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Geology > Chapter 13-16 > Flashcards

Chapter 13-16 Flashcards

0
Q

Arid and semi-arid lands

A

Drylands

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1
Q

An arid land that receives less than 250mm of rainfall or snow equivalent per year and is sparsely vegetated unless it is irrigated

A

Desert (arid)

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2
Q

Land in which the annual rainfall ranges between 250 and 500mm

A

Semi-arid

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3
Q

Associated with the two belts of low rainfall near the 30N and 30S latitudes. Includes the Sahara, Kalahari, and the Great Australian deserts.

A

Subtropical deserts

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4
Q

This receives as little precipitation as sub-tropical deserts, but because the precipitation comes in the form of snow that never gets a chance to melt, these deserts gradually build up a thick ice sheet

A

Polar deserts

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5
Q

Forms when a mountain range creates a barrier to the flow of moist air, causing a zone of low precipitation to form on the downwind side of the range

A

Rainshadow desert

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6
Q

Occur locally along the western margins of continents, where cold, upwelling seawater cools and stabilizes maritime air flowing onshore, decreasing its ability to form precipitation

A

Coastal desert

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7
Q

Wind processes

A

Eolian

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8
Q

Sediment transport in which the wind causes particles to roll along the ground

A

Surface creep

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9
Q

Sediment transport in which particles move forward in a series of short jumps along arc shaped paths

A

Saltation

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10
Q

Sediment transport in which the wind carries very fine particles over long distances and periods of time

A

Suspension

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11
Q

Wind erosion in which airborne particles chip small fragments off rocks that protrude above the surface

A

Abrasion

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12
Q

“Wind artifact”

A

Ventifact

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13
Q

Steep-sided but flat topped desert landforms

A

Buttes

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14
Q

And erosion in which loose particles of sand and dust are removed by the wind leaving coarser particles behind

A

Deflation

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15
Q

Fine particles are removed, leaving a continuous pavement-like covering of coarse particles

A

Desert pavement

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16
Q

A hill or ridge of sand deposited by winds

A

Dunes

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17
Q

A leeward slope of a dune

A

Slip face

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18
Q

Crisscrossed strata within a dune. Former slip faces

A

Cross beds

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19
Q

The steepest angle at which loose particles will come to rest

A

Angle of repose

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20
Q

Dunes may migrate over long distances, and they can cause severe degradation and loss of agricultural productivity when they invade non-desert lands

A

Desertification

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21
Q

Crescent shaped dunes which are very mobile

A

Barchans

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22
Q

If the wind blows in several different directions, it piles up into stationary ____

A

Star dunes

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23
Q

When there is a copious sand supply, bar chan dunes can merge and form _____

A

Transverse dunes

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24
Q

Dunes that run parallel to the prevailing winds

A

Longitudinal dunes

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25
Q

These are oriented in the opposite direction from bar chan dunes: the arms, stabilized by vegetation, point upwind

A

Parabolic dunes

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26
Q

A steep-sided canyon where rapid runoff erodes into the landscape

A

Arroyos

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27
Q

If canyons are closely spaced along the base of a mountain range, the alluvial fans will sometimes coalesce into a broad alluvial apron called ____

A

Bajada

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28
Q

Invasion of desert conditions into non-desert areas

A

Desertification

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29
Q

Land damage or loss of productivity caused by human activity, which may lead to the advance of desert condition into non-desert areas

A

Land degradation

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30
Q

The perennially frozen part of the hydrosphere

A

Cryoshpere

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31
Q

A semi-permanent or perennially frozen body of ice, consisting largely of recrystallized snow, which moves under the pull of gravity

A

Glacier

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32
Q

The largest type of glacier. A continent-sized mass of ice that covers all or nearly all the land within its margins

A

Ice sheet

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33
Q

Thick sheets of floating ice hundreds of meters thick that adjoin glaciers on land

A

Ice shelves

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34
Q

Large pieces of ice that fall off of ice shelves

A

Icebergs

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35
Q

A form of ice cover that never touches land at all but forms by the direct freezing of seawater

A

Sea ice

36
Q

One kind of glacier where the interior is near its melting point throughout. Form on low and middle latitudes

A

Temperate glacier

37
Q

A glacier at high altitudes or latitudes where the mean annual temperature is below freezing

A

Polar glacier

38
Q

Occupies a bowl-shaped depression on a mountainside and typically serves as the source for a valley glacier

A

Cirque glacier

39
Q

Flow down valleys and are fed either from cirque glaciers or ice caps

A

Valley glaciers

40
Q

Covers a mountaintop completely and usually displays a radial-outward flow pattern

A

Ice cap

41
Q

When a glacial valley is partly filled by an arm of the sea, the valley is called a fjord and the glacier is _____

A

Fjord glacier

42
Q

When a glacier flows all the way out of the mountains and onto the surrounding lowlands

A

Piedmont glacier

43
Q

Change from solid directly to vapour without melting

A

Sublimation

44
Q

Additions to a glacier

A

Accumulation

45
Q

Losses to a glacier

A

Ablation

46
Q

A deep gaping fissure in the upper surface of a glacier

A

Crevasse

47
Q

A heterogeneous mixture of crushed rock, sand, pebbles, cobbles, and boulders deposited by a glacier

A

Till

48
Q

A ridge or pile of debris that has been, or is being, transported by a glacier

A

Moraine

49
Q

Ground that is perennially below the freezing point of water

A

Permafrost

50
Q

The average weather conditions of a location or region over time

A

Climate

51
Q

Present day warming of the world’s climate that most scientists believe is likely to continue and is at least partly caused by human activities

A

Global warming

52
Q

A relatively cold period, when Earth’s ice cover greatly exceeded its present extent

A

Glaciation, glacial period, ice age

53
Q

A relatively warm period, when Earth’s ice cover and climate resembled those of the present day

A

Interglaciation, interglacial period

54
Q

Departure from circularity in Earth’s orbit

A

Eccentricity

55
Q

Variations in the degree of the planet’s axis of rotation

A

Tilt

56
Q

Wobbling of Earth’s axis

A

Precession

57
Q

The combined influences of astronomical-orbital factors that produce changes in the Earth’s climate

A

Milankovitch cycles

58
Q

The reflectivity of a surface, as a percentage of the total reflected radiation

A

Albedo

59
Q

Extremely fine suspended particles that can cause dramatic changes in atmospheric albedo

A

Aerosols

60
Q

A cycle in which the output from a process becomes an input into the same process

A

Feedback

61
Q

The set of processes by which the carbon cycles from reservoir to reservoir through the global environment

A

Carbon cycle

62
Q

Long term storage of a material, in isolation from the atmosphere

A

Sequestration

63
Q

A place in the Earth system where a material is stored for a period of time

A

Reservoir

64
Q

A reservoir that takes in more of a given material than it releases

A

Sink

65
Q

A long term or underlying pattern in a time series of data

A

Trend

66
Q

The scientific study of ancient climates

A

Paleoclimatology

67
Q

Records of natural events that are influenced by, and closely mimic, climate

A

Climate proxy record

68
Q

The portion of greenhouse warming that results from human activities rather than natural processes

A

Anthropogenic greenhouse effect

69
Q

A computer model of the climate system, linking processes in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere

A

General circulation model

70
Q

The breakdown of water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen by ultraviolet light

A

Photodissociation

71
Q

A chemical reaction whereby plants use light energy to induce carbon dioxide to react with water, producing carbohydrates and oxygen

A

Photosynthesis

72
Q

A useful material that is obtained from the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, or biosphere

A

Natural reaource

73
Q

A resource that can be replenished or regenerated on the scale of a human lifetime

A

Renewable resource

74
Q

A resource that cannot be replenished or regenerated on the scale of a human lifetime

A

Nonrenewable resource

75
Q

Combustible organic matter that is trapped in sediment or sedimentary rock

A

Fossil fuel

76
Q

A biogenic sediment formed from the accumulation and compaction of plant remains from bogs and swamps, with a carbon content of about 25%

A

Peat

77
Q

A combustible rock (50-95% carbon) formed by the compression, heating, and lithification of peat

A

Coal

78
Q

The lowest rank (carbon content) of coal

A

Lignite

79
Q

The highest rank (carbon content) of coal

A

Anthracite

80
Q

Coal intermediate between lignite and anthracite

A

Bituminous coal

81
Q

Naturally occurring gaseous, liquid, a d semisolid substances that consist chiefly of hydrocarbon compounds

A

Petroleum

82
Q

The liquid form of petroleum

A

Oil

83
Q

The gaseous form of petroleum

A

Natural gas

84
Q

A sediment or sedimentary rock in which the pores are filled by dense, viscous, asphalt-like oil

A

Tar sand

85
Q

A fine grained sedimentary rock with a high content of kerogen

A

Oil shale

86
Q

Any form of energy that is derived more-or-less directly from plant life, including fuel wood, peat, animal dung and agricultural wastes

A

Biomass energy

87
Q

Electricity generated by running water

A

Hydroelectric energy

88
Q

A deposit from which one or more minerals can be extracted profitably

A

Ore

Geology (3 decks)

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