Geology Lab 2 vocab

meandering streams

A stream consisting of successive meanders. Meandering streams develop in relatively flat areas, such as a floodplain, and where sediment consists primarily of fine sands, silts, and muds.

ice cap glaciers

Ice caps are miniature ice sheets, covering less than 50,000 square kilometers (19,305 square miles).

Drainage patterns

Trellis, radial, dendritic, rectangular

sinkholes

a cavity in the ground, especially in limestone bedrock, caused by water erosion and providing a route for surface water to disappear underground

lahar

a destructive mudflow on the slopes of a volcano

barrier island type

are long, relatively narrow islands that run along a coast parallel to the mainland. They are built up by the action of waves and currents and help protect the coastline from erosion by surf and tidal surges. Barrier islands occur all over the world but are especially prevalent along the Atlantic and Gulf coast of North America

alpine glaciers

begin high up in the mountains in bowl-shaped hollows called cirques. As the glacier grows, the ice slowly flows out of the cirque and into a valley.

island types

coral, artificial, volcanic, barrier

rectangular drainage pattern

drainage pattern in which the main streams and their tributaries display many right-angle bends and exhibit sections of approx. the same length; it is indicative of streams following prominent fault or joint systems that break the rocks into rectangular blocks.

Continental Glacial landforms

drumlin, esker

braided streams

form where the sediment load is so heavy that some of the sediments are deposited as shifting islands or bars between the channels.

different scales

fractional, ratio, verbal, graphical

V shaped valleys

have steep valley walls with narrow valley floors

Alpine glacier landforms

horn, U-shaped valley, arête, cirque, hanging valley

Desert Landforms

inselberg, alluvial fan, bajada, playa lake, dune

topographic profile

is a cross sectional view along a line drawn through a portion of a topographic map. In other words, if you could slice through a portion of the earth, pull away one portion, and look at it from the side, the surface would be a topographic profile.

Karst topography

is a landscape formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves

debris flow

is a moving mass of loose mud, sand, soil, rock, water and air that travels down a slope under the influence of gravity.

Vertical exaggeration

is a scale that is used in raised-relief maps, plans and technical drawings (cross section perspectives), in order to emphasize vertical features, which might be too small to identify relative to the horizontal scale.

disappearing streams

is a stream or river that loses water as it flows downstream. The water infiltrates into the ground recharging the local groundwater, because the water table is below the bottom of the stream channel.

Coral island type

is a type of island formed from coral detritus and associated organic material. They occur in tropical and sub-tropical areas, typically as part of coral reefs which have grown to cover a far larger area under the sea.

Continental ice sheets

is a vast expanse of ice which completely covers all underlying terrain. They form on land and spread outward in all directions

Cirque

is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie

artificial island type

is an island that has been constructed by people rather than formed by natural means.

Active margins

is found on the leading edge of the continent where it is crashing into an oceanic plate, are commonly the sites of tectonic activity: earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain building, and the formation of new igneous rock.

passive margin

is the transition between oceanic and continental lithosphere that is not an active plate margin. A passive margin forms by sedimentation above an ancient rift, now marked by transitional lithosphere. Continental rifting creates new ocean basins.

coastline features

jetty groin, spit, breakwater, beach nourishment, wetland

large scale

maps that small areas of land on a large space

piedmont

occur when steep valley glaciers spill into relatively flat plains, where they spread out into bulb-like lobes.

radial drainage pattern

occurs when the tributaries flow radially outward and downward from a central topographic high. This type of pattern is typical of volcanic cones, isolated hills, and elevated domes.

dendritic drainage pattern

occurs when the tributary systems subdivides headway like the limbs of a tree. These patterns usually form in horizontal sedimentary or in intrusive igneous rocks where the rock mass is reasonably homogeneous.

Trellis drainage pattern

occurs where subparallel streams erode a valley along the strike of less resistant formations. These beds are usually steeply dipping and may be part of a fold system.

Glacial deposits

outwash plain, end, lateral, and terminal moraine

small scale

refers to world maps or maps of large regions such as continents or large nations. In other words, they show large areas of land on a small space.

total relief

total relief is the difference between the highest and lowest points on the map