Weathering, Erosion, Deposition

Weathering / breakdown of rocks at or near the Earth's surface  

Types of Weathering / Physical and Chemical  

Physical weathering is the / breaking down of rocks into smaller pieces (sediments) without chemical change 

Physical weathering is most dominant in / moist, cold conditions 

What does physical weathering do? / Creates more surface area 

Frost action / water seeps into the cracks, freezes and expands 

Abrasion occurs when / rocks rub and become smaller and rounder in a stream or wind 

Root action / roots grow into and under rocks and pry the rock apart as the roots continue to grow  

Exfoliation / surface rock "peels" off due to the rock expanding and contracting from temperature and pressure changes 

Chemical weathering / changes the chemical composition of the rock 

Chemical weathering is most dominant in / warm, moist conditions 

Where does chemical weathering occur? / On the surface of rock materials 

Oxidation / when iron combines with oxygen to make iron oxide 

Carbonation / carbonic acid causes minerals to dissolve away 

Hydration / water weakens the rock, and it crumbles 

What is the key to chemical changes? / Water 

As particle size decreases / surface area increases and the rate of weathering increases  

Resistant layers of rock stick out and form / cliffs or escarpments  

Chemical weathering will occur most rapidly when rocks are exposed to the / hydrosphere and atmosphere 

Soil develops because of / weathering and biological activity over long periods of time 

Residual soil / soil that formed and stayed in the place – same substance of the underlying bedrock 

Transported soil / made up of completely different material than the underlying bedrock 

Soil that contains large quantities of calcium was most likely formed by the weathering of / limestone 

Erosion is the / movement of sediments  

Major agent of erosion / water 

 The 5 Agents of Erosion / Water, Glaciers, Wave Action, Wind, & Mass Movements 

The primary force that drives the agents of erosion is / gravity 

Stream valleys are / V-Shaped 

Most of the surface materials in NY State can be classified as / transported soils 

By which processes are rocks broken up and moved to different locations? / Weathering and erosion 

Gravity causes water to flow / downhill 

The faster the water moves / the larger the particles it can transport 

As water slows down / the larger, rounder more dense particles settle out first  

Stream / any body of water with a current 

Stream velocity depends on / gradient (steepness or slope) and volume (amount) of water 

Discharge / volume of water flowing past a fixed point in each period 

Oxbow Lake / a cut-off meander 

The outside of a meander bend is / fast and erodes (elbow) 

The inside of the meander bend is / slow and deposits (dent) 

Meander / curve in a stream 

Drainage patterns / determined by the topography of the surface and the underlying bedrock 

Dendritic Pattern / looks like branches on a tree 

Radial Pattern / occurs when stream flows away from a high point and looks like spokes on a wheel 

Annular Pattern / occurs on an eroded dome and has a circular pattern with small tributaries going into each circle 

Rectangular Pattern / occurs were drainage flows along folds and faults 

Evidence of gravity erosion is / unsorted and angular (sharp) rocks at base of cliff 

After mass movement rocks look / rough and angular 

Which process describes the downward sliding of the rock material? / Mass movement 

A landslide is an example of / mass movement 

Wave action round sediments because of / abrasion 

Shores are protected by / barrier islands 

Beaches are formed by the / weathering of continental & oceanic rocks 

Longshore drift moves / sand along the beach in the direction of the ocean current  

Barrier Island / a long, narrow island running parallel with the mainland made up of mostly sand 

Barrier Islands are made by the action of / wave currents and wind that distributes the sand which protects the mainland from erosion 

Jetties and Groins are / beach protection structures that protect against longshore drift 

Glacier / large, very slow-moving mass of ice 

Gravity causes a glacier to move / downhill 

Glacial landscapes show / U-Shaped Valleys, erratic (large boulders), kettle lakes, moraines, drumlines and scratched bedrock (striations) 

Glacial and gravity deposition is / unsorted (all mixed up called till) 

Glaciers form in / high latitudes and high elevation 

Esker / long winding ridge of sorted sands and gravel  

Moraine / material left behind by a moving glacier 

Terminal Moraine / moraine ridge that makes the marks the maximum limit of glacial advance

Recessional Moraine / small ridges left as a glacier pauses during its retreat

Outwash Plains form as / a glacier melts and rivers carry small sediments (sorted) away from the glacier

Drumlins / hills of sediment that have been streamlined by glacier flow

Kames / moundlike hill of poorly sorted drift deposited at or near the end of a glacier

Kettle Lake / large, water filled pothole left in the ground by a receding glacier

Glaciers advance from the / north, formed Long Island, left sand and gravel (moraines)

Wind Erosion creates / sand dunes, the windward side of a sand dune has a gentle slope

Deposition is the / dropping or stopping of sediments after erosion 

Round, large, more dense particles settle out / faster than angular, small and less dense particles 

Sorted sediments settle out in a / distinctive order

Unsorted sediments are dropped in / no particular order 

Water and wind deposits are / sorted and layered

Glacial and gravity deposits are / unsorted and not layered

Horizontal Sorting / occurs when a stream enter a large body of water , velocity slows down, larger particles settle out first

Vertical Sorting / sorting of sediments from bottom to top, large round and dense particles settle out first at the bottom

When a river enters the ocean / it slows down, deposits and forms a delta

Watershed is a / geographic area where all the rainwater flows into a river 

Tributary / creek or stream that flows into a larger body of water

Delta / triangular shape of deposited sediment of the mouth of a river

Drainage Basin / area where water flows downhill into one large body of water

Deltas form when / deposition is greater than erosion