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BYU GEO 101 Exam 3
Monson, Ch 10,11, 18, 19 &20
69
Geography
Undergraduate 1
11/07/2012

Additional Geography Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Badlands
Definition
HIghly erodable, soft terrain. Lacks vegetation because the rain washes away the thin soil layer. Occur in steep areas.
Term
Deflation
(Wind)
Definition
Picks up and moves silt and sand.
(Sand does not get lifted into the atmosphere; silt may blow a few hundred feet)
Term
Desertification
Definition
A type of land degradation in which a relatively dry land region becomes increasingly arid, typically losing its bodies of water as well as vegetation and wildlife. It is caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change and human activities.
Term
Abrasion (Wind)
Definition
As wind blows silt and sand into exposed rock, it slowly wears down the rock.
Term
Transverse Dune
Definition
A large, strongly asymmetrical, elongated dune lying at right angles to the prevailing wind direction. Transverse dunes have a gently sloping windward side and a steeply sloping leeward side. They generally form in areas of sparse vegetation and abundant sand. Most beach dunes are transverse dunes.
Term
Playa
Definition
Dry lake bed - Bonneville Salt Flats.
All water has trace amounts of salt. As the water seeps into the ground or evaporates, the salt is left behind. Rain helps leach the salt into the ground.
Racetrack Playa - Small boulders gets pushed along the playa beds during rain storms.
Term
Loess
Definition
A fertile soil that is deposited by wind and easily erodes in water.
Term
Erg
Definition
A sea of sand
Term
Barchan Dune
Definition
A large, crescent-shaped dune lying at right angles to the prevailing wind and having a steep, concave leeward side with the crescent tips pointing downwind. Barchan dunes form on flat, hard surfaces where the sand supply is limited.
Term
Exotic Stream
Definition
A good size river that flows thru the desert. It is exotic because it comes from somewhere else. The Nile or Colorado,
Term
Reg
Definition
Desert pavement; pebbles and rocks with little to no sand. Sand is protected by the underlying rock. A few inches below the rocky top layer is a loose sandy material.
Term
Alluvial Fan
Definition
Ephemeral streams end here, depositing their sediment as it spreads out over the valley. Water moves more slowly when it hits the flat valley.
Term
Longitudinal Dune
(Seif)
Definition
Created by seasonal shifts in wind direction. Angles on the edges are triangular.
Term
Basin and Range
Definition
Streams that go out of the mountains in the valleys eventually evaporate, they do not make it to the ocean.
Term
Great Basin
Definition
A collection of valleys where the water does not reach the ocean.
Term
Mesa and Scarp
Definition
Scarp is a cliff. The top layer of the rock (cap) is harder than the rock beneath it. It protects the layers below, but eventually wears down.
Term
Howare desert environments different from humid environments?
Definition
Dry climate produces angular cliffs. Weathering is mostly physical (instead of chemical). Mass wasting is rockfall. Soil easily erodes due to lack of vegetation. Rainfall is scarce.
Term
Desert streams
Definition
Ephemeral - occasional, intermittant. Does not flow all year.
Exotic - Nile or Colorado. A good size that flows thru the desert, started elsewhere.
Term
Five prominent desert landscapes
Definition
1. Erg - sea of sand
2. Reg - rocky surface with no sand
3. Basin and Range - stream do bot flow to ocea.
4. Mesa and Scarp - flat topped mountain and its cliffs.
5. Badlands - highly erodable terrain.
Term
Alpine Glaciation
Definition
Erosional. The high elevation prevents the snow from melting in the summer.
Term
Glacial Trough
Definition
A U-shaped canyon or valley.
Term
Fjord or fiord
Definition
U shaped anyon or valley that is below sea level. Filled with ocean water. Popular cruise ships.
Term
Cirque
Definition
Like and open bowl with steep rock cliffs. Mt. Nebo. They erode back into a rock cliff, even though they are advancing forward.
Term
Tarn
Definition
a little lake at the bottom of a cirque
Term
Arete
Definition
A ridge between two different cirques. A sharpened interfluve.
Term
Hanging Valley
Definition
When a stream has to become a waterfall in order to reach the bottom of the riverbed.
Term
Horn
Definition
The Matterhorn. A mountain peak glaciated on three sides, eroded to a sharp peak.
Term
Continental Glacier
Definition
Exist away from the equator in cooler summer areas.
Term
How does sea level change in an ice age?
Definition
Sea level goes down in an ice age because the glaciers don't melt and return to the ocean.
Term
Effects of Ice Age
Definition
Creation of landforms through glacial erosion and deposition.
Creates numerous lakes - Great Lakes
Migration and selective extinction of plant and animal species (Canadian treeline)
Term
Effects of ice ages on the lithosphere
Definition
As the glaciers melt off the land, the ground will rebound from the removal of weight. Finland is rising about a centimeter each year.
Term
Drumlin
Definition
An elongated hill or ridge of glacial drift. Tall at one end, tapers off at the end. Lies parallel to flow of glacier. Occurs as a result of the glaciers retreat. As the glaciers readvances, it will bulldoze over the hill.
Term
Esker
Definition
A long, narrow ridge of coarse gravel deposited by a stream flowing in or under a decaying glacial ice sheet.
Depositional. Former meltwater stream under a glacier.
Term
Glacial erratic
Definition
Huge boulders left as deposits as the glacier melts.
Term
Kettle Lake
Definition
A shallow, sediment-filled body of water formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters. Formed as large blocks of ice that were covered in dirt melted and left a depression on the earth. Lots in Minnesota.
Term
Outwash plain
Definition
Looks like a braided stream, but it is created by a glacier. Glacial sediments deposited by meltwater outwash at the terminus of a glacier.
Term
Moraines
Definition
Depositional.
Recessional.
Any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris. Debris left behind from a glacier (?)
Term
End Moraine
Definition
End moraines, or terminal moraines, are ridges of unconsolidated debris deposited at the snout or end of the glacier. They usually reflect the shape of the glacier's terminus. Glaciers act much like a conveyor belt, carrying debris from the top of the glacier to the bottom where it deposits it in end moraines.
Term
Ground Moraine
Definition
Ground moraines are till covered areas with irregular topography and no ridges, often forming gently rolling hills or plains.
Term
Recessional Moraine
Definition
Recessional moraines are often observed as a series of transverse ridges running across a valley behind a terminal moraine. They form perpendicular to the lateral moraines that they reside between and are composed of unconsolidated debris deposited by the glacier.
Term
Lateral Moraines
Definition
Parallel ridges of debris deposited along the sides of a glacier.
Term
Till/Glacial Till
Definition
Till or glacial till is unsorted glacial sediment.
Term
Equilibrium Line
Definition
The amount of snow that falls in the winter is equal to the amount that melts in the summer.
Term
Accumulation Zone
Definition
More snow accumulates that than melts.
Term
Ablation Zone
Definition
Below the Equilibrium Line. Snow/Glacier continues to advance, even though it is not growing, it takes time to melt.
Term
Pluvial Lakes (paleolakes)
Definition
Formed during ice ages, nothing to do with glaciers. Cooler temps and lots of precipitation filled valleys with water. Left shorelines on mountains. 10,000 years ago, temps warmed up. Great Salt Lake is former pluvial lake.
Term
Evidences of ice ages
Definition
Striations
pluvial lakes
Fremont island
Stansbury Mountains
Term
Pleistocene Epoch
Definition
Occured two million years ago.
One third of Earth's land area was covered in ice.
Glaciers advanced and retreated numerous times.
Term
Little ice age
Definition
Cold phases of the Pleistocene. They still happen today.
Term
Medieval warm period
Definition
First around 900 AD. Greenland colonized during this period. As the temperature got colder, the Europeans couldn't handle the cold and died out.
Term
Ice Shelf
Definition
A sheet of ice on the continent produced by a melting glacier. As the glacier melts, it pushes the ice out over the ocean.
Term
Alpine glacier
Definition
Form on the crests and slopes of mountains and are also known as Mountain Glaciers.
Term
Continental glaciers
Definition
Also called ice sheets. Antarctica and Greenland.
Term
Milutin Milakovitch's suggestion of a possible climate change.
Definition
Change in earth's orbit results in time periods that are colder or warmer, which will affect climate change.
Term
Sea Level changes during ice age
Definition
The sea level is lower in an ice age because the glaciers retain the water.
Term
Spit and hook
Definition
Sand that builds up from the movement of waves and extends across a bay, sometimes curls into a hook.
Term
Baymouth bar
Definition
A spit becomes a baymouth bar when it connects two points.
Term
Tambolo
Definition
A sand bar that sticks out from the coast. Small island out from the coast, waves break on the island and sediment drops and builds land that connects the shore to the island/rock.
Term
Barrier islands
Definition

Low, flat, sandy islands. Storm waves move into shallow water and then slow down due to friction. As they slow down, they deposit their sediment.

 

Barrier islands can help protect the shore in a hurricane because they absorb the force of the sea waves.

Term
Lagoon
Definition
The enclosed area, formerly a bay, created by a baymouth bar.
Term
Blowhole
Definition
A hole at the inland end of a cave. Looks like a geyser. Occurs in uplifted coastal areas.
Term
Estuary
Definition
A partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it and with a free connection to the open sea.
Term
Marine cliff
Definition
Bedrock that has been lifted up and the sea waves eroded it. White Cliffs of Dover
Term
Sea arch
Definition
opening in a sea cliff where the waves have eroded it.
Term
Sea stack
Definition
A rock or portion of an uplifted coastline that remains after the sea cliff has retreated inland. Twelve Apostles in Australia
Term
Coral Reefs
Definition
Corals are delicate marine animals that live in dense colonies. They extract calcium carbonate from the seawater and secrete lime to form an exoskeleton.
Term
Environmental Requirements for Coral Reefs:
Definition
1. Warm seawater
2. Lots of sunlight
3. A stable foundation
Term
Atolls
Definition

a coral island (or islands) that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.

Term
Almost Atoll
Definition
Part of the island remain above sea level. There is less land than water inside the reef.
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