| A | B |
|---|
| Chemical Weathering | Process by which rocks and minerals undergo changes in their composition due to chemical reactions with agents such as acids, water, oxygen, and carbon dioxide |
| Erosion | Movement of weathered materials from one location to another by agents such as water, wind, glaciers, and gravity |
| Exfoliation | Mechanical weathering process in which outer rock layers are stripped away, often resulting in dome-shaped formations |
| Frost Wedging | Mechanical weathering process that occurs when water repeatedly freezes and thaws in the cracks of rocks, often resulting in rocks splitting |
| hydrolosis | Chemical reaction of water with other substances |
| Mechanical Weathering | Process that breaks down rocks and minerals into smaller pieces but does not involve any change in their composition |
| Oxidation | Chemical reaction of oxygen with other substances |
| Weathering | Chemical or mechanical process that breaks down and changes rocks on or near Earth's surface and whose rate is influenced by factors such as precipitation and temperature |
| Deposition | Occurs when sediments are laid down on the ground or sink to the bottom of a body of water; final stage of the erosional process in which the movement of transported materials slows and they are dropped in another location |
| Gully Erosion | Erosion that occurs when a rill channel widens and deepens |
| Rill Erosion | Erosion in which water running down the side of a slope carves a small stream channel |
| Residual Soil | Soil located above its parent bedrock |
| Soil | Loose covering of weathered rock and decayed organic matter overlying Earth's bedrock that is characterized by texture, fertility, and color and whose composition is determined by its parent rock and environmental conditions |
| Soil Horizon | A distinct layer within a soil profile |
| Soil Profile | Vertical sequence of soil layers, containing horizon A (topsoil), horizon B (subsoil), and horizon C (weathered parent material) |
| Transported Soil | Soil that has been moved away from its parent material by water, wind, or glacier |
| Avlanche | Landslide that occurs in a mountainous area when snow falls on an icy crust, becomes heavy, slips off, and slides swiftly down a mountainside |
| Creep | Slow, steady downhill movement of loose weathered Earth materials, especially soils, causing objects on a slope to tilt |
| Landslide | Rapid downslope movement of a mass of loose soil, rock, or debris that has separated from the bedrock; can be triggered by an earthquake |
| Mass Movement | Downslope movement of Earth materials, due to gravity, that can occur suddenly or very slowly, depending on the weight of the material, its resistance to sliding, and whether a trigger, such as an earthquake, is involved |
| Mudflow | Rapidly flowing, often destructive mixture of mud and water that may be triggered by and earthquake, intense rainstorm, or volcanic eruption |
| Slump | Mass movement that occurs when Earth materials in a landslide rotate and slide along a curved surface, leaving a crescent-shaped scar on a slope |
| Abrasion | Process of erosion in which wind-blown or waterborne particles, such as sand, scrape against rock surfaces or other materials and wear them away |
| Deflation | Lowering of land surface caused by wind erosion of loose surface particles, often leaving coarse sediments behind |
| Dune | Pile of wind-blown sand that develops over time, whose shape depends on sand availability, wind velocity and direction, and amount of vegetation present |
| Loess | Thick, wind-blown, fertile deposit of silt that contains high levels of nutrients and minerals |
| Ventifact | Rock shaped by wind-blown sediments |
| Cirque | Deep depression scooped out by a valley glacier |
| Continental Glacier | Glacier that forms over a broad, continent-sized area of land and usually spreads out from its center |
| Drumlin | Elongated landform that results when a glacier oves over an older moraine |
| Esker | Long, winding ridge of layered sediments deposited by streams that flow beneath a melting glacier |
| Glacier | Large, moving mass of ice that forms near Earth's poles and in mountainous regions at high elevations |
| Moraine | Ridge of mixed debris deposited by a melting glacier |
| Outwash Plain | Area at the leading edge of a glacier, where outwash is deposited by meltwater streams |
| Valley Glacier | Glacier that forms in a valley in a muntainous area and widens V-shaped stream valleys into U-shaped glacial valleys as it moves downslope |
| Bed Load | Describes sediments that are too heavy or large to be kept in suspension or solution and are pushed or rolled along the bottom of a streambed |
| Discharge | Measure of a volume of stream water that flows over a specific location on a particular amount of time |
| Divide | Elevated land that divides one watershed, or drainage basin, from another |
| Flood | Potentially devastating natural occurence in which water spils over the sides of a stream's banks onto adjacent land areas |
| Floodplain | Broad, flat, fertile area extending out from a stream's bank that is covered with water during floods |
| Runoff | Water that flows downslope on Earth's surface and may enter a stream, river, or lake; its rate is influenced by the angle of the slope, vegetation, rate of precipitation, and soil composition |
| Solution | Homogeneous mixture whose components cannot be distinguished and can be classified as liquid, gaseous, solid, or a combination; in a stream, is created when materials, such as silica, calcium, and sodium, dissolve in the stream's water |
| Suspension | State in which small particles, such as silt or sand, are held up and carried along by the turbulence of a stream's moving water |
| Watershed | Land area drained by a stream system |
| Delta | Triangular deposit, usually made up of silt and clay particles, that forms where a stream enters a large body of water |
| Meander | Curve or bend in a stream formed when a stream's slope decreases, water builds up in the strean channel, and moving water erodes away the sides of the streambed |
| Rejuvination | Process during which a stream resumes downcutting toward its base level, increasing its rate of flow |
| Stream Bank | Ground bordering each side of a stream that keeps the water confined |
| Stream Channel | Narrow pathway carved into sediment or rock by the movement of surface water |
| Eutrophication | Process by which lakes become rich in nutrients from the surrounding watershed, resulting in a change in the kinds of organisms in the lake |
| Lake | Natural or human-made body of water that can form when a depression on land fills with water |
| Wetland | Low-lying land area, such as a bog or marsh, that is covered in water a large part of the year and supports specific plant species |
