earth and science test #2

Which of the following is a variety of moraine?

Lateral

Groundwater is the largest reservoir of ________.

freshwater that is readily available to humans

The balance or lack of balance between accumulation and wastage is called ________.

glacial budget

________ are long, linear scratch marks carved onto bedrock by glacial abrasion.

glacial striations

There are only two continental ice sheets still in existence, where are they? (choose both)

greenland and antartica

As a glacier retreats, it drops till as it moves, creating a __________

ground moraine

Groundwater tends to flow through bodies of rock or sediment that ________.

have high permeability

Which one of the following is true of glaciers?

They originate on land.

When a valley glacier leaves the mountains and enters the relative flat lands below, it may spread out to form ________.

a Piedmont glacier

A(n) ________ is a cone of debris that forms where an ephemeral stream emerges from the confines of the canyon. Its runoff spreads over the gentler slopes at the base of the mountains and quickly loses velocity, dumping most of its sediment load within a short distance.

alluvial fan

Where is the world's largest ice sheet located today?

antartica

impermeable layers such as clay that hinder or prevent water movement are called ________.

aquatard

Ephemeral streams typically flow after heavy rainstorms in ________ climates

arid

Ephemeral streams typically flow after heavy rainstorms in ________ climates.

arid

________ are earthen mounds built on the banks of rivers to increase the volume of water the channel can hold.

artificial leeves

Although rates of glacial movement vary from region to region, on average the Antarctic Ice Sheet moves ________.

at a rate between 2 meters (6.5 feet) and 800 meters (2600 feet) per year

________ form from the coalescence of multiple alluvial fans.

bajadas

Gravel would most likely exist in the ________ of a river.

bed load

Deflation may lead to ________.

blowouts

If you were on a geology field trip in an area of glacial deposition, how would you distinguish between samples of till and stratified drift?

by comparing their grain size and sorting

________ is the maximum load of solid particles a stream can transport in a unit of time.

capacity

Dredging a stream or river is an example of ________.

channelization

_______ is an amphitheater-like feature that forms at the head of an Alpine glacial valley.

cirque

The process where water vapor turns back into liquid water.

condensation

Drawdown of groundwater due to heavy pumping from a well may result in a(n) ________, a "dimple" in the water table.

cone of depression

________ are formed when groundwater dissolves cavities into limestone.

coverns

The freeze-thaw cycle in soil results in this, the most common, type of mass wasting.

creep

A deep crack that forms in the brittle surface of a glacier.

crevasee

Depositional feature that forms when some streams enter a large lake or the ocean.

delta

Course-grained sediments such as pebbles and cobbles often comprise the ________ in desert environments.

desert pavement

calcium and sodium ions make up much of the ________ of streams.

dissolved load

One drainage basin is separated from a neighboring drainage basin by a ________.

divide

The tongue-like flow of water-saturated clay-rich soil on a hillside that breaks away and moves downslope is called ________.

earthflow

Almost all stream in arid regions are ...

ephmeral

External processes include weathering, mass wasting, and ________.

erosion

A sinuous ridge composed of sand and gravel is a(n) ________; it is a deposit made by streams flowing in tunnels within or beneath glacial ice.

esker

________ is the process by which liquid water changes into water vapor.

evaporation

When a glacial trough is "drowned" by the sea, the result is a(n) ________.

fiord

The flat area on either side of a stream's natural levee, where alluvium is deposited, is called the ________.

floodplain

This term is used to describe well-sorted, well-rounded glacial drift.

outwash

Large streams that flow all year-round are ...

perennial

________ glaciers form when one or more ________ glaciers merge and are no longer confined.

piedmont:valley

________ is a measure of the volume of open space in rocks and unconsolidated, geologic materials like alluvium and soils.

porosity

Pebbles caught in swirling eddies of water best describe ________.

potholes

Blocks of bedrock that break loose and slide downslope are often called a(n) ________.

rockslide

________ is the process of sand grains bouncing or rolling along the surface.

saltation

During this Mass Wasting process, the materials moves both down and out along a curved surface.

slump

The lowest limit of year-round snow (the boundary between zones of accumulation and wastage) ...

snow line

Where the water table intersects Earth's surface, a(n) ________ results.

spring

If you were to examine the longitudinal profile of a typical river, you would probably find that the gradient is ________.

steepest near the headwaters

A(n) ________ is defined as a semiarid climate.

steppe

Air that rises over the equator, moves pole-ward and eventual sinks back to the surface creates ...

subtropical deserts

Cirques often contain small lakes called ________.

tarns

This feature forms at the outer edge of a glacier, marking the maximum extent of glacial advance.

terminal moraine

The steepest angle at which unconsolidated granular material remains stable is ________.

the angle of repose

Streams erode downward until they reach ________.

their base level

The term used to describe an unsorted mixture of glacial drift containing all sizes and shapes of rock fragments.

till

Plants consume water during photosynthesis. They also release it to the atmosphere during ________.

transpiration

Small streams that come together to form larger streams.

tributaries

The boundary between the zone of aeration and zone of saturation in the ground.

water table

V-shaped valleys would most likely contain ________.

waterfalls

The Mississippi Delta is an example of which of the following?

zone of deposition

Part of a glacier where it snows more than it melts.

zone of saturation

The Amazon River has ________ times as much discharge as the Mississippi River.

12

The Last Glacial Maximum occurred ________ years ago.

18,000

Approximately ________ cycles of cooling and warming occurred during the last Ice Age.

20

About what percentage of Earth's land surface is covered by deserts?

30%

The Mississippi River Delta system contains a series of ________ coalescing subdeltas.

7

________ is located in tiny pore spaces between grains of soil and sediment, underground.

Caverns

________ are erosional features produced by valley (alpine) glaciers.

Cirques

Which of the following rivers flows inside the Grand Canyon?

Colorado river

Almost all stream in arid regions are

Ephemeral

________ can form when the pressure surface is above the land surface.

Flowing artesian wells

A landscape dominated by U-shaped valleys and pyramid-shaped mountains is most likely formed due to ________.

Glaciation

When the water in a cloud becomes too heavy to stay aloft, what happens?

Precipitation

How is a desert different from a steppe?

Steppe is more humid than desert.

Between a river and its floodplain, you might find ________.

natural leeves

A rain shadow desert forms___________.

in places where mountain ranges act as barriers to the movement of water vapor

Where do crevasses form?

in the zone of wastage

Desert regions that exhibit a discontinuous pattern of ephemeral streams that do not flow out of the desert to the ocean are said to have a(n) ________.

interior drainage

Streams that exhibit flow only during wet periods are called ________.

intermittent streams

________ are steep-sided hills composed mostly of stratified drift.

kames

This feature, commonly filled with water, is formed when a large block of ice breaks off a glacier and is buried in the drift.

kettle

One potential source of groundwater contamination would be ________.

leaking septic tank

Sand is deposited on the ________ side of a dune.

leeward

Most karst topography forms in ________.

limestone

Dust storms are most likely to deposit windblown silt, commonly called ________.

loess

A cross-sectional view of a stream from its headwaters to its mouth is called a(n) ________.

longitudinal profile

The down-slope movement of rock or soil due to the influence of gravity is ________.

mass wasting

Which of the following is an example of a glacial deposit?

moraine