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Deserts
Lecture number 20.
12
Geology
Undergraduate 2
05/08/2010

Additional Geology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Dry regions (deserts and steppes) cover____% of the Earth's land surface.
Definition

 

 

 

30%

Term

Climatologists define "dry climate" as one in which yearly precipitation is not as great as loss of water by evaporation.

 

What is the difference between:

 

desert

 

steppe

 

Definition

desert: arid, driest of the dry climate zones

 

steppe: semi-arid, marginal zone that borders arid deserts.

Term

 which two occur in areas sheltered by mountains?

 

A) Low Latitude deserts

B) Mid Latitude deserts

C)steppes

 


 

 

 

Definition

 

 

 

 

 

B) Mid Latitude Deserts

 

C) Steppes                 

Term

Loosely define what a rain shadow is.

Definition
dry area on the mountainside facing away from the direction of the wind. The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems, casting a "shadow" of dryness behind them
Term

  • __________form on the inland of large landmasses.
  • wind moving onto the continent looses most moisture by precipitation.
  • As the air moves further inland, the air is increasingly dry, and produces little to no precipitation.

Definition

 

 

 

Continental interior deserts

Term

Relatively little________weathering occurs in deserts.

 

Most desert erosion is the result of _______ not wind.

Definition

 

 

1) Chemical       

 

2) Running Water

Term
True or False: the interior drainage (desert streams) flow into the ocean.
Definition

 

 

False.

Term

What is the alternate name for bedload? 

  • Bedload is when particles move along the ground surface by wind.

Definition

 

 

creep

Term

Dust storms and Sand storms occur by which two forms of wind transportation?

 

A) Suspension and Bedload 

B) Bedload and Saltation    

C) Suspension and Saltation

 

 

Definition

C) Suspension and Saltation

 

Reminder:

Suspension is when fine particles are transported within the air.

Saltation is the transport of particles through a series of bounces.

Bedload, or creep, is when particles are moved along the ground surface by wind.

Term
The Great Sphinx, which is a sculpture resembling the head of a man and the body of a reclining lion, could of been one of these before it was created by the ancient Egyptians. 
Definition
Answer: Yardang
Term

1)________are mounds and ridges of sand from the wind's bedload.

 

2)___________are extensive blankets of silt from the wind's suspension load.

 

Choices:

Loess

Dunes

Definition

 

 

1) Dunes

 

2) Loess

Term
What are lithified dunes?
Definition
Dunes that are buried under layers of sediment and turned to Sandstone.
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