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69 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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drainage basin
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An area of land, bounded by divides, that funnels all its water into the network of streams draining the area
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dune
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An elongated mound or ridge of sand formed by a current of wind or water
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eolian
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Pertaining to wind. Most commonly refers to wind-related sediment transport or erosion of bedrock
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flood plain
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A flat area about level with the top of a channel that lies on either side of the channel; the part of the a valley that is flooded when a stream spills over its banks
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laminar flow
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A flow in which straight or gently curved streamlines run parallel to one another without mixing or crossing between layers
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longshore current
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A shallow-water current that runs parallel to the shore
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meander
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A curve or bend in a stream that develops as the stream erodes the outer bank of a bend and deposits sediment against the inner bank
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natural levee
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A ridge of course material that confines a stream within its banks between floods, even when water levels are high
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playa lake
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A permanent or temporary lake in an arid mountain valley or basin, where dissolved minerals are often concentrated and precipitated as the water evaporates
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point bar
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A curved sandbar deposited along the inner bank of a stream, where the current is slower.
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ripple
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A sedimentary structure consisting of a very small door dune whose long dimension is at right angles to the current.
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river
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A major branch of a stream system.
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saltation
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The transportation of sand or smaller sediment particles by currents in such a manner that they move along in a series of short intermittent jumps
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shoreline
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The line where the ocean surface intersects the land.
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spit
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A narrow extension of a beach formed by longshore currents that carry sand to the downcurrent end of the beach.
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storm surge
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A dome of seawater formed by a hurricane that rises above the level of the surrounding ocean surface.
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stream
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Any body of water, large or small, that flows over the land surface.
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stream valley
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The entire area between the tops of the slopes on both sides of a stream.
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suspended load
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The material temporarily or permanently suspended in the flow of a current.
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tides
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The twice-daily rise and fall of the ocean water caused by gravitational attraction between Earth and the Moon.
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turbidity current
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A turbulent submarine avalanche of sediment and water that moves downslope; typical of continental slopes
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turbulent flow
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A flow in which streamlines mix, cross and form swirls or eddies
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wave-cut terrace
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A level surface, formed at a rocky shoreline by wave erosion beneath the surf zone, that may be visible at low tides
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aftershock
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An earthquake that occurs as a consequence of a previous earthquake or larger magnitude
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building code
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A set of standards for the design and construction of new buildings that specifies the intensity of shaking a structure must be able to withstand in an earthquake
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core-mantle boundary
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The boundary between Earth's mantle and core, about 2890 km below Earth's surface
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earthquake
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The violent motion of the ground that occurs when brittle rock under stress suddenly breaks along a new or preexisting fault
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elastic rebound theory
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A theory of faulting and earthquake generation holding that as a crustal block on either side of a fault are deformed by tectonic forces, they remain locked in place by friction, accumulating elastic strain energy, until they fracture and rebound to their undeformed state
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epicenter
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The geographic point on Earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake
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fault mechanism
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The type of fault rupture (normal, thrust or strike-slip) that produces an earthquake; determined by the orientation of the fault rupture and the direction of slipping
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fault slip
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The displacement of the two blocks on either side of a fault that occurs during an earthquake
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focus
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The point along the fault at which fault slipping initiates an earthquake
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foreshock
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A small earthquake that occurs in the vicinity of, but before, a main shock
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geotherm
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The curve that describes how Earth's temperatures increase with depth
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intensity scale
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A scale for measuring the intensity of an earthquake shaking directly from an earthquake's effects on humans, built structures and the ground surface
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lower mantle
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A relatively homogeneous region of the mantles that extends from the base of the transition zone at a depth of 660 km to the core-mantle boundary at a depth of about 2890 km
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low-velocity zone
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A layer of Earth beginning at a depth of about 100 km where S-wave sped abruptly decreases, corresponding to the top part of the asthenosphere
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magnitude scale
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A scale for estimating the size of an earthquake using the logarithm of the largest ground motion registered by a seismograph (Richter magnitude) or the logarithm of the area of fault rupture times fault slip (moment magnitude)
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P wave
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The first type of seismic wave to arrive at a seismograph from the focus of an earthquake; a type of compressional wave
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phase change
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A change in a material's state (e.g. from solid to liquid, or from one mineral structure to another) without a change in composition, usually due to a change in pressure and/or temperature
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recurrence interval
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The average time between large earthquakes at a particular location; according to the elastic rebound theory the time required to accumulate the strain that will be released by fault slipping in a future earthquake
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S wave
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The second type of seismic wave to arrive at a seismograph from the focus of an earthquake, S waves are shear waves that cannot travel through liquids or solids.
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seismic hazard
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The intensity of shaking and ground disruption by earthquakes that can be expected over the long term at some specified location
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seismic risk
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The earthquake damage that can be expected over the long term at some specified location
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seismic tomography
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A technique that uses the differences in the velocities of seismic waves produced by earthquakes and recorded on seismographs around the world to construct three-dimensional images of Earth's interior
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seismicity map
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A map that shows the epicenters of earthquakes recorded around the world in a particular region over a given period of time
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seismograph
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An instrument that records the seismic waves generated by earthquakes
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shadow zone
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(1) A zone beyond 105 degrees from the focus of an earthquake where S waves are not recorded because they are not transmitted through Earth's liquid outer core (2) A zone at angular distances between 105 degrees and 142 degrees from the focus of an earthquakes where P waves are not recorded because they are refracted downward into the core and merge at greater distances after the delay caused by their detour through the core
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surface wave
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A type of seismic wave that travels around Earth's surface from the focus of an earthquake and arrives at a seismograph later than S waves
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Anthropocene
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The Age of Man; a new geologic epoch beginning about A.D. 1780, proposed by Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen
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biofuel
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Liquid hydrogen fuel derived from plant biomass
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carbon cycle
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The geosystem that describes the continual movement of carbon among the atmosphere and its other principal geochemical reservoirs: the lithosphere hydrosphere and biosphere
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carbon economy
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A civilization fed by an energy system that depends on carbon-based energy sources, particularly fossil fuels
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carbon sequestration
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The practice of pumping carbon dioxide generated by fossil-fuel combustion into geochemical reservoirs other than the atmosphere
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climate model
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A representation of the climate system such as a computer program, that can reproduce one or more aspects of its behavior
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coal bed
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A layer or stratum of coal
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crude oil
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Raw petroleum; a diverse class of liquids composed of complex hydrocarbons
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geochemical reservoir
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A repository for the temporary storage of materials transported through the Earth system in geochemical cycles
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geothermal energy
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Energy derived from water heated during passage through a subsurface region of hot rock
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Hubbert's peak
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The point in time when global oil production will peak and then begin to decline. Named after the geologist M. King Hubbert, who in 1956 correctly predicted that Us oil production would peak in the early 1970s.
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natural gas
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Methane gas (CH4), the simplest hydrocarbon
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nuclear energy
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Energy produced by radioactive fission, which can be used to heat steam and drive turbines to create electricity
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oil shale
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A fine-grained, clay-rick sedimentary rock containing relatively large amounts of organic matter
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oil trap
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A geologic structure capped by an impermeable barrier that blocks the upward migration of crude oil or natural gas, allowing them to collect beneath the barrier
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oil window
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The limited range of pressures and temperatures usually found at depths between about 2 and 5 km, at which crude oil forms from buried organic matter
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residence time
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The average time that an atom of a particular element spends in a geochemical reservoir
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solar energy
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Energy derived from the sun
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stabilization wedge
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A change in human energy use that can offset the projected growth of carbon emissions by 1 gigaton per year in the next 50 years. Approximately 7 stabilization wedges will have to be implemented to keep global carbon emissions from growing beyond the current value of 8 gigatons per year
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tar sands
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A deposit of sand or sandstone containing a tarlike hydrocarbon called natural bitumen
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