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What is weathering?
The chemical and physical breakdown of rocks on or at the Earth’s surface into smaller fragments.
What is erosion?
The movement of weathered material from one place to another.
What is the most important factor in the weathering process?
Climate.
What are the two types of weathering?
Physical and chemical weathering.
Define physical weathering.
Occurs when a rock is cracked, split, or broken into smaller pieces called sediments, with no change in rock composition.
What is frost action?
The breakup of rocks caused by alternate freezing and thawing of water.
What is abrasion in weathering?
The physical wearing down of rocks as they rub or bounce against each other.
What is root wedging?
When large shrubs grow through cracks in boulders and may break the rock apart.
What occurs during chemical weathering?
A rock is broken down by chemical action, resulting in a change in the composition of the rock.
What is oxidation in weathering?
Occurs when oxygen unites chemically with minerals, forming substances like rust.
What does hydration mean in the context of weathering?
When water unites chemically with minerals, causing them to crumble into small particles of clay.
What is carbonation?
When carbon dioxide unites chemically with minerals, forming weak carbonic acid that can dissolve rocks like limestone.
Define soil.
The part of the weathered regolith in which rooted plants will grow, composed of rock particles, minerals, organic matter, and water.
What does the term 'soil profile' refer to?
The series of layers in soil, each with different textures, colors, and compositions.
What primary force drives mass movement?
Gravity.
What is the primary agent of erosion?
Running water.
Define a watershed.
The area drained by a stream and its tributaries.
What is a glacier?
A large, long-lasting mass of ice which forms on land and moves downslope due to gravity.
What does 'zone of accumulation' refer to in glaciology?
The upper part of a glacier where more snow falls than melts.
What are striations?
Long scratches and grooves on bedrock left by glacial movement.
What is a moraine?
A mass of glacial till left behind after a glacier has melted.
What is an erratic?
A large rock deposited by a glacier that is different from the rock beneath it.
What does 'dynamic equilibrium' mean in geology?
A delicate balance of multiple environmental factors existing in all landscapes, where a change in any one factor modifies the landscape.
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