Untitled Flashcards Set

What are the four forces of erosion?

Gravity, wind, water, glaciers.

What is weathering?

The breakdown of rock into smaller pieces.

What is erosion?

The breakdown and removal of material to other places.

What is deposition?

The breakdown of material such as sediments.

What are the four forces of mechanical weathering?

Changing pressure in the rock, changing weather, moving water, and abrasion such as plant roots and animals.

What is an example of chemical weathering?

Rust formation on iron.

What do environmental conditions and composition have in relation to weathering?

They have a direct relationship.

What is mass wasting?

The movement of rock and soil down.

What are four types of mass wasting (mass movements)?

Creep, slump, slides.

What is the cross-sectional profile of soil layers called?

Horizontal.

What is the Angle of Repose?

The steepest angle.

What does the term 'talus' describe?

Loose rock at the bottom of the cliff.

What is a drainage basin?

The area of land where surface water flows from higher elevation to lower elevation, such as a river, lake, or ocean.

What is a delta?

Fast moving water that drops sediment.

Why do caves form?

Water dissolves rocks like limestone.

What is the largest cave in the world?

Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.

What is the unique geological formation that allows cave formations in the SE part of Minnesota?

Karst.

What type of current causes sand on a beach to migrate?

Longshore current.

What are the two types of glaciers?

Valley glaciers and continental glaciers.

What caused a glacier to form?

Accumulation of snow over millions of years.

What are three types of erosional deposition features created by continental glaciers?

Kettle, moraine, drumlin.

What is 'till'?

Rocks left behind by glaciers.

What are glacial erratics?

Rocks randomly left behind by glaciers.

What were the four major glacial advances through Minnesota during the last ice age?

Wisconsin, Kansas, Illinois, Nebraska.

What was the name of the large glacial lake that formed from Big Stone Minnesota into Canada?

Lake Agassiz.

How much (%) of the world is covered by ice now?

10%.

What is the name of the river that drained the large lake north of Big Stone that carved the MN river valley?

Warren.