ESCI 1020 Landforms – Exam 3 Study Guide Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering coastal landforms, aeolian processes, and glacial geomorphology for the Exam 3 study guide.

Brine

Seawater with a salinity concentration that is significantly higher than the average $35\,parts\,per\,thousand$.

Brackish

Seawater with a salinity concentration that is lower than the average oceanic salinity, often found in areas where freshwater meets the sea.

Thermocline

A layer of the ocean structure below the mixing zone where water temperature decreases rapidly with increasing depth.

Littoral zone

The coastal area and shallow offshore environment where land and ocean meet, extending from the highest water line during storms to a depth where waves no longer move sediment on the seafloor.

Spring tide

The tidal range with the greatest difference between high and low tides, occurring twice a month during the full moon and new moon.

Neap tide

The tidal range with the least difference between high and low tides, occurring when the Sun and Moon are at right angles to each other.

Waves of transition

Deep-water waves where the water molecules move in a circular orbit without significant forward displacement of the water itself.

Waves of translation

Shallow-water waves where both the energy of the wave and the water itself move forward as the wave breaks.

Wave refraction

The process by which waves bend as they approach the shoreline, often resulting in wave energy being concentrated on headlands.

Tombolo

A depositional landform where a ridge of sand or gravel connects an island to the mainland or to another island.

Aeolian

Geomorphic processes involving the erosion, transportation, and deposition of materials by the wind.

Deflation

A form of aeolian erosion where wind removes and lifts loose, non-cohesive particles, often leaving behind a desert pavement.

Abrasion

The process of wind erosion where sand-sized particles carried by the air 'sandblast' rock surfaces.

Yardangs

Streamlined, wind-sculpted ridges formed by the combined effects of abrasion and deflation.

Saltation

The transport of sediment (grains usually $0.2\,mm$ to $0.5\,mm$ in diameter) in which particles bounce along the surface in a series of hops.

Slip face

The steeply sloping leeward side of a sand dune, where sand accumulates and slides down at the angle of repose.

Alluvial fan

A fan-shaped deposit of sediment formed where a high-gradient stream leaves a narrow valley and enters an open plain, common in arid regions.

Alpine glaciers

Glaciers constrained by topographical features such as mountains; types include cirque, valley, and piedmont glaciers.

Ablation

The total loss of glacial ice through melting, calving of icebergs, and sublimation.

Firn

Granular, compacted snow that represents an intermediate stage in the transformation of snow into glacial ice.

Glacial drift

A general term for all glacial deposits, including both sorted (stratified drift) and unsorted (till) materials.

Till

Directly deposited, unsorted, and unstratified glacial sediment.

Horns

Pyramidal, sharp-pointed peaks resulting from the headward erosion of several cirque glaciers around a single mountain.

Aretês

Sharp, jagged knife-like ridges that form between two parallel glacial valleys or adjacent cirques.

Drumlins

Aerodynamically shaped, elongated hills of glacial till formed by the movement of continental ice sheets.

Pleistocene ice age

The most recent epoch of repeated glaciations within the Quaternary Period, beginning approximately $2.58\,million$ years ago.