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Unit 7 & 8
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Uniformitarianism | A principle that geologic processes that occurred in the past can be explained by current geologic processes. |
| Fossil | The trace or remains of an organism that lived long ago, most commonly preserved in sedimentary rock. |
| Trace Fossil | A fossilized structure, such as a footprint or a coprolite, that formed in sedimentary rock by animal activity on or within soft sediments. |
| Climate | The weather conditions in area over a long period of time. |
| Ice Core | A long cylinder of ice obtained from drilling through ice caps or ice sheets; used to study past climates. |
| Relative Dating | Any method of determining whether an event or object is older or younger than other events or objects. |
| Superposition | A principle that states that younger rocks lie above older rocks if the layers have not been disturbed. |
| Unconformity | A break in the geologic record created when rock layers are eroded or when sediment is not deposited for a long period of time. |
| Geologic Column | An ordered arrangement of rock layers that is based on the relative ages of the rocks and in which the oldest rocks are at the bottom. |
| Absolute Dating | Any method of measuring the age of an event or object in years. |
| Radioactive Decay | The process in which a radioactive isotope tends to break down into a stable isotope of the same element or another element. |
| Half-Life | The time required for half of a sample of a radioactive isotope to break down by radioactive decay to form a daughter isotope. |
| Radiometric Dating | A method of determining the absolute age of an object by comparing the relative percentages of a radioactive parent isotope and a stable daughter isotope. |
| Weathering | The natural process by which atmospsheric and enviromental agents, such as wind, rain, and tempature changes, disintegrate and decompose rocks. |
| Physical Weathering | The mechanical breakdown of rocks into smaller pieces that is caused by natural processes and that does not change the chemical composition of the rock materials. |
| Abrasion | The process by which rock is reduced in size bt scraping action of other rocks driven by water, wind, and gravity. |
| Chemical | The chemical breakdown and decomposition of rocks by natural processes in the environment. |
| Oxidation | A chemical reactionin which a material combines with oxygen to form new material; in geology, oxydation is a form of chemical weathering. |
| Acid Precipitation | Precipitation, such as rain, sleet, or snow, that contains a high concentration of acids, often because of the pollution of the atmosphere. |
| Erosion | The process by which wind, water, ice, or gravity transports soil and sediment from one location to another. |
| Deposition | The process in which material is laid down. |
| Floodplain | An area along a river that forms from sediments deposited when the river overflows its banks. |
| Delta | A mass of material deposited in a triangular or fan shape at the mouth of a river or stream. |
| Alluvial Fan | A fan-shaped mass of rock material deposited by a stream when the slope of the land decreases sharply. |
| Groundwater | The water that is beneath Earth's surface. |
| Shoreline | The boundary between land and a body of water. |
| Beach | An area of the shoreline that is made up of deposited sediment. |
| Sandbar | A low ridge of sand deposited along the shore of a lake or sea. |
| Barrier Island | A long ridge of sand or narrow island that lies parallel to the shore. |
| Dune | A mound of wind-deposited sand that moves as a result of the action of wind. |
| Loess | Fine-grained sediments of quartz, feldspar, hornblende, mica, and clay deposited by the wind. |
| Glacier | A large mass of ice that exists year-round and moves over land. |
| Glacial Drift | The rock material carried and deposited by glaciers. |
| Creep | The slow downhill movement of weathered rock material. |
| Rockfall | The rapid mass movement of rock down a steep slope or cliff. |
| Landslide | The sudden movement of rock and soil down a slope. |
| Mudflow | The flow of a mass of mud or rock and soil mixed with a large amount of water. |
| Mountain | An area of significantly increased elevation on Earth's surface, usually rising to a summit. |
| Lake | A filled or partially filled basin of fresh or salt water surrounded by land. |
| River | A large natural stream ofwater that flows across land surface within a channel. |
| Coastline | A location where land and ocean surface meet. |
Created by:
Lailie Bialock
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