1
What is the main agent in chemical weathering
water
What term describes a huge hole left in the ground when an ice chunk left by a retreating glacier melts
kettle
What type of weathering occurs when a plants roots slowly thicken in a rock causing the rock to crack
physical weathering
What are the winding looping curves of rivers
meanders
A spire-like mass of dripstone on the floor of a cave is
stalagmite
What is the drainage divide in the Rocky Mountains west of the Mississippi drainage basin
Great Divide
What is the name of the time when 1/3 of the Earths land are was covered in glaciers
Ice Age
What is the stripping away of a thin area of topsoil from the surface of the land
sheet erosion
What is a large bowl shaped depression dug out by a valley glacier
cirque
A sheet of glacial ice that covers an immense area of flat land is a
continental glacier
What is the name for a vertical face of rock that forms when the sea removes rock from the base of a high ridge
sea cliff
Which type of weathering does not change the chemical composition of the minerals that compose a rock
physical weathering
What is the name of the triangular sediment deposit formed on a plain by a temporary mountain stream
alluvial fan
The natural processes that break down rocks collectively is called
weathering
Particles too heavy to be lifted by the wind are rolled in short bursts through the process of
creep
What type of weathering occurs when rainwater soaks into cracks in the rock and freezes splitting the rock
ice wedging
Which natural acid, found in rainwater and groundwater, promotes chemical weathering of rocks
carbonic acid
What is a fan shaped deposit left by a large river when it reaches the ocean
delta
After physical forces carry away rock fragments, the fragments are laid down in a new location. This is the process of
deposition
Large, icicle-like masses of calcium carbonate found in caves are called
dripstone
What are limestone formations that have become filled with various passageways and large caves
caverns
Whay type of dune is arch shaped with the open end of the arch pointing to the windward side
parabolic dune
What is a sudden slide of huge masses of rock or soil down a slope
landslide
After heavy rain, top soil can be stripped away from excess water traveling downhill. This excess water is called
runoff
The general term for the downslope movements of rock, soil, volcanic ash, snow or ice is a
mass wasting