Home > Flashcards > Physiology > Chapter Eight Vocabulary

Details Title: Chapter Eight Vocabulary Description: changing earth's surface, water erosion, force of moving water, waves and wind, glaciers, earth's systerms and catastrophic events Total Flash Cards: 40 Created: 12/14/2006 15:38:06	To study from this set of flash cards, or to create your own your own study flash cards, register HERE. If you are already a registered user, CLICK HERE.
Cards Term Alluvial fan Definition a wide, sloping deposit of sediment formed where a stream leaves a mountain range. Term Delta Definition sediment deposited where a river flows into an ocan or a lake builds up a landform. Term Divide Definition the high ground between two drainage basins Term Drainage Basin Definition a land area from which a river and its tributaries collect their water Term Flood Plain Definition a flat, long area of land along a river Term Meander Definition a looplike bend in the course of a river Term Moving water Definition the major agent of the erosion that has shaped Earth's surface Term Oxbow lake Definition a meander that has been cut off from the river Term Tributary Definition A stream that flows into a larger stream Term Valleys, waterfalls, floodplains, meanders, and oxbow lakes Definition features formed by rivers as they erode land Term Abrasion Definition the process that gouges and scratches the bedrock as the glaciers move across the land. The wearing away of rock by a grinding action. Term Continental glacier Definition a glacier that covers most of a continent or large island Term Glacier Definition Any large mass of ice that moves slowly over land. Term ice ages Definition times in the past when continental glaciers covered large parts of the Earth's surface Term Kettle lake Definition a small depression that forms when a chunk of ice is found in a glacial till Term Moraine Definition the ridge that forms when till is deposited at the edges of a glacier Term Plucking Definition the process where a glacier flows over the land and picks up rocks Term Till Definition the mixture of sediments that a glacier has eroded and deposits on the surface when it melts Term Valley glacier Definition a long, narrow glacier that forms when snow and ice build up high in a mountain valley Term Beach Definition an area of wave-washed sediment along a coast. Term Deflation Definition the process by which wind moves surface materials. (the main way that wind causes erosion) Term Longshore drift Definition a process where waves hit a beach and some of the sediment moves down the beach with the current Term Loess Definition fine, wind deposited sediment Term Sand dune Definition a deposit of wind-blown sand Term Spit Definition a beach that projects like a finger into the water Term Sea Caves, Sea Arches, and Wave Cut Cliffs Definition landforms created by wave erosion Term Waves Definition the major force of erosion along coasts that form when wind blows across the water's surface Term Wind erosion and deposition Definition processes that may form sand dunes and loess deposits Term Deposition Definition a process that occurs where the agents of erosion lay down sediment Term Erosion Definition the process by which natural forces move weathered rock and soil from one place to another Term Gravity Definition the force that moves rock and other materials downhill and causes waters potential energy to change to kinetic energy. Term Sediment Definition the material moved by erosion Term Land slides, mud flow (mud slides), slump, and creep Definition four types of mass movement Term Natural hazard Definition an event that results from Earth processes and that can cause damage and endanger human life. Term Droughts, earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, volcanoes, wild fires Definition Six examples of natural hazards Term Speeding up erosion and deposition Definition the causes of Catastrophic events Term How can the location of human activities increase the risk of damage from natural hazards? Definition People clear forests that help keep soil in place which causes more runoff. And humans settle in flood plains and floods cayuse damage to people's houses Term Load Definition the amount of sediment a river carries Term Turbulence Definition water moving every direction downstream Term River's slope, volume of flow, and shape of streambed Definition Three factors that affects how fast a river flows and how much sediment it can erode