Topography
What is the definition of Topography?
The shape of the land around us.
What are landforms?
Features around the land.
What is surveying?
How mapmakers determine distances and elevation by using tools and the principles of geometry.
What is weathering?
The breaking down of rock and other substances on Earth's surface
What is erosion?
The removal of rock particles by wind, water, ice, or gravity.
What are the three words used to describe topography?
Elevation, Relief, and Landforms
What is a river?
A natural stream of water that flows into a different body of water.
What is aerial photography (in regards to mapmaking)?
When photographs are taken with cameras mounted in airplanes, then pieced together to form a much larger image.
What is chemical weathering? Give an example.
When rock is broken down through chemical changes.
Ex: acid rain, carbonic acid, living organisms (plant roots), oxygen
What is deposition?
the laying down and settling of eroded material
What is elevation?
The heigh of a point above sea level
What is a sinkhole?
A hole in the ground caused by water erosion with no natural external drainage.
What is GPS and what does it do?
Global Positioning System: a navigational system that uses satellite signals to determine the location of a radio receiver on Earth
What is mechanical weathering? Give an example.
When rock is broken down into smaller pieces by physical processes.
Ex: abrasion, freezing and thawing, animal actions (burrowing), plant growth
What is plucking?
when a glacier flows over the land and picks up rocks and large boulders, dragging them across the land, causing abrasions in the bedrock.
What is relief?
The difference in elevation between the highest and lowest points of an area
What is an alluvial fan?
A wide sloping deposit of sediment formed where a stream leaves a mountain range.
What is a topographic map?
A map that shows the surface features of an area as if seen from above. Gives information about elevation, relief, and slope.
What are the two factors that affect how fast weathering occurs?
Climate and type of rock
What are the three soil horizons?
Topsoil, Subsoil, "C" Horizon
What is the difference between elevation and relief?
Elevation starts at sea level; Relief starts at the lowest point of an area.
Elevation is always bigger than relief.
What are the eight landforms found in Florida?
coastline, dune, river, delta, lake, aquifer, cavern, and sinkhole
What do contour lines do?
Connect points of equal elevation on a topographic map.
In what kind of climate does weathering occur the fastest?
Wet and warm climates, subtropical, tropical, etc.
What is the difference between a stalactite and a stalagmite?
A stalactite hangs from the roof of a caverns. A stalagmite forms on the floor of the cavern.
Both come from deposition of minerals from groundwater into caverns.