Exam 4 Geography

Abrasion is usually confined to a zone that extends up to ________ above the ground.

1 m (3.28 ft)

As the discharge of a stream increases, which of the following also happens?

Width, depth, and velocity all increase

The largest material that can be carried by a stream is carried as

bed load

The total possible load a stream can transport is its ________, whereas a stream's ability to move particles of specific size is its ________.

capacity; competence

Karst topography is formed primarily by

carbonic acid solution.

As a stream's carrying capacity decreases, which of the following sizes of sediments will be deposited last?

clay

A continuous mass of ice covering a large landmass is known as a

continental glacier

The presence of till indicates

direct deposition by a glacier

The suspended load of a stream consists of particles that are

held aloft in the stream flow

Chemical weathering is greatest under conditions of

higher mean annual rainfall and temperatures.

The ability of the wind to move materials

is small compared to other transporting agents, such as water and ice.

What size material composes the dust in a dust storm that extends thousands of feet above the ground?

silts and clays

A persistent mass movement of surface soil is called a

soil creep

Desert pavement refers to

surfaces of concentrated pebbles and gravels that are produced by particle removal and water-delivered cementing materials.

Rocks that appear pitted and grooved, and sometimes polished smooth by eolian processes, are termed

ventifacts

Other than the rock itself, the most important chemical substance needed for the majority of weathering processes is

water

The major erosional force in the desert is

water and fluvial processes

Landslides occur when

-a threshold is reached -the internal friction is overcome by the force of gravity -driving forces exceed resisting forces

Alpine glaciers include all of the following except

an ice cap

The steepness of a slope of loose material at rest is the

angle of repose

If you have ever played on a beach and made a sand castle, you used wet sand rather than dry sand. You did this because the ________ of wet sand is greater than that of dry sand.

angle of repose and cohesiveness

Which of the following is true of spheroidal weathering?

It attacks the corners and edges of rocks

Which of the following is true of glacial movement?

The internal flow just below the surface is greater than the basal flow.

Which of the following is likely to occur if the gradient of a stream increases? (Assume that the discharge and sediment load remain unchanged.)

The stream will begin to erode its channel and/or its banks

Relative to glacial mass balance, which of the following is false?

Worldwide, most glaciers are showing marked net increase in mass at present.

When a river reaches a base level, its forward velocity rapidly decelerates as it enters a larger body of standing water and ________ is formed.

a delta

A general term for a mass of perennial ice, resting on land or floating shelf-like in the sea adjacent to land is

a glacier

A specific landform produced by the deposition of glacial till is known as

a moraine

The opposite of the accumulation zone in a glacier is the

ablation zone

Glacial polish results from

abrasion

The general term for clay, silt, and sand deposited by running water is

alluvium

The zone where positive gains end and losses begin in the glacial mass balance is called

an equilibrium line.

As base level is approached by a stream, the ability of a stream to erode its bed

decreases

The lowering of the land surface by the lifting and removal of material is termed ________, whereas the grinding of rock surfaces with a "sandblasting" action is ________.

deflation; abrasion

All processes that cause the wearing away or rearrangement of landforms are included in the term

denudation

The term "eolian" refers to

erosion, transportation, and deposition by the wind

The large sheets of rock that break off batholiths, such as Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, develop as a result of

exfoliation

The fact that water expands as much as 9 percent of its volume as it freezes is the basis of

frost wedging.

If a stream has just the gradient and discharge to transport its sediment load, it is said to be

graded

The impact of saltating particles acts to

initiate movement and abrade surfaces

Relative to dune movement and form, a dune's slipface forms on which side?

leeward side

Which of the following can initiate hillslope failure?

making a road cut in the side of a hill, increasing the slope angle, and excessively watering a slope

All unit movement of materials propelled and controlled by gravity are referred to as

mass movements or mass wasting.

A translational slide involves

movement of surface material along a planar surface

Which type of weathering is limited to arid environments?

salt-crystal growth

A landslide differs from a debris avalanche in that

the materials in a landslide are not saturated with water.

The disintegration and dissolving of surface and subsurface rock is called

weathering.