Geography Test 2

Front 1

What is Geomorphology?

Back 1

The study of landforms

Front 2

Plate Tectonics

Back 2

Refers to how the earth's surface is built of plates

Front 3

Theory of Plate Tectonics

Back 3

Earth crust is fragmented into a dozen or more large and small plates that move relative to one another

Front 4

Continental Drift

Back 4

Put forth by Alfred Wagener in 1912-1915. It was based on the same fossils that were found on different continents.

Front 5

Pangea

Back 5

Means "all lands". There are 14 major plates and numerous micro plates. These plates float atop the asthenosphere.

Front 6

3 types of boundaries between plates:

Back 6

Divergent - plates move apart (Mid Atlantic Ridge)

Convergent - two plates collide and one slides beneath the other. "Subduction" (N. Cali and Washington State)

Transform - plates slide horizontally against each other and lithosphere is conserved. (San Andreas Fault)

Front 7

Hot Spots

Back 7

developed by J. Tuzo Wilson

"mantle thermal plume" - plates move over the plum created island

Front 8

Ring of Fire

Back 8

located along western coast and extends down to South America and around the Pacific Ocean. Place of high volcanic activity

Front 9

3 types of rocks:

Back 9

Igneous - formed from cooling molten rock. If the magma cools slowly, it forms a coarse grained rock such as granite. If magma cools quickly, it form a fine grained or glassy rock such as basalt or obsidian.

Sedimentary Rocks - composed of particles of gravel, sand, silt, and clay. Pressure and cementing process cause rocks to form. (Silt and Clay form shale.) 2 types: Classic - made of fragments of existing rock (ie sandstone or shale) and Chemical - existing rocks are dissolved, transported in a solution, and precipitate from the solution ro form rock (ie limestone)

Metamorphic - formed from older "parent" rock (either igneous or sedimentary) under intense heat and/or pressure with considerable depths beneath the earths surface (marble - met from limestone and slate - met from shale)

Front 10

Gradation

Back 10

weathering, erosion, and mass wasting

Front 11

Weathering

Back 11

physical and chemical breakdown of rocks and minerals

physical weathering - breaks rocks into smaller pieces

chemical weathering - breaks rocks down chemically by adding or removing chemical elements

Front 12

Types of physical weathering

Back 12

thermal expansions, freeze thaw, salt, vegetation

Front 13

Chemical Reactions that cause Chemical Weathering

Back 13

Redox - reduction/oxidation reaction (ie rust)

Carbonation - reaction of carbonate and biocarbonate ions with minerals (ie carbonic acids)

hydrolysis - chemical union of water molecules with minerals to form different, more stable, mineral compounds (ie clay)

Front 14

Erosion

Back 14

The breakdown of existing landforms

Front 15

Agents of Erosion

Back 15

water, wind, ice, and gravity

Front 16

Deposition

Back 16

the decrease in velocity of wind, water, and ice (wind deposition=dunes and ice deposition=glaciers)

Front 17

What is an earthquake?

Back 17

the shaking or vibrating of the earth. It is a sudden release of energy caused by volcanos, movement of plates, and man-made sources

Front 18

What is a focus?

Back 18

where the earthquake starts

Front 19

What is a seismic wave?

Back 19

waves of energy coming from the focus

Front 20

Epicenter

Back 20

point directly above the focus on the surface of the earth

Front 21

Earthquakes are measured by...

Back 21

Richter Scales and Seismographs

Front 22

Weather and Climate

Back 22

"Climate is what you expect, Weather is what you get."

Front 23

What affects air temperature?

Back 23

water vapor, cloud cover, land vs. water, elevation above sea level, degree and direction of air movement, solar energy

Front 24

Air Pressure

Back 24

weight of air (14.7 pounds per square inch). It is measure by the barometer.

Front 25

Convection System

Back 25

shows pressure systems

Front 26

Pressure Gradiant

Back 26

difference between high and low pressure > the pressure gradiant, the stronger the winds

Front 27

Sea Breeze

Back 27

the wind from sea to land.

at night - cooler land surface, warmer sea surface

Front 28

High/Low Pressure

Back 28

occur in belts in a fixed location/latitude

Front 29

Coriolis Effect

Back 29

indirect curving of wind caused by rotation of earth

Front 30

What affects ocean currents?

Back 30

winds and water density (salinity)

Front 31

3 types of Precipitation

Back 31

convectional - summer rain

orographic - occurs in mts.

cyclonic - collision of cold and warm air masses between the boundary of 2 air masses

Front 32

El Nino and La Nina

Back 32

deals with oceanic currents. El Nino causes normally cold waters to cool down and vice versa. La Nina causes normally cool waters to be extremely cold

Front 33

How much does the sea rise each year?

Back 33

0.22 centimeters

Front 34

Natural Resources

Back 34

must be naturally occuring and a material that society deems significant

Front 35

Renewable Resources

Back 35

can be replaced by nature (ie trees, soil, fresh/salt water wetlands, forests

Front 36

Nonrenewable Resources

Back 36

finite resources (ie oil, natural gas, and coal)