Water & Weathering
The ability of water to dissolve minerals and chemically alter rocks.
Chemical Weathering
The movement of weathered rock and sediment by water, wind, ice, or gravity.
What is erosion?
A Resource which can be replenished.
What is a renewable resource
This is the name for long term weather patterns.
What is climate
This is the name for how humans modify land
What is land use
The process that occurs when rocks and sediment are ground away by friction or the impact of other rocks moved by wind, water, or ice.
What is physical weathering
The process in which transported sediments are dropped or settle out.
What is deposition?
Coal, oil, and natural gas are examples of this:
What is a non-renewable resource
This natural process traps infrared heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, but is intensified by human burning of fossil fuels.
What is the Greenhouse Effect?
This is the name for the process of converting areas covered by plants into a highly developed area
What is urbanization
This property measures how much empty space exists between sediment particles.
What is porosity?
This is where water flows faster in a river and causes more erosion.
What is the cutbank.
When Fossil Fuels are burned, they release this into the atmosphere
What is C02
While humans impact the atmosphere, natural long-term climate cycles (such as Ice Ages) are primarily caused by changes in Earth's what?
What is Earth's orbit and tilt?
This type of surface cover, often found in urban environments, prevents water from soaking into the ground and greatly increases surface runoff.
What is an impervious surface like concrete
The process by which water enters the ground through soil and rock.
What is infiltration?
This is where water flows slower in a river and where sediment is deposited.
What is a pointbar.
The conversion of natural habitats or agricultural land into urban areas results in increased runoff and is known as.
What is urbanization?
Climate change causes sea levels to rise due to this happening
What is the melting of glaciers?
This underground boundary marks the top of the zone of saturation where the soil and rock are completely filled with water.
What is the water table
This property describes how easily water moves through a material.
What is permeability?
This landform forms where a river slows down and deposits sediment at its mouth.
What is a delta
While this resource is considered renewable, over-pumping of coastal aquifers can lead to this specific environmental issue
What is saltwater intrusion
As global temperatures rise and polar ice melts, the Earth’s surface reflects less sunlight. This concept of reflectivity is known as.
What is albedo?
This is the underground layer of rock or sediment that holds groundwater.
What is an aquifer?