Geography Chapter 3 Study Guide

What general term refers to the alteration of the earth's crust due to plate movement?

Tectonic forces

What are the two principal categories of tectonic processes that shape the earth's surface?

Volcanism and diastrophism

Sharp ridges and U-shaped valleys are characteristic features of mountains that have undergone

glaciation.

If a land surface where a mountain once stood is now a low, flat plain, __________ have been at work.

gradational processes

Granite, basalt, pumice, and obsidian are all ______ rocks.

igneous

Terrain created by an underground solution of limestone creating sinkholes and caverns is known as

karst topography

Karst topography is created by chemical weathering of ___________ rocks.

limestone

Which of the following is a wind-deposited material?

loess

Fine-grained, windblown silt deposits are known as

loess.

The Richter scale

measures the energy released by an earthquake.

The theory of continental drift was formulated because

of the remarkable fit of the continents.

The breakup of rock into smaller fragments of the same material is called

physical weathering.

Earthquakes are most often caused by

pressure at lithospheric plate boundaries.

The most important erosional agent is

running water.

Which group of coastal features exists as the result of erosion by sea waves?

sea cliffs, headlands, embayments

Coal and petroleum occur in the group of rocks classified as

sedimentary.

The Richter scale is a well-known measure of the magnitude of

seismic waves.

Longshore currents are responsible for the creation of

spits.

An accumulation of rock fragments at the base of hills and mountains is called _____.

talus

Which of the following landforms results mainly from the effect of mass wasting or mass movement?

talus

Earthquakes result from

the buildup of tension as tectonic forces are applied.

The world's tallest mountains were formed by

the collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates.

Theories of the evolution of glaciers include, as possible causes, all of the following EXCEPT

the drifting of continental plates over tropical regions.

The major volcanic belt is located near the major earthquake and fault zones because

volcanoes, earthquakes, and faults tend to be concentrated at or near plate boundaries.

The earth is approximately __________ billion years old.

4.5

Which of the following groups contains processes caused only by mechanical weathering?

frost action, root action, development of salt crystals

For millions of years the Atlantic Ocean has been widening at the rate of about

1 inch (2.5 cm) per year.

Identify the three main groups of rocks and indicate with arrows and labels the processes by which each one is formed and transformed in the rock cycle.

Answer should resemble Figure 3.3 in text

How are earthquakes scaled?

Answers will vary.

Using examples, discuss the difference between mechanical and chemical weathering.

Answers will vary.

What are the major landforms associated with continental and alpine glaciation?

Answers will vary.

The largest areas of continental-size glaciers in the world today are in

Antarctica and Greenland.

Hurricane Sandy is a good example of a storm causing

Coastal erosion

_____________ is the great pressure acting on the plates that deforms them by folding, twisting, warping, breaking, or compressing rock.

Diastrophism

Great fractures in the earth's crust caused an extensive rift valley system in

East Africa.

.The present continents were joined in a single landmass as recently as 20 million years ago. T/F

False

Cirques are associated with coastal processes. T/F

False

Groundwater moves more quickly than surface running water. T/F

False

Less chemical weathering occurs in humid and warmer areas than in dryer and colder regions. T/F

False

Oxbow lakes form when rivers flow onto the more level land at the base of mountain slopes. T/F

False

Permafrost results from the development of fiords by glaciers. T/f

False

Stalactites and stalagmites are characteristic of arêtes and cirques. T/F

False

The Ridge and Valley region of Pennsylvania is a remnant of extensive folding. T/F

False

Volcanism is a gradational process. T/F

False

Describe the processes that create coastal landforms and explain why building hotels and condominiums on the beachfront create problems?

It is a dynamic system subject to erosion and deposition by waves, high water, and storms. Sediment is transported by longshore currents. Removal of vegetation can make beach dunes more vulnerable to erosion. Construction of breakwater designed to reduce beach erosion in one location typically accelerates beach erosion nearby. Human development of beaches creates vulnerability because of the dynamic nature of the beach system. Barrier islands are particularly vulnerable because they are low-lying and unstable.

Explain how gradation and tectonic forces interact to create new landforms.

Tectonic forces tend to create uplifted landforms while gradational processes tend to wear them down. Volcanism is responsible for lava spewing onto the earth's surface, creating, for example, various types of volcanoes, plateaus, and new islands. Diastrophism creates uplifted land surfaces through broad warping, folding, and faulting. With regard to gradation, new landforms are created when materials at or below the earth's surface are affected by weathering or erosion. Weathering prepares material for transport; erosion transports material by running water, groundwater, glaciers, waves, and currents and wind. Each of the processes is associated with its own particular types of landforms.

In the United States, the greatest loess deposits are found mainly in the Mississippi River basin. T/F

True

The landform often formed at the mouth of a heavily silted stream is called

a delta.

The separation of South America from Africa was caused by

a divergent plate boundary in the mid-Atlantic Ocean.

A tsunami can occur due to all of the following EXCEPT

a hydrolysis.

This depositional feature is created in arid regions when a stream exits the mountains and enters a flat lowland.

alluvial fan

What are the three processes in which diastrophism is involved?

broad warping, folding, faulting

A zone of subduction is associated with the occurrence of

deep-sea trenches and mountain ranges.

Which of the following processes was responsible for the Ridge and Valley region of the eastern United States?

folding

How does a karst-type region develop?

Groundwater has a particularly important effect on limestone. In limestone regions where water is plentiful, the groundwater decomposes the rock, forming sinkholes, caverns, and underground streams.

Compare and contrast the stream landscapes in humid areas with those in arid areas.

In arid regions, the relative lack of vegetation leads to greater erosion. Many streams are dry except during rainy periods and leave behind alluvial fans when they exit the mountains. In humid regions, streams may flow all year round. When gradients are moderate in humid regions, streams will create broad, flat valleys called floodplains in which they continuously create new stream channels and leave behind old ones in the form or oxbow lakes.

Explain the theory of plate tectonics

Above the core and the lower mantle is the asthenosphere, supporting a shell of dense (oceanic) and light (continental) rocks called the lithosphere. It is broken into about twelve plates that slide over the asthenosphere. At plate intersections, dense material is forced down, forming sea trenches; light material is forced upward, forming mountain chains.

The buildup of sediment at the intersection of streams is an example of chemical weathering. T/F

False

The farthest extent of glaciations in North America is approximated by the boundary between Canada and the United States. T/F

False

The sudden decompression of gases contained within lava results in explosions of rock material to form ashes and cinders. T/F

False

The world's greatest loess deposits are found mainly in the Sahara Desert. T/F

False

What is the name of the broad, flat area near a stream in which the stream channel meanders?

Floodplain

Which of the following statements about karst topography is NOT true?

It is found in arid regions.

What landforms occur when the land surface dips below the water table?

Lakes, streams, ponds, and marshes.

What sort of landscape evidence would suggest that in the past a place was covered by continental glaciers?

Landscape evidence might include glacial till, outwash plains, moraines, kettle lakes, drumlins, eskers, and kames.

Which one of the following is NOT a landform created by glaciers?

Oxbow lake

What is the name of the ancient landmass that comprised all existing continents connected together before it broke apart about 200 million years ago?

Pangaea

Explain why the zones of active volcanism and earthquakes are often located in close proximity.

The great force of a moving continent creates faults at the intersections of plates. Each movement at a fault creates earthquakes. At deep faults, particularly, molten material from within the earth can move to the surface, as volcanic explosion or as oozing lava.

Mesas are characterized by their resistant caprock. T/F

True

Over geologic time, both igneous and metamorphic rocks can be converted to sedimentary rocks. T/F

True

Over geologic time, sedimentary rocks can be transformed into metamorphic rocks and vice versa. T/F

True

Oxidation, hydrolysis, and carbonation are forms of _______.

chemical weathering

The sand grains that make up beaches originated mainly from

coastal erosion and streams.

Which one of the following groups contains only sedimentary rocks?

conglomerate, limestone, shale

Which of the following is NOT one of the steps in the rock cycle?

cooling and solidification of magma into metamorphic rocks

Which of the following groups contain only landforms produced by glacial deposition?

lateral moraines, terminal moraines, outwash plain

An intrusive igneous rock is formed from

magma that cools slowly beneath the earth's surface.

The breaking up of rock by freezing and thawing is the result of

mechanical weathering.

Which of the following rock types is formed by heat, pressure, or chemical reactions within the earth's crust acting on the other two major types of rocks?

metamorphic

A hilly depositional feature formed when a glacier melts is a

moraine.

Which of the following landforms are found in the floodplains of humid areas?

natural levees, oxbow-shaped lakes

Continental glaciers exist today in

the Northern and the Southern Hemispheres.

Glaciers move because

the weight of snow causes compaction at the base and the formation of ice, which becomes plastic-like.

Great fractures in the earth's crust resulted in the creation, through subsidence, of an extensive rift valley system in East Africa. T/F

true

A large destructive sea wave resulting from an earthquake is called a

tsunami.