Exam 3

"_________________" means that a river is building up its valley floor by depositing sediment.

Aggradation

Karst landforms

found in Central Florida, Southern Indiana and Western Kentucky, the Ozarks of Arkansas and Missouri, the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, the Carpathian Basin of southeastern Europe (former Yugoslavia), the Shan Plateau of China, and other areas underlain by limestone which have a humid climate.

Radial Pattern

found when streams descend from some sort of conical feature such as a volcano or mountain peak

Cone of Depression

The water table drops where a well pumps water out, forming an inverted "cone."

Braided Steams

have many channels which are separated by bars of sand, gravel, and other loose debris

a body of sand that attaches an island to the mainland

Tombolo

______ _______ occurs in the latest stage of karstification when most of the limestone has been dissolved leaving behind a few steep-sided hills.

Tower Karst

A "_________" or dry valley forms when sinkholes or dolines intersect and capture all of the surface drainage.

Uvala

Groundwater

Water found in pores of soil and sediment plus narrow fractures in bedrock

a fairly flat rock surface left behind as the marine cliff retreats land-ward

Wave cut platform

Alluvial fan

a cone-shaped deposit formed where a gully emerges onto a low, flat surface

Vertical accretion

a gradual build-up of sediments on the floodplain by multiple flood events, leading to an increase in floodplain elevation

Entrenched Stream

a stream that cuts deeply into surrounding rocks following tectonic uplift

Base Level

an imaginary surface extending beneath the continents from sea level which represents the lowest elevation to which streams can incise (erode) their channels

Meander Scar

an oxbow lake that has filled with sediement

Yazoo stream

any tributary stream that runs parallel to, and within the floodplain of a larger river for considerable distance, before eventually joining it.

The aquifer is capped by an

aquiclude (confining bed or layer)

Unpaired

are at different elevations and often form by erosion rather than deposition (usually erosional)

Badlands

areas from which streams have removed all easily transported sediment, leaving behind a gullied landscape mantled by clayey soils

Backswamps

areas on the floodplain where fine sediment (silt and clay) are stored and vegetation thrives

Natural Levees

banks of slightly higher ground fringing a stream channel

Local base level

controlled by local features such as a larger river or a lake or a resistant bed

Oxbow Lakes

crescent-shaped lake formed in abandoned meanders or Cutoffs

Raising base level causes ____________

deposition

Annular Pattern

develops either on a dome or in a basin surrounded by resistant rock layers

An "________ ___ __________" often results where the two rivers were joined, as in the Niger River of West Africa.

elbow of capture

Lowering base level causes ___________

erosion

Nested Fill Terraces

form as a river cuts down and deposits paired terraces

Cut-in Fill Terraces

form by erosion into older alluvium

River Terraces

form when a stream abandons its floodplain, incising its channel down to flow at a lower elevation

Paired terraces

found at the same elevation on either side of a river channel (usually depositional)

Knickpoint migration

occurs where a bedrock escarpment or slope break retreats upstream - Niagara Falls has migrated upstream from the Niagara Escarpment since the end of the last ice age.

Stream Capture

occurs where a stream lengthens its course by headwater erosion to the point that it "captures" the flow of another river.

Longitudinal Profile

plots of the elevation vs distance from the stream mouth to the upper reaches within watershed basin.

Abyssal zone

portion of the ocean deeper than about 2,000 m (6,600 feet) and shallower than about 6,000 m (20,000 feet)

Aquifer

rock or sediment through which groundwater moves easily

Ultimate (absolute) base level

sea level

Delta

sediments deposited at the mouth of a river where it enters a body of standing water, such as a lake or ocean

Bajada

several alluvial fans that merge together along the base of a mountain range

Straight Channels

short and uncommon except for in mountain areas where valleys are confined by bedrock

high tides

spring and neap

V-shaped canyon

streams in mountainous areas cut a V-shaped notch

Subtidal

the area where the seabed is below the lowest tide

tidal range

the difference in water level between a high tide and a low tide

Littoral zone

the down-sloping shelf of a pond or lake

Floodplain

the flat area bordering a river where sediment is stored when the river floods. Floodplains accrete vertically in horizontal layers

Zone of Saturation

the ground immediately below the water table

Base Level

the lowest level to which a stream can erode

Bathyal zone

the ocean depths or floor usually from 600 to 6000 feet (180 to 1800 meters)

Cutoff

the point where the river changes course

Fluvial Incision

the predominant erosional process responsible for forming valleys and relatively flat landscapes referred to as "peneplains" by William Morris Davis

Zone of Aeration

the region between the earth's surface and the water table

supertidal zone

top of highest tide to the landward edge of coast

The ________ __________ is the top of the saturated zone.

water table

Centripetal Pattern

where streams converge into a basin

Rectangular Pattern

where streams make abrupt right-angle bends controlled by joints or faults in the bedrock

Meandering Channels

where the channel curves and deposits sediment to construct many recognizable landforms

Trellis Pattern

where there is one preferred direction of drainage development along rock layers which are less resistant to erosion. This pattern is found in the Ridge and Valley province of eastern North America.

about ____ percent of Earth's land area has soluble carbonate rocks

10

marine terraces

100 feet = Wicomico 60 feet = Penholoway 40 feet = Pamlico 5 feet = Silver Bluff/Princess Anne

tidal period

12 hours

_____ percent of the land area in the conterminous United States

15

Submergent (Drowned) Coastlines

A landform formed when sea level rises or when land sinks

__________ is landward of the high-tide shoreline

Backshore

low ridges of sand that run parallel to shore at distances of 3 to 30 km offshore, more are 1 to 5 km wide and 15 to 30 km long

Barrier island

body of water that is sheltered from strong wave action by the configuration of the coast

Bay

a body of sand that closes off a bay

Baymouth bar

a thick, wedge shaped deposit.

Beach

Emergent (Erosional) Coastlines

Coastline that results from either a drop of sea level or an uplifting of the land

Rivers erode the bank on the outside of a meander bend, forming a ________

Cutbank

"______________" means that a river valley is being cut down into underlying sediment and rock.

Degradation

a "_________" is a large sinkhole which results from the collapse of the roof of a subsurface cavern.

Doline

______ ______________ often occur in karst areas where surface flow disappears underground.

Dry streambeds

a bay that has a major river emptying into it, creating a unique mix of salt and freshwater giving a unique ecosystem

Estuary

The ______ _______ divides the Coastal Plain from the Piedmont

Fall Line

___________ is exposed when the tide is out (low tide) and submerged when the tide is in (high tide)

Foreshore

_____________are eruptions of steam and other gases from surface cracks which are connected to deep-seated heat

Fumaroles

_________ occur where steam and water erupt after building up pressure within a restricted subterranean tube

Geysers

Most of Earth's freshwater is stored as ________________

Groundwater

Graded stream

Has just the velocity required for the load supplied from the drainage basin

_________ represent the discharge of underground water which has come in contact with heated rock or magma.

Hot Springs

__________ and ______________ are essentially insoluble.

Iron (Fe); Aluminum (Al)

After an Oxbow Lake has filled in with sediment, the remaining feature is still recognizable as a ___________ ________ because of different soil and vegetation

Meander Scar

bar within a bay

Midbay bar

__________ ("shoreface") lies between low-tide shoreline and wave base at low tide

Nearshore

_________ is seaward of storm wave base

Offshore

Rivers deposit _______ _______ on the inside of meander bends

Point Bars

A Swallow Hole or "________" which is associated with a disappearing stream

Ponor

an area that is under water during high tide and above water at low tide, area of high sedimentation rates

Salt marsh/tidal flat

a mass of resistant rock that projects out of the waves with an arch shape

Sea arch

pockets of weak rock that are excavated by wave action

Sea caves

a pile of resistant rock sticking up out of the waves

Sea stack

________ extends between lowest tide level and the highest elevations affected by storm waves

Shore

_________ marks the contact between land and sea

Shoreline

_____________ and ____________ can be completely dissolved

Sodium (Na); Calcium (Ca)

______________ are deposited in caverns when water leaves behind the compounds (principally Ca and CO3) it was carrying in solution.

Speleothems

a body of sand attached to the mainland at one end and built out into the ocean

Spit

__________ hang down from on top. __________ build up from the bottom. _________ form when the two unite.

Stalactites; Stalagmites; Pillars

Dendritic Pattern

looks like the veins on the underside of a leaf. It forms where there are no changes in rock type or slope which are able to control the drainage.

Increasing gradient causes ______________

meandering