Shared Flashcard Set

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CA Geology
N/A
33
Geology
Undergraduate 3
10/04/2010

Additional Geology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
acre-foot
Definition

 

 

the amount of water required to cover an acre of land to a depth of 1 foot

 


(325,851 gallons)

Term

 

 

Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Faulting Zone Act

Definition

 

 

1972- CA law which prohibits construction within 50 feet of an active fault

 

 

Note: Precedes 1994 Special Studies Zone Act

Term

 

 

amplitude

Definition

 

 

height of a wave

Term

 

 

anticline

Definition

 

 

an upward-buckling fold

 

(insert pic??)

Term

 

 

 

 

appropriation rights

 

(H20)

Definition

 

 

the system of water law whereby

water is allocated in the order of

1st historic use

Term

 

 

 

arroyo

Definition

 

 

canyon

Term

 

 

artesian

Definition

 

 

condition in which groundwater

is held under high pressure

Term

 

 

attenuation

Definition

 

 

the decrease in the amplitude and energy

of seismic waves

with distance from the epicenter

Term

 

 

B Horizon

Definition

 

 

the layer of soil where weathering products

tend to accumulate

Term

 

 

bajada

 

Definition

 

 

a broad area where alluvial fans overlap along the edge of a mountain range

Term

 

 

base level

Definition

 

 

the lowest point in a stream system

Term

 

 

basement

Definition

 

 

the complex of older rocks (usually igneous and/or metamorphic)

which are overlain by younger rocks and sediments in an area

 

(Synonym: crystalline basement)

 

Term

 

 

basement complex

Definition

 

 

the oldest identifiable rocks in any region

 

May be of oceanic or continental origin

Term

 

 

bastnasite

Definition

 

 

a yellow-to-brown mineral

 

a source of rare earth elements (REEs)

 

Ce(CO3)F

 

Term

 

 

bay mud

Definition

 

 

Dark clay & silt

from the San Francisco Bay Estuary

 

Term

 

 

blind fault

Definition

 

 

a fault that does not offset materials

at the surface

Term

 

 

blueschist

Definition

 

 

foliated metamorphic rock

containing diagnostic materials that form under these conditions:

 

high temp/low pressure

occurs in subduction zones

Term

 

 

Brea

Definition

 

 

Spanish for 'tar'

 

La Brea tar pits are Pleistocene

 

-millions of plant & mammal specimens!

Term

 

 

 

body wave

Definition

 

 

Earthquake wave that travels through the earth's interior

Term

 

 

calaverite

Definition

 

 

a bronze-yellow mineral that is a souce of rare earth elements

 

 

AuTe2

 

 

Term

 

 

caldera

Definition

 

 

a bowl-shaped depression formed by the collapse of a volcanic cone following a major summit eruption

Term

 

 

carbonate

Definition

 

 

a mineral or rock containing C03

Term

 

 

Chert

Definition

 

 

a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of silica, usually the skeletons of radiolaria

Term

 

 

Carbonatite

Definition

 

 

unusual plutonic rock composed mainly of carbonate minerals

Term

 

 

chlorite

Definition

 

a green silicate mineral with sheet structure

formed during low-grade metamorphism

Term

 

 

chromite

Definition

 

 

mineral with chromium, iron, and oxygen

 

insert formula (empirical, chemical?)

Term

 

 

clastic

Definition

 

 

rock texture in which fragments are held together by a cementing mineral

Term

 

 

composite cone/stratovolcano

Definition
a steep volcanic cone built by both lava flows and pyroclastic eruptions
Term
coseismic
Definition
taking place during an earthquake
Term

 

 

cradle

Definition
large box mounted on rockers used to separate gold ore from sediment
Term
creep
Definition

the very slow, generally continuoius downslope movement of materials (soils, debris)

 

-gravity driven process

Term
crest
Definition

the imaginary line running along the highest elevation of a mountain range

 

ex. "The Great Divide"

 

 

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