Mazza/Paulino test #4 Flashcards
(43 cards)
What is the water cycle?
Water moving continuously from the ocean/land to the sky and back
What is evaporation?
Liquid water changing to water vapor and rising to the atomosphere
What is condensation?
Water vapor changing to liquid and forming clouds
What is transpiration?
Evaporation from plants
What is precipitation?
rain, sleet, snow, or hail failing down (has to hit the ground. Fog is not precipitation because it is a cloud close to the ground)
What is infiltration?
Water sinking into the ground
What is runoff?
Water flowing on the ground due to gravity
What is evapotranspiration?
Water leaving the surface of earth into the atomosphere its the combination of evaporation and transpiration and determines climate from a ratio of exapotranspiration to precipitation
What is the necessary ground conditions for runoff?
Hardscaped (asphalt/concrete) or saturated soil
What does saturated mean?
holding as much water to its limit
What is the necessary ground condition for infiltration?
unsaturated soil
What process does clouds form from?
condensation
What two processes do water enter the atmosphere with?
Evaporation and transpiration
What is erosion?
Transportatuon of sediments and weathered material driven by gravity. It may act alone or with an agent of erosion
What is the most importatn agent of erosion?
Running water is the most important because it carries more sediment than any other agent of erosion does
How are sediments affected by the stream during erosion?
Sediments transported by streams tend to become rounded as a result of abrasion. The farther rocks are carried downstream, the more rounded they become.
What are some features the influence erosion for running water?
Slope or gradient, speed or velocity, discharge or volume, and channel shape of curvature of the channel
What are glaciers?
A large mass of ice that flows over land due to gravity
How does glacier erode sediments?
As the ice in a glacier flows downhill it pushes, drags, and carries rocks, soil, and sediment. Sediments along the bottom of the glacier are worn down into angular shapes. Glacial erosional processes include the formation of U-shaped valleys, parallel scratches, and grooves in bedrock
How does strong wind erode sediments?
Air is less dense than water, so generally unable to move particles bigger than sand. Wind erosion is most active in places such as deserts and beaches.
What are waves caused by?
Waves are caused by wind are also an agent of erosion. They can break solid rock and throw broken pieces against the shore
How do waves erode sediments?
Wave action rounds sediments as a result of abrasion. Rocks continually break down until they become sand particles
How does gravity erode sediments?
mass movement occurs when the force of gravity is greater than the force of friction (keep weathered sediments from moving)
What s mass wasting?
When gravity pulls weathered sediments down steep slopes