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75 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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The downslope movement of rock, regolith, and soil under the direct influence of gravity.
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Mass wasting
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The steepest angle at which loose material remains stationary without sliding downslope.
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Angle of repose
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A type of movement common to mass-wasting processes that refers to the free falling of detached individual pieces of any size.
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Fall
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A type of movement common to mass-wasting processes in which water saturated material moves downslope as a viscous fluid.
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Flow
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A movement common to mass-wasting processes in which the material moving downslope remains fairly coherent and moves along a well-defined surface.
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Slide
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An accumulation of rock debris at the base of a cliff.
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Talus slope
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The rapid slide of a mass of rock downslope along planes of weakness
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Rockslide
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The downward slipping of a mass of rock or unconsolidated material moving as a unit along a curved surface.
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Slump
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A relatively rapid type of mass wasting that involves a flow of soil and regolith containing a large amount of water.
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debris flow or mudflow
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The downslope movement of water-saturated, clay-rich sediment. Most characteristics of humid regions.
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Earthflow
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The slow downhill movement of soil and regolith.
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Creep
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The unending circulation of earth's water supply.
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Hydrologic cycle
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The land area that contributes water to a stream.
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Drainage basin
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The slope of a stream; generally measured in feet per mile.
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Gradient
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The quantity of water in a stream that passes a given point in a given period of time.
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Discharge
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The portion of a stream's load carried in solution.
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Dissolved load
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The fine sediment carried within the body of flowing water or air.
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Suspended load
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Sediment rolled along the bottom of a stream by moving water, or particles rubbed along the ground surface by wind.
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Bed load
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Unconsolidated sediment deposited by a stream.
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Alluvium
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A looplike bend in the course of a stream.
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Meander
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A crescent-shaped accumulation of sand and gravel deposited on the inside of a meander.
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Point bar
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A curved lake produced when a stream cuts off a meander.
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Oxbow lake
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A stream consisting of numerous intertwining channels.
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Braided stream
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The level below which a stream cannot erode.
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Base level
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The flat, low-lying portion of a stream valley subject to periodic inundation.
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Floodplain
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An accumulation of sediment formed where a stream enters a lake of ocean.
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Delta
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Meandering channel that flows in a steep, narrow valley. These meanders form either when an area is uplifted or when base level drops.
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Incised meander
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The elevated landforms composed of alluvium that parallel some streams and act to confine their waters, except during floodstage.
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Natural levee
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A fan-shaped deposit of sediment formed when a stream's slope is abruptly reduced.
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Alluvial fan
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A stream system that resembles the pattern of a branching tree.
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Dendritic pattern
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A system of streams running in all directions away from a central elevated structure, such as a volcano.
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Radial pattern
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A system of streams in which nearly parallel tributaries occupy valleys cut in folded strata.
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Trellis pattern
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Water in the zone of saturation
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Groundwater
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The upper level of the saturated zone of groundwater.
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Water table
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Zone where all open spaces in sediment and rock are completely filled with water.
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Zone of saturation
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The area above the water table where openings in soil, sediment, and rock are not saturated with water but filled mostly with air.
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Unsaturated zone
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The volume of open spaces in rock or soil.
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Porosity
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A measure of a material's ability to transmit water.
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Permeability
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Rock or sediment through which groundwater mover easily.
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Aquifer
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An impermeable bed that hinders or prevents groundwater movement.
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Aquitard
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The slope of the water table.
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Hydraulic gradient
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A factor relating to groundwater flow; it is a coefficient that takes into account the permeability of the aquifer and the viscosity of the fluid.
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Hydraulic conductivity
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A flow of groundwater that emerges naturally at the ground surface.
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Spring
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A cone-shaped depression immediately surrounding a well.
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Cone of depression
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A well in which the water rises above the level where it was initially encountered.
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Artesian system
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A spring in which the water is 6 degrees to 9 degrees warmer than the mean annual air temperature of its locality.
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Hot spring
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A fountain of hot water ejected periodically from the ground.
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Geyser
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A landscape that has been shaped by the dissolving power of groundwater.
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Karst topography
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A depression produced in a region where soluble rock has been removed by groundwater.
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Sinkhole
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A glacier confined to a mountain valley, which in most instances had previously been a stream valley.
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Valley glacier
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A very large, thick mass of glacial ice flowing outward in all directions from one or more accumulation centers.
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Continental glacier
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Granular recrystallized snow
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Firn
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A deep crack in the brittle surface of a glacier.
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Crevasse
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The part of a glacier characterized by snow accumulation and ice formation. (snowline)
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Zone of accumulation
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Below the snowline there is a net loss to the glacier as all of the snow from the previous winter melts.
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Zone of wastage
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The process by which pieces of bedrock are lifted out of place by a glacier.
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Plucking
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Scratches and grooves on bedrock caused by glacial abrasion.
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Glacial striations
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A tributary valley that enters a glacial trough at a considerable height above the the floor of the trough.
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Hanging valley
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A steep-sided inlet of the sea formed when a glacial trough was partially submerged.
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Fiord
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An amphitheater-shaped basin at the head of a glaciated valley produced by frost wedging and plucking.
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Cirque
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A narrow, knifelike ridge separating two adjacent glaciated valleys.
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Arete
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A pyramidlike peak formed by glacial action in three or more cirques surrounding a mountain summit.
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Horn
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An asymmetrical knob of bedrock formed when glacial abrasions smoothes the gentle slope facing the advancing ice sheet and plucking steepens the opposite side as the ice overrides the knob.
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Roche mountonnee
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Unsorted sediment deposited directly by a glacier.
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Till
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Sediments deposited by glacial meltwater.
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Stratified drift
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An ice-transported boulder that was not derived from the bedrock near its present site.
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Glacial erratic
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A ridge of till along the sides of a valley glacier composed primarily of debris that fell to the glacier from eht valley walls.
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Lateral moraine
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A ridge of till formed when lateral moraines from two coalescing valley glaciers join.
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Medial moraine
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A ridge of till marking a former position of the front of the glacier.
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End moraine
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An undulating layer of till deposited as the ice front retreats.
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Ground moraine
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A streamlined asymmetrical hill composed of glacial till.
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Drumlin
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Sinuous ridge composed largely of sand gravel deposited by a stream flowing in a tunnel beneath a glacier near its terminus.
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Esker
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Depressions created when blocks of ice become lodged in glacial deposits and subsequently melt.
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Kettle
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A relatively flat, gently sloping plain consisting of materials deposited by meltwater streams in front of the margin of an ice sheet.
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Outwash plain
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An epoch of the Quaternary period beginning about 1.8 million years ago and ending about 10,000 years ago. Best known as a time of extensive continental ice sheets.
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Pleistocene epoch
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