Natural Hazards
The movement of rock, regolith, and soil downslope due to gravity.
Mass Wasting (Colluvium)
This measures the size of an earthquake based on the energy released at its source.
Magnitude
A thick mass of ice that forms over centuries by snow accumulation and compaction.
Glacier
The continuous movement of water through evaporation, precipitation, and runoff.
Hydrologic cycle
The name of the supercontinent that existed 200 million years ago.
Pangaea
This stable slope angle is determined by the material's properties in over-steepened
Angle of Repose
These waves are the fastest seismic waves and travel through solids, liquids, and gases.
Primary or P-Waves
These grooved impressions in bedrock are created by glacial movement.
Striations
The term for water-saturated sediment capable of freely transmitting groundwater.
Aquifer
This major plate boundary type is characterized by two tectonic plates moving apart.
Divergent Boundary
Heavy rainfall and loss of vegetation can enhance this type of natural hazard by reducing friction.
Landslides
The difference between this earthquake point within the Earth and the surface directly above it.
Hypocenter (focus) and epicenter
The difference in shape between valleys carved by rivers and those carved by glaciers.
V-shaped and U-shaped valleys
The steep slope angle of ocean waves breaking near the shore, eroding coastal landforms like sea stacks.
Wave Energy
The theory explaining the movement of Earth's lithospheric plates, supported by paleomagnetism.
Plate tectonic theory
During an earthquake, this process can cause water-saturated materials to behave like a fluid.
Liquefaction
This scale measures earthquake intensity based on observed damage.
Mercalli Intensity Scale
Four factors that control glacial erosion include ice thickness, speed, and these two additional factors.
Type of rock and meltwater presence
Ocean tides are primarily caused by this celestial body's gravitational pull.
The Moon
This term describes mountain-building events caused by convergent plate boundaries.
The amount of damage from a hurricane depends on factors like storm size, coastal population density, and this oceanographic feature near the shore.
Ocean bottom
Small earthquakes that sometimes precede major events are known by this name.
Foreshocks
This term describes unsorted glacial deposits, while alluvium refers to sediment deposited by running water.
Till
Coastal man-made structures that protect against erosion, including seawalls and groins, are known by this general term.
Hard Stabilization Techniques
Mapping the ocean floor using sonar and radar is part of this scientific field.
Bathymetry