I. Landforms Physical Shapes of the Land

Erosion and Deposition

I.  Landforms – physical shapes of the land

a.  Examples include hillsides, cliffs, and marshes

b.  Wetlands – areas characterized by a high proportion of water

c.  Marshes – wetlands dominated by grasses, which a swamp is designated by trees

II. Topography – Shape of the land

a.  Topographic Maps are used to show topography

b.  Contour lines – lines that connect all the areas that are the same height relative to sea level

c.  Contour intervals – the height difference between the contour line

i.  When the contour lines are closer together they represent a steeper incline

d.  Stability – the more topography changes over time, the less stable that land is said to be

III.  Mean, Median and Mode

a.  Mean – also known as the average, is the sum of all values divided by the total number of values

b.  Median – the middle value when the data is arranged in order

c.  Mode – the most common value in a set of numbers

d.  Places that water comes from:

i.  Rain

ii.  River flow from mountains

iii.  Ocean waves hitting the beach

e.  Flooding is when a lot of water falls or melts in a short amount of time

f.  Rainfall Pattern is the typical amount of water an area receives from rain

IV. Sediments – materials that settle out of the water

a.  Delta – a fan shaped area of land at a river’s mouth that bulges into the bay

b.  River channel – the riverbed is carved into the land

c.  Sediment is created by the earth process of weathering

d.  Weathering – the process of breaking down rocks

V.  Earth Processes – Dynamic actions that occur both on the earth’s surface and inside the earth

a.  Erosion – when surface soil, and rock are worn away through the action of glaciers, water and wind

i.  Is a destructive process because it destroys the land

b.  Deposition -- the act of depositing eroded sediment in a new location

i.  Is a constructive process because it builds land

VI. Scientists

a.  Geologist – studies rocks, minerals and other non-living (i.e. abiotic) parts of the earth

b.  Engineer – uses scientific knowledge to solve practical problems; involved in designing most items that are used in everyday life

c.  Ecologist – studies the interrelations of organisms with each other and with their environment

VII.  Variables – any factor that can have any number of possible values depending on the situation

a.  Controlled variable – held constant (i.e. did not change) or whose impact is removed in order to analyze the relationship between other variables without interference

b.  Tested variable – changed in s systematic way in order to determine its effect

c.  Uncontrolled Variable – variable that is neither controlled nor tested in an experiment

VIII.  Cliff Erosion

a.  Cliff erosion is caused by waves and begins below the water line

b.  3 Basic Types of Erosion Control Structures:

i.  Breakwaters

ii.  Seawalls/ripraps

iii.  Jetty