Glossary - Fundamentals of the Physical Environment - page 879

Coastline The boundary between land and sea or, more precisely, a permanently exposed
land surface and the highest occurrence of storm waves.
Cohesion The intermolecular bonding of constituents of Earth materials by chemical,
magnetic and electrostatic forces.
Cohesive strength The portion of total rock mass strength dependent on the extent of
cohesion developed between particles or crystals by intermolecular forces.
Cold - air drainage The gravity flow of cold air by virtue of its greater density.
Cold glacier A glacier whose mass is of predominantly cold, polythermal ice with thin
surface and basal layers periodically at pressure-melting point ; typical of the greater
part of large ice sheets.
Cold sea - water weathering The chemical alteration of rock at the sea bed by cold water,
as distinct from hydrothermal circulation, primarily by hydration, although some
oxidation may also occur.
Cold stage A period of Earth history in which global climates are significantly colder
than at present: snow, ice and permafrost cover large portions of continental land
surfaces and polar oceans, with prevailing cryospheric and icehouse conditions. Up to
twenty cold stages have dominated the Quaternary period and the term is more
appropriate than 'glacial period' or 'Ice Age' - glaciers were absent from many areas
for much of the time.
Colluvium Granular debris accumulating towards the base of slopes as a result of mass
wasting of bedrock and older slope deposits.
Columnar A type of soil structure consisting of vertical units with rounded tops; usually
in the subsoil of alkaline clays.
Competition Between organisms with similar growth requirements, and which compete
for them.
Components The pathways by which energy and matter flow between elements of the
system.
Compound translation failure A slope failure event involving two or more processes,
such as rotation and sliding, or sliding and flow, as material properties and forces
change after initial motion.
Compressive flow A deceleration in glacier flow which creates compressive stress,
longitudinal crevasses and thickening.
Compressive strength The maximum compression an Earth material may resist before
failure occurs.
Compressive stress The normal (right-angle) stress which acts vertically or laterally on a
unit of Earth material which may lead to compression or crushing.
Conceptual model A general model based on conceptual and qualitative ideas of
relationships.
Conduction The process of heat transfer through matter without movement of the matter
itself. It is the process whereby heat travels through solids.
Cone sheet A dyke intruded upwards and radially outwards from a magma reservoir,
giving it a cone shape.
Conformable sequence An unbroken rock-forming sequence in which each successive
layer forms undisturbed contact with its predecessor, with little or no time separation.
Connectance The number of functioning ecological links which connect the members of
a defined community.