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Graben

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pairs or groups of faults that produce downward/faulted blocks; characteristic of the basin of the interior western U.S

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Horst

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upward/faulted blocks produced by pairs or groups of faults; characteristic of the mtn. ranges of the interior of the western U.S

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Angle of Repose

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the steepness of a slope that results when loose particles come to rest; and angle of balance between driving and resisting forces, ranging between 33 degrees and 37 degrees from a horizontal plain

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Base Level

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a hypothetical level below which a stream cannot erode its valley and thus the lowest operative level for denudation processes, in an absolute sense, its representative by sea level, extending under the landscape.

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Chemical Weathering

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decomposition and decay of the constituent minerals in rock through chemical alteration of those minerals. Water is essential, with rates keyed to temp. and precipitation values. Chemical reactions are active at micro-sites even in dry climates. Processes include hydrolysis, oxidation, carbonation, and solution.

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Physical Weathering

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the breaking up and disintegrating of rock w/o any chemical alteration; sometimes referred to as mechanical or fragmentation weathering

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Bedrock

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The rock of earth's crust that is below the soil and is basically weathered; such solid crust sometimes is exposed as an outcrop

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Denudation

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term that refers to all processes that cause degradation of the landscape; weathering, mass movement, erosion, and transportation.

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Dynamic Equilibrium/Model

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increasing or decreasing operations in a system demonstrate a trend over time, a change in average conditions - the balancing act between tectonic uplift and erosion, between the resistance of crust materials and the work of denudation processes. Landscape evidence ongoing adaptation to rock structure, climate, local relief, and elevation.

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Exfoliation

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A dome-shaped feature of weathering, produced by the response of granite to the overburden removal processes, which relieves pressure from the rock. Layers of rock slough off in slabs or shells in a sheeting process.

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Geomorphology

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The science that analyzes and describes the origin, evolution, form, classification, and spatial distribution of land forms.

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Regolith

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partially weathered rock overlying bedrock, whether residual and transported

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Scarification

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human induced mass movement of earth materials, such as large-scale open-pit mining and strip mining.

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Sediment

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Fine-grained mineral matter that is transported and deposited by air, water, or ice.

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Karst Topography

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Formed in a region of chemically weathered limestone with poorly developed surface drainage and solution features that appear pitted and bumpy; originally named after the Krs. Plateau in Solvenia.

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Mass Movement

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All unit movements of material propelled by gravity; can range from dry to wet, slow to fast, small to large, and free-falling to gradual or intermittent.

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Alluvial Soil

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alluvium-general descriptive term for clay-silt, sand and gravel or other unconsolidated rock and mineral fragments transported by running water and deposited as sorted or semi sorted sediment on a floodplain, delta or streambed.

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Drainage density

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a measure of the overall operational efficiency of a drainage basin, determined by the ratio of combined channel lengths to the unit area.

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Drainage Basin

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the basic spatial geomorphic unit of a river system;distinguished from a neighboring basin by ridges and highlands that form divides, marking the limits of the catchment area of the drainage basin

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Water table

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the upper surface of groundwater; that contact point between the zone of saturation and the zone of aeration in an unconfined aquifer.

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Flood Plain

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a flat low lying area along a stream channel, created by and subject to recurrent flooding, alluvial deposits generally mask underlying rock.

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Estruary

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The point at which the mouth of a river enter the sea , where freshwater and seawater are mixed; a place where tides ebb and flow.

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Delta

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A depositional plain formed where a river enters a lake or an ocean.

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Alluvial Terrances

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Level areas that appear as topographic steps above a stream, created by the stream as it scours with renewed downcutting into its floodplain; composed of unconsolidated alluvium.

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Fluvial

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Stream-related processes; from the latin flutivius for "river" or "running water"

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Graded Stream

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An idealized condition in which a stream's load and the landscape mutually adjust. This forms a dynamic equilibrium among erosion, transported load, deposition, and the stream's capacity

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Meandering Stream

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The sinuous, curving pattern common to graded streams, with the energetic outer portion of each curve subjected to the greater erosive action and the lower-energy inner portion receiving sediment deposits

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Oxbow Lake

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A lake that was formerly part of the channel of a meandering stream; isolated when a stream eroded its outer bank, forming a cutoff through the neck of the looping meander . In Australia, known as a billabong.

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Yazoo Tributary

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A small stream draining alongside a floodplain; blocked from joining the main river by its natural levees and elevated stream channel

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Flood

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a high water level that overflows the natural riverbank along any portion of a stream.

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Eolian

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caused by wind ;refers to the erosion, transportation, and deposition of materials; spelled acolian in some countries

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Desert Pavement

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On arid landscape, a surface formed when wind deflation and sheet flow remove smaller particles, leaving residual pebbles and gravels to concentrate at the surface; an alternative sediment-accumulation hypothesis explain some desert pavements, resembles a cobblestone street.

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Erg Desert

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a sandy desert or area where sand is so extensive that is constitutes a sand sea

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Loess

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a large quantities of fine-grained clays and silts left as out-wash deposits, subsequently blown by the wind great distances and redeposited as a generally unstratified, homogeneous blanket of material covering existing landscapes in China, originates from desert lands

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Playa

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An area of salt crust left behind by evaporation on a desert floor, usually in the middle of a desert or semiarid bolson or valley; intermittently wet and dry.

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Slipface

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On a sand dune, formed as a dune height increases above 30cm (12in) on the leeward side at an angle at which loose material is stable- its angle of repose (30 to 40 degrees)

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Ventifacts

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a piece of rock etched and smoothed by eolian erosion-that is, abrasion by windblown particles.

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Surface Creep

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a from eolian transport that involves particles too large for saltation; a process whereby individual grains are impacted by moving grains and slide and roll.

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Saltation

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the transport of sand grains (usually larger than .02mm, or 0.008 inch)by stream or wind, bouncing the grains along the ground in asymmetrical paths.

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Yardings (yardang)

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a streamlined rock structure formed by deflation and abrasion; appears elongated and aligned with the most effective and wind direction

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Exotic Stream

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A river that rises in a humid region and flows through an arid region, with discharge decreasing toward the mouth; for example, the Nile River and the Colorado River.

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Deflation

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a process of wind erosion that removes and lifts individual particles, literally blowing away unconsolidated, dry, or non-cohesive sediments

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Badlands

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in semiard regions, weak surface material may weather to a complex, rugged topography, usually of relatively low and varied relief.

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Basin and Range

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a region of dry climates, few permanent streams, and interior drainage patterns in the western U.S; a faulted landscape composed of a sequence of horsts and graben

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Blowout depression

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Eolian (wind) erosion in which deflation forms a basin in areas of loose sediment. Diameter may range up to hundreds of meters.

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Dune

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A depostional feature of sad grains deposited in transient mounds, ridges, and hills; extensive areas of sand dunes are called seas.

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Alluvial fan

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fan shaped fluvial landform at the mouth of a canyon; generally occurs in arid landscapes where streams are intermittent.

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Abrasion

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Mechanical wearing and erosion of bedrock accomplished by the rolling and grinding of particles and rocks carried in a stream, removed by wind in a "sandblasting" action, or embedded in glacial ice.

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Braided Stream

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stream that becomes a maze of interconnected channels laced with excess sediment. Often occurs with a reduction of discharge that reduces a stream's transporting ability or with an increase in sediment load.

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Deposition

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The process whereby weathered, wasted and transported sediments are laid down by air, water and ice.

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Hydrologic Cycle*

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A simplified model of the flow of water, ice and water vapor from place to place. Water flows through the atmosphere and across the land, where it is stored as ice and groundwater. Solar energy empowers the cycle.

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Evapotranspiration *

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the merging of evaporation and transpiration water loss into one term.

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Field Capacity*

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water held in the soil by hydrogen bonding against the pull of gravity, remaining after the water drains from the larger pore spaces, the available water for plants

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Wilting Point*

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that point in the soil moisture balance when only hygroscopic water and some bound capillary water remains. Plants wilt and eventually die after prolonged stress from lack of available water.

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Aquifers *

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a body of rock that conducts groundwater in usable amounts; a permeable rock layer.

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