Erosion and Landforms

Flashcards covering key concepts related to erosion processes, river and coastal landforms, and other geological terms.

What is hydraulic action in erosion processes?

The force of water hitting the riverbank or cliff, compressing air into cracks and causing material to break off.

Define abrasion (coration) in the context of rivers.

When rocks carried by the water scrape against the bed and banks, wearing them away.

What happens during attrition?

Rocks carried by the river or sea knock into each other, breaking into smaller, smoother pieces.

What is solution (corrosion) in erosional processes?

Acids in water dissolve certain types of rock like chalk or limestone.

Explain the transportation process of traction.

Large boulders are rolled along the riverbed.

What is saltation in river transportation?

Small pebbles are bounced along the riverbed in a hopping motion.

Define suspension in the context of river transport.

Fine, light material is carried along in the water.

What does solution refer to in transportation processes?

Minerals are dissolved in water and carried in flow.

What is deposition?

When a river or the sea loses energy and drops the material it was carrying.

What is a meander?

A bend in a river.

Define an oxbow lake.

A U-shaped lake formed when a meander is cut off.

What is a waterfall?

Where a river flows over a vertical drop.

What is a floodplain?

Flat land around a river that floods.

Define a delta.

Landform at the mouth of a river where sediment is deposited.

What is a headland?

A high point of land that juts out into the sea.

Define a bay.

A broad inlet of the sea where the land curves inward.

What is a cliff?

A steep rock face near the coast.

What is a wave-cut platform?

A flat area left behind after a cliff is eroded.

What is an arch in coastal landforms?

A hole eroded through a headland.

Define a stack.

A pillar of rock left when an arch collapses.

What is a stump?

A small rock left when a stack is eroded.

Define weathering.

The breaking down of rocks by weather (can be physical, chemical, or biological).

What is mass movement?

The downhill movement of rock and soil due to gravity (e.g., landslides).

What is longshore drift?

The movement of sediment along a coast by wave action.