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46 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What happens when a wave approaches the shore? Why does it break?
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As the wave nears the shore, it tends to slow due to friction with the bottom, this causes the top of the wave to move slower than the bottom. As the wave get closer to the shore, the top eventually tips over, or breaks.
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What is wave refraction?
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Waves do no hit the shore at a 90° angle, and move faster in deeper water, due to the lack of friction. So, when a wave hits a barrier of some sort, it is altered, and bends in toward that barrier.
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What is longshore current and transport?
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As waves hit the shore at an angle, they transfer sediment down the beach.
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Long term fate of a coastline
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Wave refraction will erode protrusions due to concentration of energy and fill in bays due to spreading of energy, eventually making an irregular coastline straight.
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Winter Coastline
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Eroded/No berm, steeper profile, Dune Scarp, Sand bar
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Summer Coastline
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Wide berm, shallower profile, no sand bar.
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How will a Groin upset the equilibrium system?
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As the sand hits a barrier, it deposits on the side of the barrier the wave hits. On the other side of the barrier, the shore is eroded back from where it originally was.
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What is the concept called a Profile View Equilibrium System?
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the equilibrium of shorelines in the profile view from summer and winter effects on a shoreline.
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What is the Beach Budget?
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Most beaches tend to be in equilibrium, erosion is offset by equal deposition. During winter, waves tend to be destructive, with high energy and shorter wavelengths. This causes erosion to outweigh deposition, and gradients steepen. But during summer, waves become calmer and wave period lengthens, and waves become constructive. Therefore, gradients tend to shallow out, and deposition dominates. Thus, the beach budget is balanced.
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Iron Catastrophe
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- Bombardment and absorption of planetesimals causes deposition of water and iron on the earth. elements then were moved around by the energy from the earth's spinning and gravity, and we eventually get our present set up (Core, Crust, atmosphere)
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What makes water weird?
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It has a very high heat capacity, a high surface tension, and expands when it freezes.
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Hydrogen Bond
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The attractive interaction of hydrogen with an electronegative atom such as oxygen, nitrogen or fluorine. In liquid water, Oxygen atoms can bond with not only the hydrogen atoms in the water molecule, but also hydrogen atoms of up to 4 molecules around it. This makes the bond very strong, so water tends to glob together instead of spreading out.
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Results of high Heat capacity
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Regulates temperature change on the earth's surface. if earth was covered in a liquid with low heat capacity, temperature change would be much more rapid. Therefore, large bodies of water have a profound influence on climate.
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Results of high surface tension
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Causes capillary action and causes water to tend to clump together.
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Anomalous Density of Water
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Water expands as it freezes, unlike almost any other substance on earth. For this reason, life is not threatened in lakes and rivers in the winter. if water became more dense when freezing, it would freeze from the bottom up and kill all wildlife.
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Water as the Universal Solvent
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Dissolves more minerals than any other substance. Therefore, it supplies nutrients to all life through the life cycle. without this process, life would not exist.
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Other unique properties of water.
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- It is the only substance on earth that exists in all three phases on the surface.
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What is the difference between weathering and erosion?
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Weathering is the process of braking down on the surface. Once the particle is broken away and starts moving downhill, it becomes erosion.
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What is meant by Mineral Stability?
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The ability of a mineral to resist weathering and erosion.
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What are the two types of weathering and what properties of water are important to the different types?
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chemically (where the chemical composition of a mineral is changed) or Physical (where a particle is moved but not changed chemically).
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Chemical Weathering
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Carbon Dioxide + Water = Carbonic acid (H2CO3) in solution
Feldspar + Carbonic Acid + Water = Kaolinite + Dissolved Silica + Bicarbonate |
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Feldspar Decay
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Like coffee bean decay!
1. Water added. 2. Partially dissolving solid alters to a different composition 3. Solution containing some substances dissolved form solution. |
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Soil
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The unconsolidated organic material on the surface of the earth in which plants grow.
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End Products of Weathering
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- Mechanical Fragmentation - Sand
- Chemical alteration - Clay - Dissolution - dissolved salts. |
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Mass Wasting
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The pull of materials down a slope by gravity. Occurs when the gravitational force acting on a material outweighs the restraining force keeping it on the slope. Small amounts of water resist mass wasting, thanks to capillary attraction. Large amounts of water increase mass wasting, thanks to it's lubricating nature.
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Where does a stream get it's energy
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Gravity moving the water down a slope that it has carved out in the land.
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What are the three types of movement of matter in a stream?
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Erosion (higher velocity to particle size ratio.), Transportation (medium velocity to particle size ratio) and deposition (Lowest velocity to particle size ratio)
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Hjulstrom Diagram
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Relates velocity and grain size to movement of matter in a stream.
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Stream loads
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- Dissolved load- particles that are dissolved in the water and being carried down the stream.
- Suspended Load - small particles that are floating along the stream but are not dissolved. - Bed Load - Large particles sitting at the bed of the stream and slowly roll along. |
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Types of erosion
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Hydraulic action - erosion caused by the action of water dragging over the stream bed and taking particles with it.
Abrasion - erosion caused by particles already eroded hitting the sides of the stream bed and knocking new particles into the flow. |
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Stream Bottoms
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A. Typical ripple pattern - caused by not so turbulent water moving over bottom.
B. Dunes with Ripples superposed - Caused by a weak boil that starts to form undulations in the water surface. C. Dunes - Caused by regular boils moving the water up and down, creating dunes and depressions. D. Washed out dunes or transition - When velocity of stream overcomes the dunes' ability to stay together. E. Plane Bed - flat bed after washed out dunes F. Antidune Standing Waves - Dunes cause waves that do not quite reach angle of repose. G. Antidune Breaking Waves - Dunes cause waves that reach angle of repose and break against the current. H. Chutes and Pools - Water collects in a pool and then goes down a chute into a breaking antidune wave. |
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Ideal Land surface
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A land surface with a completely ever slope that reacts completely predictably to erosion.
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How an ideal land surface reacts to erosion
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Concavity increases over time, until eventually it flattens out completely.
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Graded stream
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At the upper end of the concavity that a stream cuts, it cuts fast at first, then cuts more slowly as the softer rock is eroded away. As the slope gets lower, it starts to cut away from the sides and meander instead of cutting from the bottom.
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Summary of Stream Work
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1. Land surface reduced as a whole by mass wasting
2. Main valleys trend directly downslope 3. Tributaries enter main valleys down smooth profile and accordantly 4. Land surface slope determines angle for tributary entry into main valley. 5. Long profile of a major stream is smooth, concave up. 6. Any irregularities in long profile are more numerous upstream. 7. Width of valleys increases downstream. 8. Stream curvature increases downstream. |
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Damming of a stream
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- before dam is reached: Sediment is deposited By river at bottom and in front of lake adjusting it's profile to new base level.
- After dam is reached: New concavity is cut out as river adjusts to the dam. |
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Water Gap
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Where a stream cuts through a ridge, causing a gap which has to be passed over.
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What does the addition of CO2 to the groundwater system do to the water's ability to dissolve limestone?
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It increases it's ability to dissolve limestone by combining to form carbonic acid. This then leads to Karst topography, in which a sinkhole can be formed or contaminants can be brought down to infect the groundwater system.
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How does a glacier wear away from the mountain at the bergschrund?
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The moving glacial ice separates from the stationary mountain cap ice and forms a crevasse, often providing a dangerous obstacle for climbers.
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How does a glacial move down slope?
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The lower zone, or plastic zone, flows faster at the top and slower at the bottom due to the friction of the bed. The upper, thinner zone, called the brittle zone, has crevasses and cracks in it because it froze faster and is not plastic.
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What determines the Forward movement of the glacier?
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Glaciers react to temperature changes, and move forward with gravity when the temperature is cool enough, and retreat when it gets warmer, leaving lakes and moraines.
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How do the features of a glacier differ from that of a stream? (valley shape, entry of tributaries)
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glaciers form U shaped valleys, as opposed to the v-shaped valleys cut by streams. Tributaries enter at a high level than the main glacier.
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Using isotopes to determine past climate change.
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Measure stable isotopes of water. Colder air would have relatively higher content of 1H16O isotope because it evaporates easier then 2H18O, therefore can evaporate in cold more effectively
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What are sedimentary rocks
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Formed at or near the earth's surface by the settling or precipitation of minerals.
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What are the three basic types of sedimentary rocks
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Shale, Sandstone, Limestone
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What sedimentary rocks are common to Michigan?
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Shale, Sandstone, limestone, dolomite, gypsum, halite
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