EARTH SCIENCE Unit 4 Study Guide
Use this Study Guide to direct your study. Also study your Unit 4 Stapled Packet which should include your notes,
FRAMES, practice sheets, foldable and diagrams.
Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition

When limestone rock responds with carbonic acid (weak), what kind of weathering is it?
Chemical

What are some common signs of erosion and deposition?
Ripple marks and mud cracks

What substance plays the most important part in chemical weathering?
Water

What are the two types of weathering?
Chemical & Mechanical/Physical

What are the four agents of erosion?
Water, wind, ice, and gravity

Which horizon of the Soil Profile has the most biological activity?
Top or A Horizon

What is the organic matter in soil made from?
Decayed plants and animals

Define Mechanical Weathering:
Breakdown of rocks & minerals into smaller particles without change in composition.

Which mountains are older? Rocky Mountains or the Appalachian Mountains?
Appalachian

Label the horizons of a Soil Profile diagram:
Groundwater & Karst Topography

Define Karst Topography:
Weak carbonic acid from carbon dioxide mixes with freshwater, dissolving limestone which creates spaces in the
rock. This leads to caverns/caves, sinkholes, natural bridges

What is the equation for creating Karst Topography?
Limestone + Slightly acidic groundwater = Karst Topography

What features are typically associated with karst topography?
Limestone caves, sinkholes, disappearing rivers

How are sinkholes and caves formed?
Karst topography caused by weak acid dissolving limestone rock

What are the steps (in order) of the Water Cycle aka Hydrologic Cycle?

Label the features of Karst Topography:

Label the features of a Groundwater System:

What happens if there are three water wells in an area and three more wells are added?
The water table will sink.

Define impermeable:
NOT allowing liquid to pass through

Define permeable:
Allowing liquid to pass through

Define porosity:
Has holes or pores so liquid can pass through it
Surface Water

What happens to a rock that has been at the bottom of a riverbed a long time?
The edges round off from abrasion against the bottom and against other rocks

Define watershed:
Land area that drains a particular set of streams and rivers

Label the watersheds in Virginia and know what cities are in each:

What rivers are part of the Chesapeake Watershed?

Label the order of river development:

Label the layers of soil deposited in a lake bed:

What are the sources for fresh water?

Define tributaries:
Smaller streams and rivers that feed into a larger river.

Why can activity in Maryland and Pennsylvania affect water quality in the Chesapeake Bay?
Mapping

Latitude runs E/W and divides the earth in N & S, and can be no higher than 90 degrees. Zero degrees latitude is
called Equator. Longitude runs N/S and divides the earth in W & E, and can be no higher than 180 degrees. Zero
degrees longitude is called the Prime Meridian, and the International Date Line is 180 degrees longitude. N/S
goes first, and E/W goes second when writing the coordinates for a point on earth.
Natural Resources

What are the environmental benefits of using renewable resources?
Less drilling or mining, fewer greenhouse gases in atmosphere, few pollutants in the air

What resource mined in Virginia is used for building?
Limestone for cement

What are the coordinates for Richmond, Virginia?
38 degrees N, 75 degrees W

What is the main disadvantage of using nuclear power for energy?
Long half-life of its waste products

What is one largely untapped renewable energy source in Virginia?
Tidal