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Study guide for GEOL 454 Final Exam

KARSTRequirements for karst topography:

Carbonates (limestone, dolomite)

GroundwaterGroundwater terms you should understand

zone of aeration (vadose zone)capillary fringe

water table

phreatic zonecone of depression

aquifer (confined and unconfined)/aquitard

artesian flow

Dissolution controlsPermeability

PorosityBeddingJoints

Relief

Climate (increased availability of water promotes karstification)Vegetation

Karst features

Springs (exsurgent vs resurgent)

TravertineDolines (sinks, sinkholes)

Uvalas (coalesced dolines)

Polje (even bigger than uvala)Valleys (blind, pocket, and dry)

Allogenic valley

Cockpit/tower topography (tropical karst)Caves

Controls on cave growth, i.e., flow rate, etc

Sample question: Typically, runoff in an individual portion of a karst terrain isaccomplished through a relatively large passage, as opposed to many small pathways.

Explain the process by which a single passage is formed and give an example where

multiple passages (i.e., mazes) might be favored.

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EOLIAN

Conditions that promote relative effectiveness of eolian processesSparse vegetation; unconsolidated sediment; wind

Resistance (vegetation, clast size, cement)

vs Energy (wind direction, velocity, turbulence)

Desert pavementwinnowing

Entrainment threshold (function of wind velocity, grain size, roughness, packing,moisture/cohesion)

Suspension vs saltation vs surface creep

Abrasioncontrolled by wind velocity and particle abundance in air column

landforms

Erosional

abrasional: ventifacts, yardangdeflational: deflation hollows, blowouts, pans

Depositionalripples, dunes, draa, loessDune types

transverse, parabolic, barchan, longitudinal, star, coppice

Sample question: What climatic/physical conditions are necessary to make wind an

effective agent of erosion (e.g., climate, sediment characteristics, etc)?

GLACIALGlaciology

Snow to ice metamorphosis

Firn, firn lineGlacial mechanics

Sliding/creep

FlowSurging glaciers

Regelation (pressure at upstream side of obstruction melts ice, re-freezes

on downstream side where pressure is reduced)Stratification of ice; foliation

Crevasses (e.g., at localized acceleration, base topography variation)

Zone of accumulation vs zone of ablationmain processes in each zone

balance controls advance or recession rate

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Types of glaciers

Cirque glaciers, valley glaciers, piedmont glaciers, ice caps, ice sheetsActive vs passive glaciers

Temperate glaciers vs cold or polar glaciers

Glacial geomorphology

ErosionAbrasion

striations, grooves, crescentic marksPlucking/quarrying

roche moutonee

Cirquesformation process, beginning with nivation

Tarns, paternoster lakes

Troughs, fjords

Cols, artes, hornsNunataks

Depositional (drift)Non-stratified drifttill (basal, lodgement, ablation, moraine)

Moraines

end, terminal, recessional, lateral, medial, groundDrumlins

Stratified drift (fluvio-glacial, or marine/lacustrine influence)

proglacial outwash plain, valley train, sandur

kame and kame terraceesker

kettle hole lake

Jokulhlaups (glacial outburst flood)as opposed to a moraine dam failure flood

Great Ocean Conveyor Belt

(inter-relation of global climate/circulation patterns and glaciation)possible explanation of Younger Dryas period

Sample question: What is meant by temperate (warm-based) and polar (cold-base)

glaciers? Under what conditions would you be likely to find each? What differenceswould you expect in the nature of erosion, transport, and deposition done by each type of

glacier?

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PERIGLACIAL

PermafrostActive layer; permafrost table; level of zero annual amplitude

Talik

Mean annual surface temperature and geothermal heat control depth of permafrost

Surface water inhibits permafrost growthContinuous vs discontinuous vs sporadic permafrost

Difficulty of construction in permafrost regionsFrost action (freeze/thaw)

Frost wedging

Frost heavingCreep

Frost push and frost pull (sorting by size)

Needle ice (piprake)

Frost crackingMass movement: soliflucation and frost creep

Solifluction lobesRock glaciers (ice cored vs ice cemented)steep face; flow lobes

Ice wedges/ice wedge polygons

Pingos (open- and closed-system)Patterned ground

sorted by grain size (usually fine in middle, coarse at edges)

polygons, circles, stripes

poorly understood; may be caused by convection of less dense deep material, withdensity differences caused by freeze-thaw processes

Sample question: How could you recognize periglacial areas on a map or air photo?

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COASTAL

WavesOrbital motion

Wave refraction

Shoaling

Surf zone (where waves break)Waves of translation

TsunamisStorm surge

Tides

spring and neaptidal bores

Rip currents

Longshore currents

Beach (littoral zone)beach profile

bermbeach facelongshore bars and troughs

Beach cusps, rhythmic topography, and capes

LandformsErosional

wavecut platform

marine terrace (abandoned wavecut platform)

stacks, arches, cavesDepositional

spits and baymouth bars

tombolobarrier islands

tidal inlets, lagoons

Engineering featuresSeawall; breakwater; groin; jetty

Reefs

Climatic indicators

Fringing; barrier; atollKey/cay

Sample question: How are marine terraces formed? What mechanisms affect theirelevation with respect to sea level?

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VOLCANIC

Basalt plateauscolumnar jointing

Volcanic neck

Tephra deposits

tephrachronologyLahar: volcanic debris flow containing pyroclastic material and water (often from melting

glaciers on the volcano)Nuee ardente: rapid, turbulent cloud of gas and ash; sometimes burning

Jokulhlaup: glacial outburst flood; can be caused by volcanic heating of glacier

Sample question: What is tephrachronology? Describe a possible application of it.

TECTONICFault scarp

triangular facets; sag ponds

Monoclinal scarpLineament

Shutter ridges

Fault block mountain

Rift valleyHorst/graben

Sample question: What climatic conditions favor the preservation of tectonic geomorphicfeatures?

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ARID, SEMIARID & SAVANNA REGIONS

Causes of ariditysubtropical anticyclonic belts

middle latitudes distance from ocean, rain shadow, western side of continents

Savanna

SemiaridArid landforms

playareg/desert pavement

dunes

internal drainagepiedmont, alluvial fans and bajadas, pediment

Semiardi landforms

steppes/prairies/pampas/veld grass cover

rivers graded externallyplains or low, dissected plateaus

pediments/alluvial fansSavanna landformsinselbergs double surface of leveling

Sample question: Explain the processes operating in the two surfaces of the doublesurface of leveling, and how these influence the height to which inselbergs protrude

above the surrounding plain.