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Earth Science Test 2
Test 2 Study stack based off of study guide
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| 1. What is a rock and what are the three different types? | A rock is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids. The three types of rocks are igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. |
| 2. What happens during lithification of sediment to sedimentary rock? | Lithification is the process of compaction and cementation of sediments to form sedimentary rocks. Over time, layers of sediment are buried and subjected to pressure, causing the grains to compact and become cemented together by minerals precipitated from |
| 3. What are the three types of sedimentary rock and how do they respectively form? | The three types of sedimentary rocks are: - Clastic: Formed from the accumulation and lithification of rock fragments and mineral grains. (Grain size reflects energy of flowing water) - Chemical: Formed from the precipitation of minerals crystallized in |
| 4. What is foliation in metamorphic rocks and why does it develop? | Foliation refers to the alignment of minerals within a metamorphic rock, resulting in a layered or banded appearance. It develops if minerals recrystallize in single orientation. It happens due to differential stress and minerals can separate into bonds. |
| 5. What are anticlines and synclines and where are the oldest rocks in each? | Anticlines are upward-arching folds in rock layers, while synclines are downward-arching folds. The oldest rocks are typically found in the center of anticlines. The youngest rocks are in the center of synclines. |
| 6. What is a joint, where do they form, and how do they differ from faults? | A joint is a fracture in a rock along which there has been no offset or movement (occurs closer to land surface). Joints have brittle behavior and are often enlarged by weather and erosion. |
| 7. What are the four types of fault and can you identify them on a diagram? | The four types of faults are normal, reverse (thrust), strike-slip (transform), and oblique. They can be identified on a diagram based on the movement of the rock blocks relative to each other. o Dip slip fault: inclined and shows vertical motion (this i |
| 1. What are the four types of mechanical weathering and why does each happen? | o Pressure release fracturing: happens when rocks underground are under pressure, they expand and fracture when reaching the surface o Frost-wedging: Water expands to about 8% when freezes, fractures grow through rocks. o Organic activity: Tree growth c |
| 2. What are the four types of chemical weathering and why does each happen? | o The four types of chemical weathering are dissolution, oxidation, hydrolysis, and saltweathering. o Dissolution: Dissolving of soluble minerals in water (ex Halite) o Hydrolysis: Hydrogen from water or acid replaces cations in mineral (rain is a weak |
| 3. What are the reasons why water is essential for most weathering processes? | It’s a direct cause of frost action and dissolution, water is a liquid medium for chemical reactions, it flushes products and brings in new reagents |
| 4. What are the topographic and geologic controls that explain where mass wasting occurs? | Slope steepness, geologic materials, undercutting, geologic weakness, and land cover change |
| 5. What are the triggers that explain when mass wasting occurs, and which one was the trigger for the 1993 landslide at Tully? | Triggers include heavy rainfall, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and human activities. The trigger for the 1993 landslide at Tully was heavy rainfall saturating the soil and destabilizing the slope and snowmelt. |
| 6. What are the distinguishing characteristics of rock falls, rock slides, rock avalanches, rotational slumps, and debris flows? | Rock falls involve the free-fall of individual rock fragments, rock slides are intact blocks sliding over failure surface, rock avalanches flowing cloud of rocks and dust, rotational slumps are intact blocks sliding over curved failure surface, Debris flo |
| 1. What are the definitions of topography, drainage basin, drainage divide, and a river? | Topography refers to the surface features of a region. A drainage basin is the area that supplies water to a river. A drainage divide is the boundary separating one drainage basin from another. A river is a natural flowing watercourse in a channel. |
| 2. What respectively are perennial rivers, intermittent rivers, and ephemeral rivers? | Perennial rivers are year round flow. Intermittent rivers flow is seasonal flow. Ephemeral rivers are event driven flow. |
| 3. Chezy equation: you don’t need to memorize the equation nor use it for a calculation, but do know what the four variables are and each represents. | The Chezy equation relates flow velocity in an open channel to channel characteristics and slope. The variables are flow velocity (V), channel roughness or Chezy coefficient (C), hydraulic radius (R), and channel slope (S). |
| 4. How does water velocity control the grain size and amount of erosion? | Higher water velocity can transport larger grains and increase the amount of erosion and transports more sediment, and faster flow. |
| 5. How does erosion and deposition vary across a river bend, and how does this relate to the development of cutbanks and point bars? | Erosion typically occurs on the outside of a river bend where flow velocity is higher, forming cutbanks, while deposition occurs on the inside where flow velocity is lower, forming point bars. (Include a picture) |
| 6. How respectively do oxbow lakes, gorges, and waterfalls develop? | Oxbow lakes form when a meander loop is cut off from the main channel. Gorges form when rivers are high above base level. Waterfalls form when a river flows over resistant rock layers, creating a sudden drop in elevation (when strong bedrock will erode sl |
| 7. What are the sediment loads of rivers, and how does bed load change during transport? | o Dissolved load = ions, suspended load= silt and clay, bed load= sand and gravel. o Bed loads get rounder and smaller as transported |
| 8. What respectively are the floodplain and delta of a river? | A floodplain is the flat, low-lying area adjacent to a river channel that gets flooded (usually dry land). A delta is a landform formed at the mouth of a river where sediment is deposited as the river flows into a larger body of water. |
| 9. What may happen soon along the lower Mississippi River in Louisiana, and why? | Evulsion will happen: Break out of river to new path, builds new delta, natural cycle |
| 10. What are the two types of flood and what are their general characteristics? | o Regional flood: main stem rivers, large area and long duration o Flash flood: Headwater tributaries, small area, short duration |
| 11. How do rainfall intensity and topographic focusing affect the severity of a flash flood? | o Intense rainfall: 3+ inches per hour (usually thunderstorms) o Topographic focusing: In narrow valleys, and increases flood height |
| 12. When during the year are rivers in central NY at their seasonal highest, & when lowest? | Rivers in central NY are typically at their seasonal highest during the spring due to and winter, and lowest during the summer and fall |
| 13. When during the year and for what reasons do floods happen in central NY? | Floods can happen anytime of the year due to snowmelt, deforestation and urbanization |
| 14. How do deforestation and urbanization affect the size and onset speed of floods? | o Deforestation can increase peak river discharge. o Urbanization can increase peak river discharge. (Floods peak higher and faster) |
| 1. What are the processes that move water in the global water cycle? | Processes in the global water cycle include evaporation, transpiration into atmosphere, precipitation over oceans and land, run-off in rivers, and infiltration into groundwater. |
| 2. What is an aquifer, what is an aquitard, and what material types are examples of each? | o Aquifer: a material with high porosity and permeability (ex sand and gravel). o Aquitard: low porosity and permeability (ex clay) |
| 3. Where is the water source for Cortland, and why are the water storage tanks for the city and campus at the top of College Hill? | Water source is groundwater. The water storage tanks are located at the top of College Hill to provide sufficient pressure for water distribution to lower elevations. |
| 4. What is the largest user of water in the U.S.A. today? | Agriculture is the largest user of water in the USA |
| 5. Where does New York City get its water supply from? | New York City gets its water supply from the Catskill Mountains in Croton through a system of reservoirs and aqueducts. |
| 6. How do dams and reservoirs affect sediment transport in rivers? | Dams and reservoirs trap sediment, reducing downstream sediment. Dams get old and weaken. |
| 7. What water supply problem affects coastal wells on Long Island if they pump too much? | Over-pumping of coastal wells on Long Island can lead to saltwater intrusion, where saltwater infiltrates freshwater aquifers, rendering the water unusable for drinking or irrigation. |
| 1. Where and why do glaciers form? | Glaciers form from recrystallized snow in polar regions and high mountains. |
| 2. What are accumulation, ablation, and mass balance, and how do they relate to advance or retreat of the terminus? | o Accumulation (mass gain dominance) is the addition of snow and ice to a glacier, while ablation (mass loss dominance) is the loss of ice through melting, sublimation, or calving. Mass balance is the difference between accumulation and ablation, determin |
| 3. What are the definitions of the four types of alpine glacier? | o The four types of alpine glaciers are valley glaciers, cirque glaciers, piedmont glaciers, and ice field glaciers. |
| 4. What are the four processes by which glaciers move? | o Crevices: Fractures in ice o Creep: Plastic flow o Basal slip: Occurs at base of glacier, enhanced by water o Sub glacier deformation: occurs in sediment or rock under glaciers |
| 5. What respectively are glacier abrasion and glacier plucking? | o Glacier abrasion is the process by which rocks and sediment are carried along the base of a glacier, grinding and polishing the underlying bedrock. Glacier plucking is the process by which the glacier freezes onto rocks and plucks them away as the glaci |
| 6. What respectively are cirques, glacial troughs, horns, and arêtes? | o Cirques are amphitheater-shaped depressions formed at the head of a glacier. Glacial troughs are U-shaped valleys carved by glaciers. Horns are sharp, pyramid-like peaks formed by the intersection of multiple cirques. Arêtes are narrow ridges formed bet |
| 7. What respectively are lateral, medial, and end moraines, and what is an outwash plain? | o Lateral moraines are ridges of debris deposited along the sides of a glacier. Medial moraines are ridges of debris formed where two glaciers merge. End moraines are ridges of debris deposited at the terminus of a glacier. An outwash plain is a flat, san |
| 8. What respectively are drumlins, eskers, kames, and kettles? | o Drumlins are elongated hills formed by the deposition of glacial till. Eskers are sinuous ridges of sediment deposited by meltwater streams flowing within or beneath glaciers. Kames are small, steep-sided mounds of sediment deposited by meltwater. Kettl |
| 9. About how thick are the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets? | The Greenland Ice Sheet is about 1.9 miles (2 kilometers) thick on average, while the Antarctic Ice Sheet is about 1.2 miles (3 kilometers) thick on average. |
| 10. When was the LGM and what type of glacier covered New York at that time? | The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) occurred approximately 20,000 years ago. New York was covered by an ice sheet known as the Laurentide Ice Sheet. |
| 11. How was sea level different at the LGM and what did this do to Long Island and the Hudson River? | Sea level was significantly lower at the LGM due to the vast amount of water locked up in continental ice sheets. This lowered sea level exposed land that is now underwater, such as the continental shelf off the coast of Long Island and the mouth of the H |
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edo15
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