Deck 12: Weathering and Mass Wasting

Question 1

Weathering of individual mineral grains by differential expansion and contraction is called ____.

A)granular disintegration
B)soil creep
C)exfoliation
D)hydration

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Unloading most commonly affects ____.

A)regolith
B)shale
C)limestone
D)granite

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Poorly sorted, unconsolidated material that includes at least 20% gravel is called ____.

A)rock
B)mud
C)talus
D)debris

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Carbonation most commonly impacts ____.

A)quartzite
B)shale
C)limestone
D)granite

Question 5

What is a common, average value for the angle of repose?

A)3º
B)13º
C)33º
D)63º

Question 6

Compared to less resistant rocks, rocks that are more resistant to weathering tend to form ____.

A)valleys
B)cliffs
C)regolith
D)talus

Question 7

When water freezes, it can expand up to what percentage?

A)9%
B)29%
C)59%
D)79%

Question 8

Slope angle helps determine when ____ will occur.

A)oxidation
B)mass wasting
C)unloading
D)chemical weathering

Question 9

Which of the following is considered to be slow mass wasting?

A)solifluction
B)slump
C)earthflow
D)mudslide

Question 10

Rusting is a form of weathering by ____.

A)hydration
B)freeze-thaw
C)salt crystal growth
D)oxidation

Question 11

What are sites of concentrated weathering?

A)levees
B)joints
C)salt crystals
D)spheroidal blocks

Question 12

The primary factor responsible for mass wasting is ____.

A)water
B)wind
C)gravity
D)ice

Question 13

The presence of talus is a good sign that ____ is occurring.

A)solifluction
B)rockfall
C)soil creep
D)mudflow

Question 14

Spheroidal weathering refers to ____.

A)rounded boulders left by weathering along joints
B)rounded holes or caves left in sandstone cliffs due to hydration
C)rounded rocks split into two halves by thermal expansion and contraction weathering
D)weathering by round salt crystals

Question 15

The inorganic portion of soil is called ____.

A)clasts
B)regolith
C)biomass
D)dirt

Question 16

Avalanches ____.

A)deposit raised rims, called levees
B)move along a curved slip plane
C)move as a cohesive unit
D)can consist of debris

Question 17

Hydration weathering commonly involves the ____.

A)formation of new minerals
B)freezing and thawing of water
C)swelling and shrinking of salts
D)dissolving of regolith

Question 18

Quartzite is ____.

A)a weathered rock
B)resistant to physical weathering
C)resistant to chemical weathering
D)very soft rock

Question 19

Solifluction ____.

A)is the fast fall of soil
B)typically occurs in areas of permafrost
C)is the slow flow of rock
D)is most common in deserts

Question 20

Chemical weathering occurs most rapidly in which of the following environments?

A)mid-latitude desert
B)arctic tundra
C)low-latitude desert
D)tropical rainforest

Question 21

Water molecules are attached to the molecules of another substance without any chemical change occurring in the process of ____.

A)oxidation
B)hydrolysis
C)hydration
D)evaporation

Question 22

Alternating wetting and drying can facilitate soil creep.

Question 23

Heaving is commonly accomplished by ____.

A)oxidation
B)carbonation
C)alternating freezing and thawing
D)rockfall

Question 24

Exfoliation is the physical weathering process that causes unloading.

Question 25

Salts and clay minerals are formed during physical weathering.

Question 26

Mudflows of volcanic ash are referred to as ____.

A)avalanches
B)heavings
C)solifluctions
D)lahars

Question 27

Weathering by alternating freezing and thawing of water ____.

A)creates angular blocks of rock
B)dissolves granite
C)is called heaving
D)creates new chemical substances

Question 28

Ice and snow must be present for an avalanche to occur.

Question 29

____ are common in Mediterranean climate regions during wet winters.

A)Slumps
B)Rock slides
C)Rockfalls
D)Mudflows

Question 30

Limestone is most intensely weathered in arid environments.

Question 31

Water is the principal factor responsible for mass wasting.

Question 32

Slumps are ____.

A)rotational slides of earth
B)linear flows of ice and snow
C)slow creep of rock
D)small avalanches of debris

Question 33

Stream erosion produces what type of valley shape?

A)V
B)U
C)S
D)W

Question 34

A large, complex mass wasting event that is difficult to classify is often called a ____.

A)ground tsunami
B)landwave
C)landslide
D)landflow

Question 35

Salt crystal growth is most effective in ____.

A)humid tropics and high latitudes
B)coastal areas and humid tropics
C)high latitudes and coastal areas
D)coastal areas and deserts

Question 36

In a humid climate, limestone would be expected to weather faster than granite.

Question 37

Tectonic uplift is an example of an endogenic process.

Question 38

Weathering is one of the geomorphic agents.

Question 39

Rock type and climate are two important factors that determine types and rates of weathering.

Question 40

A tendency towards fast ____ is reflected in the angular slopes common in many arid regions of mountain terrain.

A)earthquakes
B)chemical weathering
C)solifluction
D)mass wasting

Question 41

The free fall of rock through air is called a(n) _____________________.

Question 42

Dangerous rapid mudflows around active volcanoes are known as _______________.

Question 43

How do weathering and the effects of weathering differ in humid versus arid climates?

Question 44

______________ includes various processes by which rocks at or near Earth's surface are disintegrated or decomposed in preparation for their removal and transportation.

Question 45

The steepest natural angle that loose material can stand at without pieces sliding or rolling downslope is called the _________________.

Question 46

The chemical union of oxygen with another substance to form a new product is called __________________.

Question 47

Strong and resistant rocks are necessary to maintain _______________.

Question 48

Granite exfoliation domes are produced by the weathering process of __________________.

Question 49

The two principal climate variables in the weathering process are water and _______________.

Question 50

Distinguish among rock, soil, earth, debris, and mud as they relate to mass wasting terminology.

Question 51

Mass wasting is a collective term for downslope movements of weathered material in response to the force of _________________.

Question 52

When an accumulation of large mineral grains has been produced from a coarse crystalline rock due to weathering, the effect is known as ___________________.