Course work Life Sciences Coursework Research Paper

GEO 347 CLIMATIC GEOMORPHOLOGY TEST

Answers should emphasize key concepts, processes, and make appropriate use
01 specific examples. Your answers should include diagrams and formulae in support of your prose Diagrams and formulae must be labeled, their terms explained, and they must be cited in your prose.to answerLandtorm development may exhibit properties of either steady state equilibrium or dynamic equilibrium. Geomorphologists are also interested in the role of thresholds on landform development. Discuss what these terms mean from in terms of the dynamics of 1) a feature like Niagara Falls, 2) a steep vegetated hillslope, and 3) a human-made feature such as a road built adjacent to a river or on a hillslope.
2) Explain how epeirogeny and orogeny are different. What are the major mechanisms responsible in each case? Give a minimum of two examples in each case that clearly illustrate the differences between these processes.
3) Variations in annual denudation rates are better represented as a response to effective annual precipitation rather than total precipitation. Explain with the help of one or more diagrams what this means. Discuss why such representation tools are really only effective on a regional extent.
4) What does it mean to state that an environment is weathering limited, as opposed to transport limited? Give an example of both of these diffusive properties of landform development, and describe how climate and land use influence them.
5) We identified 5 major processes involved in mechanical weathering of rocks. Define each of these processes and explain physically what is going on in each case. For each process discuss how you would go about recognizing it, and explain how your analysis would be affected by climatic conditions (i.e., tropical humid, semi-arid, temperate humid, etc). Use of examples and diagrams are encouraged.
6) We identified 4 major processes involved in chemical weathering of minerals. Define each of these processes and explain chemically what is involved with each process. Give an example for each major process, and discuss why lithology, climate, and time are important factors in trying to reconstruct the major weathering processes from an observed weathered soil or sediment.

7) The nine-unit land surface model divides a hillslope into distinct segments or units. With the aidof a diagram show these units, and for each unit identify the most likely mode (or type) of mass movement. Discuss the factors that are likely to promote mass wasting on the different parts of this hillslope.

Discuss how these factors affected Kv a catastrophic slope failures, citing some recent examples. How are these

“patterns?-------.^disturbances, such as vegetation removal, earthquakes, construction, and weather
Question considers two of the cases we looked at in class: 1) La Conchita, and 2) Devils i e. Discuss to what extent the potential hazards at these sites were caused by intrinsic versus extrinsic thresholds. Compare and contrast the two cases.

10) Weathered minerals in soils and sediments can be used to make inferences about the climate(s) they have experienced. Explain how one would make such inferences, citing some specific examples and the dominant weathering processes involved in each case. Discuss why there may be pitfalls in using data collected in specific locations to make such inferences about past or present climate.

11) Explain using two distinct examples what is meant by complex geomorphic response. One of your examples should involve a system where the initial disturbance or perturbation is a process internal to the Earth. The other example should involve climate as a primary factor in perturbing the system. In each case discuss to what extent human activities influence the s\ stem responses to t e perturbations.