physical geography unit 4 exam review practice questions

which statement best defines a watershed (drainage basin)

The land area that contributes water to a stream network, bounded by divides

Which factor set most strongly increases chemical weathering rates?

Warm, wet climate; abundant joints; shaded/moist slopes

A continental divide separates:

Watersheds that ultimately drain to different oceans or inland basins

Exfoliation is most common where and why?

In high-silica intrusive rocks where pressure release creates sheet-like joints

Sheetflow is a thin, overland film of water that can concentrate into rills and then channels downslope

true

Frost wedging occurs because water contracts by ~9% upon freezing

False

A debris flow is a fast, water-rich mixture of sediments of many sizes; a mudflow is finer-grained and more fluid.

True

Frost wedging

Freeze–thaw expansion pries open cracks; common in cold, wet climates

Hydrolysis

Reaction with water that alters mineral composition, promoting granular disintegration

Oxidation

Oxygen combines with metals (e.g., Fe) forming oxides; weakens minerals

Salt-crystal growth

Expansion of saline crystals in pores with heating/cooling in arid coasts/deserts

Radial

Streams flow off a central high (dome/volcano) in all directions

Rectangular

Faulted/fractured bedrock guides right-angle channels

Trellis

Dipping/folded strata with differential erosion (main trunk with short, parallel tributaries)

Parallel

Uniform steep slopes with elongated sub-basins and straighter tributaries

Creep

Millimeter-to-centimeter per year downslope soil migration

Slide (rotational)

Back tilted blocks move along a curved failure surface

Slide (translational)

Block moves along a planar surface roughly parallel to slope

Fall

Detachment and free fall of rock, building talus

Briefly describe the dynamic equilibrium model for landscapes and give one example of a destabilizing event that shifts a slope to a new state (2–3 sentences).

the dynamic equilibrium  model for landscapes describes the balance between weathering and erosion, and how the landscape has to readjust itself due to those forces. One example of a destabilizing  event that shifts a slope to a new state Is an earthquake.

List the factors that influence weathering processes, and describe how at least one influences weathering.

The factors the influence the weathering processes are the rock composition, weather, surface water, vegetation, the climate, and slope orientation. The rock composition can affect weathering by it being easily breakable, causing it to break down more often, therefore changing the landscape. This can happen through severe weather such as a tornado, or earthquake, or even a storm.