Weathering
Rocks broken down but composition remains the same
What is mechanical/physical weathering?
How erosion is different from weathering
What is TRANSPORT or MOVEMENT? (vs. just breaking rock down)
Law that states that sediments deposit in horizontal layers
Law of Original Horizontality
An example of varve counts
What is tree rings or seasonal flooding deposits?
Eastern most VA province
What is Coastal Plain?
When roots of plants split rocks as they grow.
What is biological weathering?
The agents of erosion (name 4)
What are ice, water, wind, and gravity?
Principle that states that the oldest rock layer is on the bottom
Law of Superposition
Time required for half of the atoms of a radioactive isotope to decay
What is half-life?
Province that means "foot of the mountain"
What is Piedmont?
When water freezes and expands, creating cracks in rocks
Type of mass movement in which a block of land tilts and moves downhill, curving into the slope
What is slump?
Law that states that an intrusion or fault is younger than the layers they cut-through
Law of Cross-Cutting Relationships
The original radioactive isotope ... AND the resulting radiogenic isotype are called
What are parent and daughter isotopes?
Province that contains part of the Appalachian Mountain Range
Chemical reaction of oxygen with other compounds, producing new compounds, like rust.
What is oxidation?
Where erosion occurs along meandering rivers
What is the outside of a curve?
Fossils of organisms that are easily recognized, widespread, and only lived for short periods of time
What are index fossils?
Type of radioactive decay used to date once-living things, less than 50,000 years old
What is Carbon-14?
What is Appalachian Plateau?
Type of rock easily weathered through carbonation when carbonic acid dissolves calcium carbonate.
What is limestone?
Fan-shaped deposits of water-transported material on land
What are alluvial fans?
Type of unconformity where the original horizontal layers were eroded away and new horizontal layers were deposited on top. Everything is still horizontal.
What is a disconformity?
Type of radioactive decay most commonly used for rocks
What is Potassium - Argon?
VA Province that has a lot of karst topography from limestone eroding away
What is Valley and Ridge?