GEOL 1403 Beach Blinn Final
Exam
wave base - -The depth below the surface where the circular orbits become
so small that movement is negligible. It is equal to one-half the wavelength
-what happens when waves "feel bottom" - -when waves feel bottom, their
speed and wavelength decreases while their height and steepness increases
-How does sand move on the beach? - -Perpendicular to shoreline (toward
and away), swash and backwash, Which ever dominates determines whether
sand is deposited or eroded from the berm
-wave refraction - -the bending of waves so that they move nearly parallel
to the shoreline
-what causes wave refraction - -changes in wave velocity due to rock
density differences
-What are typical features of an emergent coastline? - -High cliffs, steep
slopes, exposed bedrock
-What are features typical of a submergent coastline? - -Lagoons, bays,
tidal flats
-What do barrier islands represent? - -The building of sediment in which
wave and tidal action move parallel to the mainland coast
-What is the cause for most modern estuaries? - -As glaciers receded and
melted, sea levels rose and inundated low-lying river valleys
-What is the cause of Earth's tides? - -The moon, as the moons gravity pulls
the waves this creates high tide and low tide
-subtidal zone - -area where the seabed is below the lowest tid
-supertidal zone - -top of highest tide to the landward edge of coast
-interridal zone - -the area of shoreline between low and high tides
-fetch - -area in which ocean waves are generated by the wind
-littoral zone - -a shallow zone in a freshwater habitat where light reaches
the bottom and nurtures plants
, -How can you recognize desert sediments and environments in the rock
record? - -Cross-bedding, ripple marks, and lack of fossils, iron oxide
-Describe the primary wind-sourced deposits? - -Sand dunes, Loess' and
dust
-What are the typical dune shapes? Why their particular shape? - --
Crescentic, linear, star, dome, and parabolic
-Desert and steppe lands cover about what percentage of Earth's land area?
- -30%
-Saltation - -transportation of sediment through a series of leaps or bounces
-What will effectively limit further deflation in a given area? - -Desert
Pavement
-What determines the angle of repose for dry sand? - -the direction in which
the wind is blowing
-A dune migrates in the direction of inclination of the________? - -slip face
-Why are glacial valleys u-shaped? - -Usually glaciers will start where a river
was cutting a V-shaped valley, and the glaciers then erode the sides of the
valley into a U-shaped valley.
-Cirque - -a half-open steep-sided hollow at the head of a valley or on a
mountainside, formed by glacial erosion. circular
-Moraine - -a mass of rocks and sediment carried down and deposited by a
glacier, typically as ridges at its edges or extremity.
-terminal moraine - -a moraine deposited at the point of furthest advance of
a glacier or ice sheet.
-medial moraine - -A moraine formed when two advancing valley glaciers
come together to form a single ice stream, forms in the middle of the glacier
-lateral moraine - -moraine that forms along the side of a glacier
-What is important about a terminal moraine? - -Helps show how fast and
where certain glaciers flowed
-What is an outwash plain? - -A plain formed of glacial sediment deposited
by meltwater outwash at the terminus of a glacier.
, -How/why does a outwash plain form? - -from the flow of meltwater in front
of or beneath glacier ice
-What is glacial till? - -material deposited by a glacier & left behind.
-What are fiords? - -steep, narrow, "drowned" glacial valleys
-How has the North American continental glaciation affected drainage
patterns across the continent? - -Created dams which has caused water to
move in different directions
-What drives the alternating cold and warm cycles - -change in earth's orbit
around the sun
-Plucking - -The process by which a glacier picks up rocks as it flows over
the land
-Abrasion - -The grinding away of rock by other rock particles carried in
water, ice, or wind
-till - -An unsorted and unstratified accumulation of glacial sediment,
deposited directly by glacier ice. made up of CLAY SAND and BOULDERS
-Drumlins - -a long, canoe shaped hill made of till and shaped by an
advancing glacier
-Kettle lakes are caused by - -melted ice blocks that were left after the
glacier retreated
-Eskers - -long, winding ridges of sediment deposited by meltwater streams
that flowed in tunnels within, or under glaciers
-outwash plain - -looks like alluvial fan
-glacial erratic - -An ice-transported boulder that was not derived from the
bedrock near its present site.
-alpine glacier - -shorter, thinner, every continent except australia, melts
faster, moves sediment
-ice sheets - -huge slabs of ice and snow that cover large areas of land for
thousands of years
-how often is there a cold period - -every 100,000 years
Exam
wave base - -The depth below the surface where the circular orbits become
so small that movement is negligible. It is equal to one-half the wavelength
-what happens when waves "feel bottom" - -when waves feel bottom, their
speed and wavelength decreases while their height and steepness increases
-How does sand move on the beach? - -Perpendicular to shoreline (toward
and away), swash and backwash, Which ever dominates determines whether
sand is deposited or eroded from the berm
-wave refraction - -the bending of waves so that they move nearly parallel
to the shoreline
-what causes wave refraction - -changes in wave velocity due to rock
density differences
-What are typical features of an emergent coastline? - -High cliffs, steep
slopes, exposed bedrock
-What are features typical of a submergent coastline? - -Lagoons, bays,
tidal flats
-What do barrier islands represent? - -The building of sediment in which
wave and tidal action move parallel to the mainland coast
-What is the cause for most modern estuaries? - -As glaciers receded and
melted, sea levels rose and inundated low-lying river valleys
-What is the cause of Earth's tides? - -The moon, as the moons gravity pulls
the waves this creates high tide and low tide
-subtidal zone - -area where the seabed is below the lowest tid
-supertidal zone - -top of highest tide to the landward edge of coast
-interridal zone - -the area of shoreline between low and high tides
-fetch - -area in which ocean waves are generated by the wind
-littoral zone - -a shallow zone in a freshwater habitat where light reaches
the bottom and nurtures plants
, -How can you recognize desert sediments and environments in the rock
record? - -Cross-bedding, ripple marks, and lack of fossils, iron oxide
-Describe the primary wind-sourced deposits? - -Sand dunes, Loess' and
dust
-What are the typical dune shapes? Why their particular shape? - --
Crescentic, linear, star, dome, and parabolic
-Desert and steppe lands cover about what percentage of Earth's land area?
- -30%
-Saltation - -transportation of sediment through a series of leaps or bounces
-What will effectively limit further deflation in a given area? - -Desert
Pavement
-What determines the angle of repose for dry sand? - -the direction in which
the wind is blowing
-A dune migrates in the direction of inclination of the________? - -slip face
-Why are glacial valleys u-shaped? - -Usually glaciers will start where a river
was cutting a V-shaped valley, and the glaciers then erode the sides of the
valley into a U-shaped valley.
-Cirque - -a half-open steep-sided hollow at the head of a valley or on a
mountainside, formed by glacial erosion. circular
-Moraine - -a mass of rocks and sediment carried down and deposited by a
glacier, typically as ridges at its edges or extremity.
-terminal moraine - -a moraine deposited at the point of furthest advance of
a glacier or ice sheet.
-medial moraine - -A moraine formed when two advancing valley glaciers
come together to form a single ice stream, forms in the middle of the glacier
-lateral moraine - -moraine that forms along the side of a glacier
-What is important about a terminal moraine? - -Helps show how fast and
where certain glaciers flowed
-What is an outwash plain? - -A plain formed of glacial sediment deposited
by meltwater outwash at the terminus of a glacier.
, -How/why does a outwash plain form? - -from the flow of meltwater in front
of or beneath glacier ice
-What is glacial till? - -material deposited by a glacier & left behind.
-What are fiords? - -steep, narrow, "drowned" glacial valleys
-How has the North American continental glaciation affected drainage
patterns across the continent? - -Created dams which has caused water to
move in different directions
-What drives the alternating cold and warm cycles - -change in earth's orbit
around the sun
-Plucking - -The process by which a glacier picks up rocks as it flows over
the land
-Abrasion - -The grinding away of rock by other rock particles carried in
water, ice, or wind
-till - -An unsorted and unstratified accumulation of glacial sediment,
deposited directly by glacier ice. made up of CLAY SAND and BOULDERS
-Drumlins - -a long, canoe shaped hill made of till and shaped by an
advancing glacier
-Kettle lakes are caused by - -melted ice blocks that were left after the
glacier retreated
-Eskers - -long, winding ridges of sediment deposited by meltwater streams
that flowed in tunnels within, or under glaciers
-outwash plain - -looks like alluvial fan
-glacial erratic - -An ice-transported boulder that was not derived from the
bedrock near its present site.
-alpine glacier - -shorter, thinner, every continent except australia, melts
faster, moves sediment
-ice sheets - -huge slabs of ice and snow that cover large areas of land for
thousands of years
-how often is there a cold period - -every 100,000 years
