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General Comments on Exam 2:

This review may be updated prior to Exam.

The exam consists of multiple choice and short answer and label the diagram questions, much like the first exam.

The following review touches on relevant concepts, definitions, ideas, etc. You will, of course, have to refer back to your notes and the lecture outlines for the details.

You are expected to know what was discussed in lecture which is more than is in the lecture outlines on the WWW, and you should expect to use the assigned readings to back up the material discussed in lecture. Pay particular attention to the diagrams which are noted in the lecture outlines and in the review below. I do not expect you to know information from the readings that were not discussed in lecture.

Students who have done best on my exams in the past have taken the time to rewrite their notes along with the lecture outlines, and have clarified missing details from their notes by contacting me (in person or via email) before the exam. Simply glancing over lecture outlines from the course WWW does not seem to be the best way to study for this course.

Do contact me (email is best) if you have any questions or problems in preparing for the exam: jbkrygier@owu.edu

Introduction to Landform Study

• Earth's landforms as the result of internal and external Earth forces.

1. Earth and its Interior

• what we know about the interior of the Earth

• all the different layers from the surface to the core

• most important layer for us is the outermost layer: Earth's crust

• basic characteristics of Earth's crust

2. Composition of the Earth's Crust

2a. Igneous Rocks

2b. Sedimentary Rocks

2c. Metamorphic Rocks

• the processes which produced them, how they are related to each other, and examples

• bedrock, regolith, outcrop

3. Additional Critical Concepts for Landform Study

• topography, landforms, geomorphology, relief, geologic time

4. The Process of Studying Landforms

Several important aspects

4a. Knowing Where particular landforms are

4b. Knowing What the characteristics of the landforms are

• Structure and Slope and Drainage

4c. Knowing Why the landform came to be

• internal processes: operate from within the earth

• external processes: operate from the earth's surface or above

Internal Processes: Building up Earth's Landforms

• rigid-earth theory

1. Crustal Rearrangement: Earth's dynamic crust and the consequences

• plasticity: what is it and why important?

• isostacy: what is it and why important?

• continental drift: what is it and why important?
  
• Important Diagrams) McKnight fig 14.5, 14.6, 14.14

• plate tectonics: what is it and why important?
  
• Important Diagrams) McKnight fig 14.7, 14.8, 14.9

• when continental plates meet...

• divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries and consequences
  
• Important Diagrams) McKnight fig 14.10, 14.11

• mantle-plumes / hot-spots and examples

2. Vulcanism: origin and movement of molten rock

a. Volcanic Processes: Extrusive Vulcanism: Surface

• silica content and nature of volcanic eruptions

• volcanic landforms: lava flows, volcanic peaks (shield, composite, etc), calderas
  
• Important Diagrams) McKnight fig 14.23, 14.26

• how each form, what they look like

b. Plutonic Processes: Intrusive Vulcanism: Sub-surface

• batholiths, laccoliths, dikes, sills
  
• Important Diagram) McKnight fig 14.31

• how each form, what they look like, how they affect Earth's surface

3. Diastrophism

• deformation of solid rock in the Earth's crust due to pressure from below

• due to continental plate movement
  
• due to pressure from inside of Earth
  
• due to heat of molten material from below: Vulcanism

• two basic types of diastrophism: folding (bending) and faulting (breaking, movement)

3a. Folding: solid rock gets bent

• deformation of solid rock due to horizontal compression

• monocline, anticline, syncline, overturned and overthrust folds
  
• Important Diagrams) McKnight fig 14.34, 14.35, 14.36

• anticlinal valleys and synclinal ridges

3b. Faulting: crustal stresses also lead to rock being broken

• faulting: when rock breaks, and the rock on one or both sides of the break moves

• Types of Faults: normal, reverse, strike-slip and (over) thrust faults
  
• Important Diagrams) McKnight fig 14.37 (was 14.35), 14.40 (was 14.38)

Prominent Faulted Landforms:

• Fault-block mountains, Horst, Graben, Rift Valleys
  
• Important Diagrams) McKnight fig 14.42

4. The Complexes of Crustal Configuration: SKIP THIS SECTION FOR EXAM 2

Weathering, Mass Wasting, and Erosion

Denudation: disintegration, wearing away, and removal of rock material; implies a lowering of earth's surface

• three processes: weathering, mass wasting, erosion
  
• Important Diagram) McKnight fig 15.1

1. Weathering: processes that break up rock at the earth's surface

1a. A Typology of Cracks and Crevices in Rock:

• microscopic spaces, joints, faults, lava vesicles, solution cavities

1b. Weathering Agents

• mechanical, chemical, biological

• examples of each and how they break up solid rock

2. Mass Wasting: processes that move fragmented rock short distances down slope

• fall, slide, slump, flow, creep
  
• Important Diagram) McKnight fig 15.18

3. Erosion

• processes that move fragmented rock relatively long distances

• Fluvial Processes in the natural environment

Fluvial Processes: any environmental processes involving the flow of water

• overland flow: unchanneled down-slope movement of surface water
  
• stream flow: channeled movement of water along a valley bottom

1. Impact of Fluvial Processes on the Landscape

• effects great: major theories of landform development based on fluvial processes

1a. Traditional Theory of Landform Development: The Geomorphic Cycle

• evolution: initial surface, youth, maturity, old age (peneplain), rejuvenation
  
• Important Diagram) 16.35

1b. Critique of Davisian Theory: Crustal Change and Slope Development

1c. Equilibrium Theory

• dynamic equilibrium rather than evolution
  
• Important Diagram) McKnight 16.37

2. Fundamental Definitions and Concepts of Fluvial Processes

• Important Diagram) McKnight 16.2 (and others w/details)
  2a. Valleys and Interfluves
  
  2b. Drainage Basins - Watersheds - Drainage Divides
  
  2c. Erosion: by overland flow vs. streamflow
  
  2d. Transportation of rock particles overland / streamflow: stream-load, competence, capacity
  
  2e. Deposition: of alluvium

3. Stream Channels: Key Characteristics of individual streams and rivers

3a. Structural Relationships: relation to bedrock

3b. Channel Flow: friction

3c. Turbulence

3d. Channel Changes: depth, straight, meandering, braided

4. Stream Systems: how streams and rivers relate to each other

4a. Drainage Basins: hierarchy

4b. Stream Orders: first, second, third,...

4c. Permanence of Flow: perennial vs intermittent

5. Shaping and Reshaping of Valleys by Fluvial Processes

• deepening, widening, lengthening, depositional, rejuvenation

Karst and Hydrothermal Processes: The effect of Underground Water on landforms

1. Karst Processes and Landscapes

Related to chemical weathering: breakdown and removal of rock due to chemical reaction between water and rock

Relatively widespread effect on earth's surface

1a. Solution and Precipitation

• water as a solvent

• chemical reaction with limestone

1b. Caverns and Related Features

• Caverns: solution cavities large enough for a human to get into

• Speleothems: Cave Deposits (from water)

1c. Karst Topography

• development of Karst landscape

• sinkholes, uvala, tower karst or mogotes

2. Hydrothermal Features

In essence: underground water heated by magma then forced to earth's surface

• very localized features; leave only small imprint on earth's surface

4a. Hot Springs

• phenomena and deposits: terraces, domes, cones

4b. Geysers

• eruption of heated water from underground

4c. Fumaroles

• phenomena

Desert Landforms

1. The Work of Water in Dry Regions: Fluvial Processes

Key: despite its scarcity, water is the most important external landform shaping agent in dry regions of the world

1a. Surface Water in Deserts

• ephemeral, intermittent lakes, rivers and streams

1b. Fluvial Erosion in Arid Lands

• same fluvial processes: different effect due to lack of soil and vegetation in deserts

• bornhardts, inselbergs, pediments

1c. Fluvial Deposition in Arid Lands

• piedmonts: zone of fluvial deposition in deserts

• creates unique and distinctive landforms...

1d. Desert Fluvial Landforms: Basin and Range Terrain

• ranges, piedmonts, alluvial fans, basins

1e. Desert Fluvial Landforms: Mesa and Scarp Terrain

• pinnacles, buttes, mesas, plateaus, sapping, badlands

2. The Work of the Wind in Dry Regions: Aeolian Processes

Aeolian processes: related to the movement of air over the earth's surface

Most effective where surface material is fine, dry and not held in place by vegetation

2a. Aeolian Erosion and Transportation

• wind moves and erodes the earth's surface: deflation, abrasion

2b. Aeolian Deposition

• sand dunes: barchan, traverse, seifs

2c. Desert Aeolian Landforms

• ergs, regs, hamada

Glaciers and Glacial Landforms

The role of ice, and in particular moving ice - glaciers - in shaping landforms

What we can see today in the landscape is the result of existing glaciers

• and the the most recent ice age - the Pleistocene

1. Glaciers Formation and Flow

Glaciers form when there is a year to year accumulation of snow

• new snow accumulates on top of the old snow - compacting it into ice

• gravitational forces pull ice downslope

• accumulation zones and ablation zones

Overall result of glacial flow is a form of erosion by water

• moving and shaping soil and rock particles into landforms

• scraping and polishing bedrock

2. Mountain Glaciers

• Icefields, alpine glaciers, cirque glaciers, valley glaciers, piedmont glaciers

3. Continental Ice Sheets and Glaciers

3a. Development and Flow of Pleistocene Glaciation

3b. Erosion by Ice Sheets

• effectiveness of erosion by glaciers, plucking, roche moutonnee

• glacial abrasion: grooves (bigger), striations (smaller)

...transportation by glaciers...

3c. Deposition by Ice Sheets and Glaciers during Pleistocene: McKnight fig. 19.18

Unstratified, no patterns:

• drift, till, till plain

Unstratified, patterns:

• moraine, terminal moraine, recessional moraine, ground moraine, drumlins

Stratified, patterns due to glacial runoff:

• outwash plains, eskers, kame, kettles

E-mail: jbkrygier@owu.edu

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