Geog exam 2

Overland or sheet flow

A fluvial system begins with _______ which is runoff during and after a rain. The water (precipitation) which doesn't soak into the ground but flows over it before entering a watercourse.

Oxbow Lake

An ________ is formed when a cutoff occurs and this body of water is left unattached to the river.

Radial

8 common drainage patterns: In a ______ drainage system, the streams radiate outwards from a central high point. Volcanoes usually display excellent radial drainage.

Dendritic

8 common drainage patterns: Is a tree like branching pattern and the most familiar, common pattern.

Trellis

8 common drainage patterns: Is illustrated by parallel streams linked by right angle streams in areas of varying hard and soft strata. This pattern is often associated with areas of anticlines and synclines.

Annular

8 common drainage patterns: Is produced by structural domes where the streams seem to form a concentric circle patter as they flow out from the central dome along fault lines.

Deranged

8 common drainage patterns: This pattern has no clear geometric pattern and is found in areas that have been highly glaciated.

Meander scar

A ______ is an isolated meander that is not filled with water.

Cutoff

A _______ is formed when the river erodes a shorter course across a meander, cutting it off from the main channel and straightening the river to its position before the meander.

Midstream bar

A _________ is the build up of sediments between channel banks, and surrounded by water.

Cut bank

A _________ is the side of the river the current comes into contact with when there is a bend in the river.

Point bar

A __________ is a bank on the opposite side of a cut bank that almost resembles a sand bar.

Meander

A bend in a river is known as a ________.

Terraces

A feature the result of deposition first and then subsequent erosion. It is a series series of ________ (this feature) or small plateaus on either side of the river which indicates erosion into an older floodplain. They are formed by downcutting and lateral erosion.

2.5

If our 6th order stream is 10 mi. long and the average length of the 5th order streams is 5 mi. long, the 4th order streams are __ mi. long and so on.

Pluton(s); sheeting

Pressure release jointing is commonly seen in _________ (internal igneous rock) which form deep underground and as erosion takes away the overlying material, pressure on the _________(same as the first term) is reduced and it expands causing the _________.

brooks; creeks

Rills/ gullies merge to form _____ and ______.

Solution

Stream load process: _________ is the process which moves the dissolved load, which is the material in solution, the salts and minerals. This mineral will come out of the solution when the water evaporates.

Suspension

Stream load process: ____ is when fine light material is carried along in the water.

Traction

Stream load process: ________ is the process of sliding and dragging material found on the bottom of a watercourse, the bed load, along the river bottom. The material is always in contact with the river bed and may involve rolling.

Saltation

Stream load process: ________ is when small stones and pebbles bounce along the river bed.

Solifluction

Type of creep: The downslope movement of moisture-saturated surficial material over frozen substratum material accusing in sub arctic regions.

Soil creep

Type of creep: When soil moves slowly.

Debris flow

Type of flow: A geological phenomena in which large amounts of water laden soil and fragmented rock rush down a decline. Common during heavy rains.

Earth flow

Type of flow: A sheet or stream of soil and rock material saturated with water flowing on a downslope due to gravity.

Mudflow

Type of flow: a form of mass wasting involving very rapid to extremely rapid surging flow of debris that has become partially or fully liquified by the addition of significant amounts of water to the source material.

Fall

Type of mass movement: Can be the downslope rolling of pieces of rock or other material loosened by weathering which may form a talus slope or cone at the base of a mountain

Flows

Type of mass movement: Involve movements that are faster than creep, often quite sudden and in which water plays a crucial role.

Creep

Type of mass movement: The slow movement of earth material downslope. Almost imperceivable, often at rates of only a few inches or less per year.

Rockslide

Type of slide: A landslide consisting of primarily of rock material.

Landslide

Type of slide: The rapid downslope movement of a cohesive mass of soil, regolith, and/or bedrock material triggered by an earthquake.

Tensile stress

Type of stress: This will reduce the frictional forces and increase the potential that gravity can overcome friction.

Abrasion

3 main processes of erosion: Deals with how a stream uses the materials carried by the water to hit and dislodge other materials along the sides or bottom of the watercourse.

Corrosion

3 main processes of erosion: When minerals in the stream erode the bottom and sides of a stream chemically.

Hydraulic action

3 main processes of erosion: ______ is erosion that occurs when the motion of water against a rock surface produces mechanical weathering. Most generally, it is the ability of moving water (flowing or waves) to dislodge and transport rock particles.

Prismatic

4 basic soil structures: Peds arraigned in columns.

blocky; angular

4 basic soil structures: Straight sided, irregularly shaped peds.

Platy

4 basic soil structures: _____ is layered peds, like flakes stacked horizontally.

Spheroidal; granular

4 basic soil structures: small rounded shaped peds.

Parallel

8 common drainage patterns: A ______ drainage system is a pattern of rivers caused by steep slopes with some relief. Because of the steep slopes, the streams are swift and straight, with very few tributaries, and all flow in the same direction

Centripetal

8 common drainage patterns: A pattern whereby streams converge into a central basin or depression with no exit stream.

Rectangular

8 common drainage patterns: Drainage develops on rocks that are of approximately uniform resistance to erosion, but which have two directions of joining at approximately right angles.

Translocation

(4 processes of layer development in soil) ______ is movement of soil constituents (organic or mineral) within the profile and/or between horizons. Over time, this process is one of the more visibly noticeable as alterations in color, texture, and structure become apparent.

Depletion

(4 processes of layer development in soil) ______ is the process whereby particles are carried downward through the soil by water from one area to another. The percolating water reduces (depletes) the abundance of the substance in the upper area.

Transformation

(4 processes of layer development in soil) _______ is the continued weathering of rock, minerals, & soil particles already present. The soil components being physically and/or chemically broken down into their smallest size possible. This normally occurs in all soil horizons.

Addition

(4 processes of layer development in soil) ___________ is materials added to the soil, such as decomposing vegetation and organisms (organic matter--OM), or new mineral materials deposited by wind or water.

Evapotranspiration

(evaporation + transpiration by plants): Water is converted from the liquid state to the gaseous state and rises into the atmosphere.

Polje karst

A key feature is that streams flow across the polje (valley) floor, disappearing into a swallow hole or ponor (cave opening), through tunnels in the mountains and into the next valley. They do not enter one end of the valley and exit the other end on the surface. it is known as __________ (type of karst).

Soil horizon

A layer parallel to the soil's crust that indicates a change in the composition of the soil.

Salt wedging

A mechanical weathering process found in arid environments where salt crystals grow after water that has gotten on the rocks evaporates and leaves the salt crystals behind.

Mass Movement

A movement of materials en masse (in bulk)

drainage basin; watershed

A network of watercourses, and the land in-between the water channels (the catchment area), forms the river's ______ or _____.

Trunk

A watercourse has a _____ or main section with several tributaries or branches.

infiltration

After precipitation when water soaks into the surface it is known as ______.

Pedogenesis

Another term for soil formation is ________.

Nickpoint

Any point when the water changes elevation (waterfall of any kind) is known as a ____________.

Streams; rivers

Brooks and creeks merge to form _____ and ______.

External

Causes of failure: _______ occur due to an increase of weight of the slope due to an increase in water content, removal of support from base of the slope, or earthquakes.

Internal

Causes of failure: ________ failures occurs from a reduction of the shear strength due to an increased water content of increased pore pressure.

Vertisols

Clay rich soils which swell or shrink with moisture and thus subject to extensive cracking upon drying.

Active

Earthquakes, snowfall/snowpack, heavy rainfall, strong winds, and load increase are examples of ______ factors in mass movement.

Downcutting

Erosion of the stream bed is known as ________.

Aggradation

Fluvial system: A word for deposition is _____.

Degradation

Fluvial system: A word for erosion is _______.

Porosity

How easily water can enter a rock mass or soil is known as its _____ which affects the rate of weathering.

Humid, tropical

In _____ areas there is often quicker and more intense, deeper weathering of soils due to the more abundant moisture and higher Tºs. Soils are often richer in Al & Fe oxides.

humid; mid; higher

In _____, ____ to _____ latitudes intermediate weathering intensity & soil formation results in medium thickness soils.

Desert, arid

In ______ areas formation rates are slower and low chemical weathering rates produce thinner, carbonate-enriched soils.

Old age

Life cycle of a river: The Mississippi is such a river and its slow movement and suspended sediment make it appear, in some locations, more like a river of mud than a river of water. They have a greater capacity than other stages of river development.

Maturity

Life cycle of a river: Those rivers which are characterized by a widening of the valley floor by lateral erosion. early formation of a floodplain with small to medium meanders, a few oxbow lakes etc.

Youth

Life cycle of a river: ________ rivers are found at higher elevations, in mountainous areas, where the slope of the land is steeper. Water that flows over such a landscape will flow very fast. _______ rivers can be a tributary of a larger and older river, hundreds of miles away and, in fact, they may be close to the headwaters (the beginning) of that larger river.

Passive

Slope aspect, wind and topographic alignment, slope steepness, dip of bedrock, amount of jointing and fracturing, etc. are examples of _________ factors in mass movement.

B horizon

Soil Horizon: Formed primarily by translocation of particles from the 'A' & 'E' horizons, thus known as the zone of accumulation. Often takes the most time to develop. May form a Bt horizon rich in clay & hydrated oxides of Fe & Al in humid areas. In arid regions a Bk horizon rich in calcium carbonate may develop.

C horizon

Soil Horizon: Parent rock, also known as substratum: The parent material in sedimentary deposits. Layer of large unbroken rocks. This layer may accumulate the more soluble compounds

O horizon

Soil Horizon: Surficial organic deposit with litter layer of plant residues in relatively non-decomposed form.

R horizon

Soil Horizon: The layer of solid rock (bedrock) that is first affected by weathering.

A horizon

Soil Horizon: Upper most layer developed from parent material;. Also known as the zone of leaching, since elements are taken from this layer by leaching to produce the 'E' & 'B' horizons. This layer is often darken in color due to organic material leaching from the 'O' horizon. Formed primarily by transformation and addition.

Clay

Soil Particles that are less than .002 mm (.00008 in) in size are considered ________.

Spodosols

Soil Taxonomy: High in Fe, Al oxides and humus accumulation; Acidic soils; Common in coniferous or boreal forests.

Oxisols

Soil Taxonomy: Most horizon development of any soil; must have a horizon within 150 cm of soil surface.

Ultisols

Soil Taxonomy: Warm, wet climate soils with a clayey B horizon, but do not undergo as much cracking as vertisols; found in the southeast US.

E horizon

Soil horizon: subsurface soil horizon that is apparent at the base of the "A" horizon.

Gelisols

Soil taxonomy: Cold and frozen soil subject to crytoturbation (frost churning); found in high latitudes and elevations.

Aridisols

Soil taxonomy: Dry soil found in most desert areas; low organic content and often a Bk horizon (rich in calcium carbonate) the result of salinization (the build up of salt in soil).

Afisols

Soil taxonomy: Moist, highly mineral rich soils with organic rich "A" horizon and clayey B horizon ; often found under deciduous forests. Common in humid, sup-tropic areas.

Inceptisols

Soil taxonomy: Similar to entisols but shows the beginning of a weakly developed B horizon.

Mollisols

Soil taxonomy: dark soils common in grasslands that make up 22% of US soils.

Andisols

Soil taxonomy: developed from volcanic material, particularly ash.

Histosols

Soil taxonomy: rapid decomposition when aerated, >20% organic material. commonly found in wetlands.

Entisols

Soil taxonomy: shows very little signs of layers within the soil, and is also the most common globally with about 16.3% of soil being in this category.

floodplain

The _________ is the flat land of the river valley close to the river banks. The floodplain is usually found in the lower course of a river. It is a fertile area of land, used for agriculture and growing crops.

Suspended

The material suspended in the water of a river is known as the ________ load.

Outgassing

The process by which water was brought to the surface of the earth. The release of trapped gasses from rocks, forced out by cracks, fissures, and volcanoes from within the earth is known as _______.

Angle of repose

The steepest angle at which a sloping surface formed of loose material is stable. The more dense the material the steeper the angle.

Frost action; freeze-thaw cycles

The type of mechanical weathering known as _______ is repeated freezing and thawing of the water, also known as ________, may lead to fragmentation of the rock.

Pressure-release jointing; sheeting or exfoliation

The type of mechanical weathering known as ___________ is when layers of rock may peel away along curved fractures parallel to the masses' shape in a process known as ___________.

Hydration

The type of mechanical weathering when water absorbed into the pores of a rock creates swelling and increased pressure helping to weather it down. It works primarily at the grain sized level.

Thermal weathering

The type of mechanical weathering which causes rocks to contract and expand due to temperature is known as ___________. It primarily occurs at the grain size level, but may also cause spalling (flaking) of the rock surface.

Residual

The type of soil created on site by rock decay is known as ________ soil.

Transported

The type of soil transported naturally to an area is known as ______ soil.

2

Water attained the amount currently on the surface __ billion years ago.

3.8

Water began to collect on the Earth's surface __ billion years ago.

mechanical weathering

Weathering rates will differ with elevation. ________ is more prominent at higher elevations.

minerals, organic material, water, and air

What are the four components of soil?

3

With every order a stream attains the amount of streams joined to create it of the order below is calculated when multiplied by the number _.

discharge; width of stream; channel depth; stream velocity.

Write the meaning of these acronyms in the formula for calculating river flow: Q = WxDxV q;w;d;v

Tufa

_____ is a term given to the precipitate which forms along a wall, on rocks and other surfaces in a cave.

Reddish; orange

_____ or _____ colored soils have a high iron and/or aluminum oxide content.

dark brown; black

_____ to ______ colored soils have a high organic content.

Hydrolysis

______ is a form of chemical weathering that causes granular disintegration (dissolving) by water chemically bonding with and altering minerals in the rock, thus waking and breaking the crystal network and structure.

Oxidation

______ is a form of chemical weathering that occurs when a rock is exposed to oxygen and it becomes weaker due to the interaction.

Carbonation

______ is a type of hydrolysis involving carbonates.

Peds

______ is an aggregate of soil particles, or how the soil clumps together. It also affects field capacity.

Soil

______ is composed of 50% weathered rock such as pebbles, sand, silt, and clay particles along with 50% organic material such as biodegraded plants and animals.

Solum

______ is that section of a soil profile consisting of the A, E, and B horizons, those layers in which plant roots are most active.

Slope stability

______ is the potential of soil covered slopes to undergo movement.

Windward; leeward

______ slopes are often wetter than ______ slopes.

Sandy

______ soils have greater pore space, thus water can move through these soils much more easily, yielding a lower field capacity.

Pedon

_______ is a column of soil, extending from the O horizon into the C horizon and is used as a research sampling size.

Spheroidal

_______ is a form of chemical weathering that affects jointed bedrock and results in the formation of concentric or spherical layers of highly decayed rock within weathered bedrock.

Karst

_______ is landscape underlain by limestone that has been eroded by dissolution, producing ridges, towers, fissures, sinkholes, and other characteristic landforms.

Peak flow

_______ is the discharge of a river during precipitation and snowmelt events.

Friction

_______ is the primary force that resists the effect of gravity in moving material down a slope. It is defined as the mechanical resistance to the relative motion of adjacent masses of materials.

Precipitation

_______ is when water turns from a gas to liquid due to a reduction of energy.

Cohesion

_______ of a mass binds grains together by electrostatic forces between particles or by chemical cementation. As cohesion of a material increases, its shear strength increases.

Strength

_______ of a material is its resistance to stress; or the amount of stress required to cause failure or rupture of the material.

Clay

_______ soils have a lower amount of pore space, thus water cannot move through these soils as easily, yielding a higher field capacity.

Biological agents

________ are the quantity and type of decomposers (microorganisms, bacteria, fungi, etc.) will affect the rate of organic matter decay and the amount of humus (organic matter) in the soil.

Stream area

________ is a term meaning the catchment area (watershed) of a stream increases with increasing order number just as stream length increases.

Deposition

________ is the process whereby transported, weathered material (sediment) is laid down by water, wind, ice, etc.

Water balance

________ of an area, the amount of water in the area based on input (precipitation) minus output (usage, evaporation, storage), is important not only for life forms but for geomorphic processes.

fluviokarst

_________ (type of karst) is characterized by a landscape of deranged drainage commonly associated with dolines and caves.

Speleothems

_________ are features form as the water dripping into a cave from above evaporates, allowing the dissolved material in the solution to re-crystallize (from a precipitate). It is a general term for all cave formations which are the result of re-crystallization.

Lateral

_________ erosion is erosion of the stream sides (banks).

Capacity

_________ is a measure of the amount of material a stream can move and it is controlled by water volume and velocity.

Loam

_________ is a term used to describe a soil, similar to a clay or sand, but based on the percent of sand, silt, and clay and not on particle size.

Base flow

_________ is the average river discharge fed only by available ground water and no additional precipitation or snowmelt events.

Flood stage

_________ is the high water level or stage at which the river overflows natural levees.

Condensation

_________ is when gaseous water gets in contact with a cool object and turns to its liquid state.

cockpit

_________ karst is an area of depressions, unlike doline karst, which are surrounded by 4-5 towers (hills), forming a star-shaped pattern. The depressions are deepened by dissolution of the limestone from the surface downward, not from underneath.

cold

_________ regions yield little karst development because of lower amounts of vegetation and thus lower CO2 in soil. Also the presence of permafrost & frozen water in the soil.

Slope aspect

_________, the compass direction the slope faces, may affect Tº because it determines the amount of direct sunlight the slope receives. This can affect soil moisture retention, organic carbon content, pH levels, vegetation coverage, etc.

Columns

__________ are features which stretch from the floor to the ceiling. This may be a stalagmite & stalactite that have joined, or one or the other which has grown from one side to the other.

Alluvium

__________ is the sediment deposited outside the banks of a river after a flood event.

Headward

___________ erosion is erosion of the stream at its start or head.

Competence

___________ is a measure of particle size a stream can move and is dependent on velocity.

Natural Levee

___________ is composed of heavier sediments deposited closer to the water channel, with lighter material further away.

Field capacity

____________ is the amount of soil moisture or water content held in the soil after excess water has drained away and the rate of downward movement has decreased. This usually takes place 2-3 days after rain or irrigation in pervious soils of uniform structure and texture.

Silt

soil particles sized .05 - 002 mm (.002 - .00008 in) are considered ______.

Sand

soil particles sized 2 - .05 mm (.08- .002 in) are considered ________.

Block slumping

type of flow: The movement of material (soil, regolith, etc.) in distinct block-like units which may move independent of one another. It is the slowest type of flow movement. Soil usually has higher clay content.

Comprehensive stress

type of stress: This will increase the frictional forces and reduce the potential that gravity can overcome friction.

Normal Stress

types of stress: Stress which is perpendicular to the sloping surface and decreases as the slope increases. It is zero on a vertical (90 degree) slope.

Shear stress

types of stress: stress which is parallel to the sloping surface and increases as the slope increases. It is zero on a horizontal surface.

Mass Movement

will occur on slopes greater than 0 degrees (horizontal).