Geological Processes and Landforms: Definitions & Examples
Geological Processes and Landforms
Seismogram: A chart created by a seismograph (a device that detects earthquakes and deformations). These graphs allow us to locate the epicenter of the earthquake, its magnitude, and the depth of focus.
Subsidence: The slow and gradual sinking of the ground, often due to soil settlement after the extraction of fluids (water and oil), or by seismic liquefaction phenomena.
Collapses: Sharp vertical drops, such as the collapse of a cave resulting from the dissolution of limestone or gypsum, or a mine gallery.
Diapirs: Natural geological formations derived from internal sources, where salt layers located at some depth rise toward the surface because they are less dense than the overlying strata.
Tombolo: A sedimentary landform, such as a bar, forming a narrow strip of land between an island or a large rock off the coast and the mainland, or between two islands or large rocks.
Albufera: A saltwater lagoon, or slightly brackish water body, separated from the sea by a sandy tongue or cord but in communication with the sea through one or more points.
Base Level: The theoretical level below which a river cannot erode. It can be absolute (sea level) or local (lake, reservoir, or another river in the leading).
Profile of Equilibrium: The ideal state where a river invests all its kinetic energy to overcome friction and transport materials, with no erosion or sedimentation.
Flood Plains: Flat-bottomed, broad valleys occupied by alluvial sediments. During floods, water flows through them, losing speed and dissipating energy.
Fluvial Terraces: A series of flat steps at different heights, parallel to the riverbed.
Karst: Erosion, transport, and sedimentation phenomena taking place on water-soluble rocks, affecting both limestone and gypsum.
Pyroclastic Colada: Solidified fused fragments that have stopped glowing.
External Geological Processes: Processes taking place in the most superficial part of the lithosphere, involving geological agents external to the Earth (gas, water) through geological processes (weathering, erosion, transport), ultimately modeling the relief.
Internal Geological Processes: Processes taking place thanks to geothermal energy. The cause of this rapid rise in temperature is due to the radioactive energy released by the process of nuclear decay of radioactive elements. These processes include the movement of lithospheric plates and the appearance of phenomena associated with them (volcanoes, earthquakes).
Richter Scale: A scale indicating the magnitude of an earthquake. It is logarithmic and measures elastic energy from 1 to 10 degrees. Each degree represents a 10-fold increase in destructive power.
Mercalli Scale: A scale that measures the destructiveness of an earthquake, valued at grades represented by Roman numerals (I-XII). It allows you to draw a map of the intensity of an earthquake that has been registered in different localities around the epicenter. With these data, isoseismal lines are drawn.
Flow Diagram: A plot of events, situations, movements, and relationships of all kinds, represented by symbols.
Peak Flow: The peak or maximum flow rate corresponding to heavy rains. When flooding occurs in a short period and the peak flow is high, there is a danger of flooding. This problem can be solved by building dams.
Response Time: The time between precipitation and flooding.