activities:

1) weathering 2) mass wasting 3) erosion

Soil Taxonomy: Groups soils into ____ orders, based mainly on _____ development and _____ Reveals soil's history and condition under which it formed

12; development and color

Permafrost: - ground that remains below freezing continuously for ___ years or more --> not all permafrost is composed of ice. If no water in soil: no ice; only unconsolidated rock fragments

2

Soil and Soil Horizon Development: A) through ____ and _____ activity, bare bedrock forms soils B) ______ and leaching form soil horizons (zone of eluviation: near topsoil; zone of illuviation: near weathered bedrock (bottom)) --> soil particles near surface are transported ______ by rainfall

A) weathering + biological activity B) Eluviation and leaching form soil horizons --> downward

Glacial Advance: when mass balance is ____ , the equilibrium line _____ and the ice _____ downslope Glacial Retreat: when mass balance is ____, the equilibrium line ____ and the ice ____ upslope

Advance: (+); lowers; advances DOWN Retreat: (-); raises; retreates UP

-fold in crust with an arch-like ridge -fold in crust with U-shaped dip

Anticlines Syncline

______: solid state, but nearer melting and weak and easily deformed _______ _____: rigid and relatively brittle

Asthenosphere Lithospheric Mantle

Barchan Dune: ____ - shaped sand dune with ____ tips pointing downwind Star Dune: ___-shaped dune formed as prevailing wind ____ ___ through the yr Transverse Dune: ____, ____ sand dune with ____ crest perpendicular to prevailing wind (at a right angle to wind direction) --> sand completely covers desert floor !!!

Barchan: crescent; crescent (consistent prevailing wind direction!!) Star: star; changes direction Transverse: long; narrow (right angle to wind direction !!)

_______: Rock that is structurally part of and connected to Earth's crust _______: Any loose, fragmented Earth material that covers bedrock

Bedrock Regolith

Karst: refers to an area dominated by the weathering of ______ rocks , usually _______ .

Carbonate; Limestone

Theory that continents move slowly across Earth surface; noticed jigsaw-puzzle fit between east coast of SA and west coast of AF

Continental Drift: Wegener Theory

Erosion- flowing water is most important and widespread agent of erosion -______: kinetic energy of the stream's flowing water works to cut downward into Earth surface and transport rock fragment downslope toward the oceans

Downcutting

Geographic region drained by a single trunk stream and smaller tributaries that flow into it. -ridge or highland that separates drainage systems that empty into different ocean basins is a ____ ___

Drainage Basin -continental divide

____ ____: U-shaped valley carved by a glacier

Glacial Valley

Large mass of ice formed from accumulation of snow, which flows slowly downslope: ______

Glacier

Movement of rock, soil, snow, or ice downslope by gravity

Mass Wasting

Grasslands, semiared climates =______ Extremely old soils; hot, humid climate= ____ Clayey materials, wet-dry climate=_____

Mollisols Oxisols Vertisols

_____: Heap of unsorted sediments deposited by a glacier --> ______ _____: Marks farthest advance of a glaciers toe

Moraine Terminal Moraine

(see figure of horizons) Name all 6:

O Horizon: Humus ( organic) A Horizon: Topsoil (plant roots) E Horizon: Transition (eluv + leach) B Horizon: Subsoil (clays; illuv) C Horizon: Weathered Bedrock R Horizon: Solid Bedrock

Patterned ground: formed as _____-____ cycles slowly wedge soil apart. Over time, _____ shapes develop. Drunken Forests: Trees growing on ____ ____ above permafrost that have _____-rooted and unstable — may become tilted.

PG: freeze-thaw; polygon DF: active layer; shallow-rooted

300 million years ago, Earth had only one ocean and one supercontinent _______ (meaning "whole land") -rifted apart as a result of ____ in the asthenosphere beneath it -2 steps: openings of Tethys Sea and opening of Atlantic Ocean

Pangaea -convection

_____: Stream that flows all year ______: Stream that runs dry during part or most of the year ______: Stream that flows briefly after heavy rainstorms - most common in arid regions

Permanent Stream Intermittent Stream Ephemeral Stream:

Breakdown of rocks into smaller pieces without altering the chemical makeup of the rock

Physical Weathering

___ weathering more impt than ___ weathering in deserts --> Why?

Physical weathering; chemical weathering --> chemical requires water --> chemical occurs very slowly in deserts

_______: Depression in Earth's surface resulting from weathering of ______ rock underground ________ _______ : Leaves ground surface and flows into subterranean channels

SINKHOLE: carbonate rock Disappearing Stream

Layer of sediment closest to Earth's surface into which plant roots extend and that has been modified by organisms and water

Soils (Living Veneer) -soils composed mostly of weathered fragments of rocks + minerals

A channel in which water flows downhill by the force of gravity.

Stream

Volume of water flowing past a fixed point within a stream channel --> paved surfaces are impermeable, and water flows from them quickly into nearby streams -Urbanized Area Post-Storm Discharge: --> Mercer Peaked during; rose and fell w/in 24 hrs -->Newaukum peak discharge spread over 20 hr period

Stream Discharge

Koppen Climate Classification: ---> Midlatitudes: ______ ______ _____ -biome dominated by trees -north hem; large annual temp range

Temperate Deciduous Forest

Biomes found at all latitudes: ______ --> occurs where it is too ____ for ____ to grow 2 types:

Tundra --> too cold for trees to grow 2 Types: 1) Alpine Tundra 2) Northern Tundra

-Process by which solid rock is dissolved and broken apart into smaller fragments -Transport of rock fragments by moving water, ice or air

Weathering Erosion

In most regions, the topmost portion of the ground, called the ____ _____, thaws each summer and refreezes in fall --> when it thaws, ice turns to liquid--> form lakes

active layer

Zagros Mountains: -folds results of collision between ____ and _____ plates

arabinan and eurasian

Glaciers move downslope by ____ ____ and _____ _____ Evidence of glaciers/colder climates found in the form of sediments composed of _____ rock fragments --> many do not match local bedrock: indicating they come from far away

basal sliding; plastic deformation unsorted

Whittaker Diagram: portrays the relationship btw ____ and _____ graphically -_____ _____ occupy the climates with the highest precipitation and temperature -____ occupies the climates with lowest precip and temp -____ ____ occupies warm and dry climates

biomes and climates -Tropical rainforests -Tundra -Subtropical Desert

Process that changes minerals in a rock through chemical reactions involving water

chemical weathering

Lowering and wearing away of Earth's surface

denudation

______ reveals plate boundary locations _____ (same as before) are not randomly distributed, but occur in geographic pattern that delineates the outlines of lithospheric plates

earthquakes

Zone of Accum: net ice gain occurs above ____ line Zone of Ablation: net ice loss occurs below ____ line Glacier equilibirum line: represents the elevation at which annual ice gain and ice loss are equal

equilibrium

A Cut Bank (where ____ exceeds _____) becomes outside edge of meander

erosion exceeds deposition

Meanders (looping bend in stream channel) develop when ____ -____ portion of stream erodes one bank more than the other

fastest-flowing

Most impt agent of erosion in most desert areas is ____ ___, because deserts have little _____

flowing water; vegetation

Results from a mantle plume a mostly stationary column of hot rock that extends from deep in mantle up to base of lithosphere -located ??

hot spots -located at base lithosphere where high temp cause overlying crust to melt

Force of flowing water, called ____ ____ , frees rock fragments and sets them in motion

hydraulic action

Glacier Mass Balance: difference btw _____ to a glacier that increases its ice volume and _____ of ice that decrease ice volume Zone of ______: where ice gain from snowfall exceeds ice loss Zone of _____: where ice loss exceeds ice accumulation

inputs; losses accumulation ablation

Through compaction and cementation, loose sediments may experience ______ (transformed into rock)

lithification

Naturally occurring, crystalline, solid chemical elements or compounds with a uniform chemical composition -they are _____ (not made by organisms)

minerals -abiogenic

Rocks first form when magma cools and hardens into rock from a _____ state, either deep within Earth's crust or at a _____ vent (igneous rocks).

molten; volcanic

Landslide: rapid mvmt of ___ or ___ down a ___ slope` Rockfalls: type of mass mvmt in which rocks ____ off a ____ or nearly ___ cliff face --> common along ____ --> Caused by ___ ___ on steep mountain faces often creates piles of rock --> **____ : pieces of angular broken rock that accumulate at base steep slop/ vertical cliff

rock or debris; steep slope Rockfall: tumble; vertical / nearly vertical --> roadcuts --> frost wedging --> * Talus

a solid mass composed of minerals or volcanic glass --> most composed of one or more minerals

rocks

Hill or ridge formed by accumulation of windblown sand: _______ --> name the 3 types

sand dune 1) Barchan dune 2) Star dune 3) Transverse dune

-Soil described by texture: relative amounts of ____, ____ ,and ____ -Textures can be summarized in a soil texture triangle (review how to identify) -___ is ideal soil texture for growing crops; retains + transmits moisture and nutrients that are easily accessible to plants

sand, silt, clay (largest to smallest) -loam : grow crops

-Sediments are sorted by ____ as they are deposited -Where stream stops flowing at base level, it loses all kinetic energy, and all material it carries, except its dissolved load -____ is an accumulation of sediment formed where a stream reaches base level

size -Delta

are horizontal zones within the soil identified by their different physical and chemical properties.

soil horizons (6 !! --> arranged vertically)

Island Formation at a Hot Spot: A) As the overlying plate moves over _______________, it creates a chain of volcanoes B) Hawaiian islands were formed by a _________

stationary hot spot

Stream Process: Dependent on Stream Gradient = refers to the ____ of a stream, or drop in ____ of the stream channel in the downstream direction --> Larger Gradient: more/less downcutting --> Less Gradient: Streams meanders on a _____

steepness; elevation -more -floodplain

5) Time: -older exposures of bedrock have had more time to develop ____ soils

thicker (younger, thinner soil: young lava flow: older, thicker soil)

Trunk streams and tributaries form different drainage patterns depending on ______ and the type of _____ over which they are flowing. --> Dendritic Stream pattern: Red diagram; tree branch looking --> Trellis Stream Pattern: mountainy/ridgey btw stream

topography; type of surface