Physical Geography 111 Final Exam
inselberg
"Island mountain"; isolated summit rising abruptly from a low-relief surface.
Hamada
A barren desert surface of consolidated material that usually consists of exposed bedrock but is sometimes composed of sedimentary material that has been cemented together by salts evaporated from groundwater.
lagoon
A body of quiet salt or brackish water in an area between a barrier island or a barrier reef and the mainland.
Distributary
A branch of a river that does not return to the main stream after leaving it.
cirque
A broad amphitheater hollowed out at the head of a glacial valley by glacial erosion and frost wedging.
Erg
A broad, flat area of desert covered with wind-swept sand with little or no vegetative cover.
uvala
A compound sinkhole or chain of intersecting sinkholes.
bajada
A continual alluvial surface that extends across the piedmont zone, slanting from the range toward the basin, in which it is difficult to distinguish between individual alluvial fans.
Barchan dune
A crescent-shaped sand dune with cusps of the crescent pointing downward. The horns usually point away from the wind
claypan
A dense, compact, slowly permeable layer in subsoil that has a much higher clay content than overlying material. Usually hard when dry and plastic and sticky when wet.
alluvial fan
A fan-shaped depositional feature of alluvium laid down by a stream issuing from a mountain canyon.
speleothem
A feature formed by precipitated deposits of minerals on the wall, floor, or roof of a cave.
pediment
A gently inclined bedrock platform that extends outward from a mountain front, usually in an arid region.
kame
A glacial landform, an irregularly shaped hill or mound composed of sand or gravel and till that accumulates in a depression on a retreating glacier, and then is deposited on the land surface with further melting of the glacier.
fjord
A glacial trough that has been partly drowned by the sea.
Fumarole
A hydrothermal feature consisting of a surface crack that is directly connected with a deep-seated source of heat. The little water that drains into this tube is instantly converted into steam by the heat and gases, and a cloud of steam is expelled from the opening.
delta
A landform comprised of alluvium at the mouth of a river produced by the sudden reduction of a stream's velocity and the resulting deposition of a stream's load.
spit
A linear deposit of marine sediment that is attached to the land at one or both ends.
valley glacier
A long, narrow feature resembling a river of ice, which spills out of its originating basins and flows down-valley.
scarp
A long, steep slope, especially one at the edge of a plateau or separating areas of land at different heights. Forms as an effect of faulting or erosion.
drumlin
A low, elongated hill formed by ice-sheet deposition and erosion. The long axis is aligned parallel with the direction of ice movements, with the blunt, steeper end facing the direction from which the ice came.
Sand dune
A mound, ridge, or low hill of loose, windblown sand.
headland
A narrow piece of land that projects from a coastline into the sea.
arete
A narrow, jagged, serrated spine of rock; remainder of a ridge crest after several glacial cirques have been cut back into an interfluve from opposite sides of a divide.
stream
A natural body of running water flowing on or under the earth.
berm
A nearly horizontal plateau on the beach face or backshore, formed by the deposition of beach material by wave action, or by means of a mechanical plant as a part of a beach recharge scheme.
firn (neve)
A partially compacted neve, a type of snow that has been left over from past seasons and has been recrystallized into a substance denser than neve. It is ice that is at an intermediate stage between snow and glacial ice.
col
A pass or saddle through a ridge produced when two adjacent glacial cirques on opposite sides of a divide are cut back enough to remove part of the arete between them.
stalactite
A pendant structure hanging downward from a cavern's roof.
ice sheet
A permanent layer of ice covering an extensive tract of land, especially a polar region.
marine terrace
A platform formed by marine erosion that has been uplifted above sea level.
headwall
A precipice rising above the floor of a glacial cirque. It is a steep slope that forms the head of a valley.
stalagmite
A projecting structure growing upward from a cavern's floor.
barrier reef
A prominent ridge of coral that roughly parallels the coastline but lies offshore, with a shallow lagoon between the reefs and the coast.
kettle
A shallow, sediment-filled body of water formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters. They are formed as a result of blocks of ice calving from glaciers and becoming submerged in the sediment on the outwash plain.
hook
A shape of spit, it is caused by water movements in the bay that can cause the deposits to curve toward the mainland. This forms a ____ at the outer end of the spit.
Knickpoint
A sharp irregularity (such as a waterfall, rapid, or cascade) in a stream channel profile. The migration of this is known as an upstream shift in location due to erosion.
Collapse Doline
A sinkhole produced by the collapse of the roof of a subsurface cavern.
cirque glacier
A small glacier confined to its cirque and not moving down-valley.
sinkhole
A small, rounded depression that is formed by the dissolution of surface limestone, typically at joint intersections.
geyser
A specialized form of intermittent hot spring with water issuing only sporadically as a temporary ejection, in which hot water and steam are spouted upward for some distance.
tombolo
A spit formed by sand deposition that connects an island to the mainland.
bluff
A steep bank or cliff that is formed by river erosion on the outside of a meander.
hanging valley
A tributary glacial trough, the bottom of which is considerably higher than the bottom of the principal trough that it joins.
glacial trough
A valley reshaped by an alpine glacier, usually U-shaped.
accumulation
Addition of ice into a glacier by incorporation of snow.
drift
All material carried and deposited by glaciers.
tar
Also called oil sands, deposits in the earth made of clay, sand, water, and bitumen.
seismic sea wave
Also referred to as a seismic sea wave.
Drainage basin
An area that contributes overland flow and groundwater to a specific stream. Precipitation collects and drains off into a common outlet.
Watershed
An area which all sources of water drain to a common source of water.
ria shoreline
An embayed coast with the numerous estuaries; formed by the flooding of stream valleys by the sea.
butte
An erosional remnant of very small surface area and clifflike sides that rises conspicuously above the surroundings.
beach
An exposed deposit of loose sediment, normally composed of sand and/or gravel, and occupying the coastal transition zone between land and water.
base level
An imaginary surface extending underneath the continents from sea level at the coasts and indicating the lowest level to which land can be eroded.
alluvium
Any stream-deposited sedimentary material.
How do you identify stream order?
Based on location and size within watershed. Characterizes creeks, streams, and rivers.
atoll
Coral reef in the general shape of a ring or partial ring that encloses a lagoon.
reg
Desert pavement, surface covered with closely packed, interlocking angular or rounded rock fragments of pebble and cobble size. They typically top alluvial fans.
dendritic drainage pattern
Develops along the surface of a homogeneous horizontal bedrock. The tributaries do not follow a specific direction. Looks like the branches of a tree of nerve dendrites.
radial drainage pattern
Develops around a central elevated point such as a mountain or volcano peak, and runs down all sides uniformly. Looks like bicycle spokes.
annular drainage pattern
Develops around a central uplifted point that is surrounded by rock of varying resistance. As the water travels down the sides, it may encounter more rock and must travel along the harder rock until it finds a break to continue flowing downhill.
trellis drainage pattern
Develops in areas of folded topography. The water will mainly flow along the centers of folds, but may escape at weak points between folds.
Glacial moraine
Disorganized piles of rocks of various shapes, sizes and differing rock types. Ground moraine is till deposited over the valley floor. It has no obvious features and is to be found where the glacier ice meets the rock underneath the glacier. It may be washed out from under the glacier by meltwater streams.
playa
Dry lake bed in a basin of interior drainage.
Salina
Dry lake bed that contains an unusually heavy concentration of salt in the lake-bed sediment.
recessional moraine
Form at the end of the glacier so they are found across the valley, not along it. They form where a retreating glacier remained stationary for sufficient time to produce a mound of material. The process of formation is the same as for a terminal moraine, but they occur where the retreating ice paused rather than at the furthest extent of the ice.
lateral moraine
Found deposited along the sides of a glacier. Material from the valley walls is broken up by frost shattering and falls onto the ice surface. It is carried along the sides of the glacier. when the ice melts it forms a ridge of material along the valley side.
mogote
Generally isolated steep-sided residual hill composed of either marble, limestone, or dolomite. They are surrounded by nearly flat alluvial plains. They typically have a rounded, tower-like form.
wave cut platform
Gently sloping, wave-eroded bedrock platform that develops just below sea level; common where coastal cliff is being worn back by wave action.
hot spring
Hot water at earth's surface that has been forced upward through fissures or cracks by the pressures that develop when underground water has come into contact with heated rocks or magma beneath the surface.
alpine glacier
Individual glacier that develops near a mountain crest line and normally moves down-valley for some distance.
badlands
Intricately rilled and barren terrain of arid and semiarid regions, characterized by a multiplicity of short, steep slopes.
How are volcanoes related to coral reefs?
It is a favored location for coral reefs to grow around a volcano in tropical waters. As the volcano forms and then subsides, a sequence of different kinds of reefs may grow upward; fringing reefs, barrier reefs, and atolls.
Cavern
Large opening or cave, especially in limestone, often decorated with speleothems.
esker
Long, sinuous ridge of stratified glacial drift composed largely of glaciofluvial gravel and formed by the choking of subglacial streams during a time of glacial stagnation.
Seif (longitudinal) dune
Longitudinal dune, long, narrow desert dunes that usually occur in multiplicity and in parallel arrangement. Ridges are parallel to the wind.
waves of oscillation
Motion of wave in which the individual particles of the medium (such as water) make a circular orbit as the wave form passes through.
barrier island
Narrow offshore island composed of sediment, generally oriented parallel to shore.
piedmont glacier
Occur when steep valley glaciers spill into relatively flat plains, where they spread out into bulb-like lobes.
fluvial processes
Processes involving the work of running water on the surface of the earth.
aeolian processes
Processes related to wind action that are most pronounced, widespread, and effective in dry lands.
Dissolution
Removal of bedrock through chemical action of water, includes the removal of subsurface rock through the action of groundwater.
horn
Results when glaciers erode three or more aretes, usually forming a sharp-edged peak.
till
Rock debris that is deposited directly by moving or melting ice, with no meltwater flow or redeposition involved.
coral reef
Rock like structures made of calcium carbonate produced by living organisms- mainly corals and algae.
bornhardt
Rounded mass of rock surrounded by flat featureless plains that are rounded due to erosion.
bedload
Sand, gravel, and larger rock fragments moving in a stream by saltation and traction.
tarn
Small lake in the shallow excavated depression of a glacial cirque.
tower karst
Tall, steep-sided hills in an area of karst topography.
Valley
That portion of the total terrain in which a stream drainage system is clearly established. It is a low area between hills or mountains often with a river running through it.
backshore
The area of a beach that extends from the limit of high water foam lines to dunes or extreme inland limit of the beach. It is only affected by waves during exceptional high tides or severe storms.
What are the four major river basins in Colorado?
The colorado river, the platte river, the arkansas river, and the rio grande river
third order streams
The confluence of two second order streams.
swallow hole
The distinct opening at the bottom of some sinkholes through which surface drainage can pour directly into an underground channel.
Interfluve
The higher land or ridge above the valley sides that separate adjacent valleys. It is drained by overland flow.
wavelength
The horizontal distance from wave crest to crest or from trough to trough
wave of translation
The horizontal motion produced when a wave reaches shallow water and finally "breaks" on the shore.
moraine
The largest and generally most conspicuous land form feature produced by glacial deposition of till, which consists of irregular rolling topography that rises somewhat above the level of the surrounding terrain.
capacity
The maximum load that a stream can transport under given conditions.
centripetal drainage pattern
The opposite of a radial drainage pattern, in which the rivers drain in towards the center of a basin.
aggradation
The process in which a stream bed is raised as a result of the deposition of sediment.
estuary
The tidal mouth of a large river, where the tide meets the stream. Where the river meets the ocean. Ex. Where San Francisco Bay (central valley river) meets the Pacific.
wave height
The vertical distance from wave crest to trough
terminal moraine
They are found at the furthest point reached by the glacier. The terminal moraine forms at the snout of the glacier. It marks the furthest extent of the ice, and forms across the valley floor. It resembles a large mound of debris, and is usually the feature that marks the end of unsorted deposits and the start of a fluvially sorted material.
Transverse dune
They are found where the ground in completely covered in sand and have wave like ridges with troughs inbetween. The ridges are perpendicular to the wind. They can reach heights up to 700 feet.
Star dunes
They form in areas with a complex "wind regime" - the wind blows from different directions throughout the year.
karst
Topography developed as a consequence of subsurface solution.
Parabolic dune
U-shaped, low and bowed in the downwind direction- the horns point into the wind, they are found in a transition zone between areas that have no dunes. They are also known as "blowout dunes" and are common in coastal areas.
outlet glacier
Valley glaciers that originate in ice sheets, ice caps, and ice fields.
tsunami
Very long, wavelength oceanic wave generated by submarine earthquake, landslide, or volcanic eruption; also called a seismic sea wave.
Discharge
Volume of flow of a stream.
ablation
Wastage of glacial ice through melting and sublimation
backwash
Water moving seaward after the momentum of the wave swash is overcome by gravity and friction.
medial moraine
When two glaciers meet at a junction and is a middle part running through two glaciers. Formed from two lateral moraines. When two glaciers merge, the two edges that meet form the center line of the new glacier. In consequence two lateral moraines find themselves in the middle of the glacier forming a line of material on the glacier surface. The existence of this is evidence that the glacier has more than one source.
mesa
a flat-topped, steep-sided hill with a limited summit area.
first order stream
smallest stream order, permanently flowing streams
second order stream
the confluence of two first order streams (usually small streams)
