Surface Water Processes, Mass Wasting, Minerals, and Rocks

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering surface water processes, mass wasting, mineral chemistry, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks based on lecture notes.

Mass Wasting

The downslope movement of rock, regolith, and soil under the direct influence of gravity, controlled primarily by gravity, water content, and slope oversteepening.

Slump

A type of mass wasting involving the downward slipping of a mass of rock or unconsolidated material moving as a single unit along a curved surface.

Rockslide

A rapid mass wasting movement in which blocks of bedrock break loose and slide down a steep slope.

Debris Flow

A rapid mass wasting flow consisting of soil and regolith saturated with a large amount of water, common in steep areas subject to wildfire and torrential rains.

Earthflow

A slow to moderate mass wasting movement of water-saturated, clay-rich soil down a hillside.

Water Cycle

The continuous circulation of water through Earth's spheres, involving solar radiation, evaporation, transpiration, precipitation, percolation, stream flow, and groundwater flow.

Stream Gradient

The steepness or vertical drop of a stream channel over a specified distance, which generally decreases downstream.

Stream Discharge

The volume of water flowing past a given point in a stream channel per unit of time, which generally increases downstream.

Ultimate Base Level

The lowest elevation to which a stream can erode its channel, which corresponds to sea level.

Temporary Base Level

A local or intermediate level, such as a lake, resistant rock layer, or dam, that temporarily restricts a stream's downward erosion.

Competence

A measure of the maximum particle size a stream is capable of transporting, determined directly by stream velocity.

Capacity

The maximum total load of solid particles a stream can transport per unit of time, determined directly by stream discharge.

Dissolved Load

The portion of a stream's sediment load carried in solution from groundwater seepage and chemical weathering.

Suspended Load

Fine sediment particles, such as silt and clay, carried within the body of flowing stream water.

Bed Load (Traction Load)

Coarser sediment particles, such as sand, gravel, and boulders, transported along the bottom of a stream channel by rolling, sliding, or saltation.

Point Bar

A crescent-shaped deposit of sand and gravel formed on the inside loop of a stream bend where water velocity decreases.

Cut Bank

A steep bank or cliff created by active erosion on the outside bend of a stream channel where water velocity is highest.

Oxbow Lake

A abandoned meander loop isolated from the main stream channel, forming a U-shaped body of standing water plugged with silt and clay.

Natural Levee

An elevated ridge of coarse sediment deposited parallel to a stream channel during flood events.

Back Swamp

A poorly drained marshy area on a floodplain located behind a natural levee.

Yazoo Tributary

A tributary stream that flows parallel to a main river for a long distance because natural levees block it from entering the main channel.

Delta

An accumulation of sediment deposited where a stream enters a standing body of water, such as an ocean or lake, causing water velocity to drop.

Drainage Basin

The complete geographical land area that collects and drains water into a specific stream or river system.

Divide

A topographical ridge or high ground that separates one drainage basin from another.

Trellis Drainage Pattern

A stream drainage system where tributary streams join main streams nearly at right angles, typically forming in areas with alternating ridges of resistant rock and valleys of softer rock.

Mineral

A naturally occurring, inorganic solid characterized by an ordered internal crystalline structure and a definite chemical composition.

Rock

A naturally occurring solid aggregate composed of one or more minerals or mineraloid materials.

Ionic Bonding

A chemical bond formed by the donation or transfer of valence electrons between atoms, as in sodium chloride ($NaCl$).

Covalent Bonding

A chemical bond formed by the sharing of one or more pairs of valence electrons between atoms.

Most Common Crustal Elements

The eight most abundant elements in Earth's crust by weight percentage: Oxygen ($46.6\%$), Silicon ($27.7\%$), Iron ($8.1\%$), Aluminum ($5\%$), Calcium ($3.6\%$), Sodium ($2.8\%$), Potassium ($2.6\%$), and Magnesium ($2.1\%$).

Igneous Rock

Rock formed through the cooling, crystallization, and solidification of molten rock (magma or lava).

Plutonic (Intrusive) Igneous Rock

An igneous rock formed beneath the Earth's surface through the slow cooling and crystallization of magma deep underground.

Volcanic (Extrusive) Igneous Rock

An igneous rock formed on the Earth's surface through the rapid cooling and solidification of lava.

Phaneritic (Coarse-Grained) Texture

An igneous rock texture featuring visible, interlocked crystals formed by slow cooling deep underground (e.g., Granite).

Aphanitic (Fine-Grained) Texture

An igneous rock texture characterized by microscopic mineral crystals formed by rapid cooling at or near Earth's surface (e.g., Basalt).

Porphyritic Texture

An igneous rock texture featuring large crystals (phenocrysts) set in a fine-grained groundmass, caused by two distinct stages of cooling.

Glassy Texture

An igneous rock texture created by extremely rapid cooling of lava, which prevents ions from uniting into a crystalline structure (e.g., Obsidian).

Frothy Texture

An igneous rock texture formed when escaping gas bubbles leave behind a vesicular, spongy structure in viscous cooling lava (e.g., Pumice).

Mechanical Weathering

The physical fragmentation of rock into smaller pieces without altering its chemical composition.

Frost Wedging

A mechanical weathering process where water enters rock fractures, freezes, expands, and forces the rock apart.

Unloading

A mechanical weathering process in which the erosion of overlying rock reduces pressure, causing underlying rock to expand and fracture into slabs.

Chemical Weathering

The decomposition of rock caused by chemical reactions that alter mineral structures and create new chemical compounds.

Oxidation

A chemical weathering reaction in which oxygen combines with iron-bearing minerals in rock to produce iron oxides.

Dissolution

A chemical weathering process in which minerals completely dissolve into acidic or aqueous solution.

Lithification

The process of transforming unconsolidated sediments into solid sedimentary rock through compaction and cementation.

Detrital Sedimentary Rock

Sedimentary rock composed of solid mineral grains and rock fragments produced by mechanical weathering.

Biochemical / Bioclastic Sedimentary Rock

Sedimentary rock formed from organic debris, plant material, or shell fragments produced by biological activity.

Chemical Sedimentary Rock

Sedimentary rock formed from dissolved material that precipitates directly out of solution or is left behind after evaporation.

Conglomerate

A coarse-grained detrital sedimentary rock consisting of rounded gravel-sized fragments cemented together.

Breccia

A coarse-grained detrital sedimentary rock composed of angular, unsorted rock fragments cemented together.

Sandstone

A detrital sedimentary rock formed by the compaction and cementation of sand-sized mineral particles.

Shale

A fine-grained detrital sedimentary rock formed by the consolidation of clay and silt-sized mud particles.

Coquina

A biochemical sedimentary rock composed of coarse, loosely cemented shell debris.

Chalk

A soft, porous biochemical sedimentary rock made of microscopic calcareous skeletons of marine organisms.

Evaporite

A chemical sedimentary rock formed when mineral salts precipitate out of solution as water evaporates (e.g., Halite, Gypsum).

Metamorphic Rock

Rock formed from a pre-existing parent rock (substrate) altered by extreme heat, high pressure, and chemically active fluids without melting completely.

Contact Metamorphism

Metamorphism driven primarily by high temperature when rock is intruded by or directly touches a body of molten magma.

Regional Metamorphism

Large-scale metamorphism driven by intense directional pressure and heat during tectonic plate convergence and mountain-building events.

Foliation

A planar arrangement of textural features or mineral grains in metamorphic rocks caused by differential stress.

Slate

A low-grade, fine-grained foliated metamorphic rock formed from the metamorphism of a shale substrate.

Schist

A medium-grade foliated metamorphic rock characterized by visible, coarse platy mineral flakes.

Gneiss

A high-grade foliated metamorphic rock characterized by distinct alternating bands of light and dark minerals.

Quartzite

A hard, nonfoliated metamorphic rock formed from the metamorphism of quartz sandstone ($SiO_2$).

Marble

A nonfoliated metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized calcite ($CaCO_3$), formed from the metamorphism of limestone or dolostone.