Download Weathering Study Guide - Effingham County Schools

Weathering Study Guide
Weathering
Erosion
Weathering is the slow breaking apart
or wearing away of rock into smaller
pieces.
Erosion is the movement of weathered
rock material from one place to
another.
Four causes of weathering
Causes of Erosion
•Moving water – the cause of most of
weathering in Georgia. Rocks are
moved along by river and stream water
and rub against other rocks making
them smooth.
•Wind – causes weathering when it
picks up small rock particles and blows
them against larger rocks.
Wind – bits of rock and soil are blown
against other rocks causing them to
break off and be carried away by the
wind.
Moving water – rivers and streams can
move bits of rock and soil from the
sides and bottom of a river bed.
•Ice – water seeps into the cracks of
rocks and can freeze. When the water
freezes it expands making the crack
larger.
Glaciers – large mass or slow-moving
ice that flows down a slope.
•Growing plant roots – plants
sometimes grow in the cracks of rocks.
As the plant roots grow the cracks
widen.
Caverns form by weathering and erosion.
A cavern is a large cave that is underground. When
acid rain drains into the Earth the acid carries away
the rock and makes a cave.
Deposition
•Deposition is the dropping of sediment by wind, water, ice,
or gravity.
•Deposition takes place when moving water slows down.
•A delta is formed at the mouth of river when sediments are
dropped.
Weathering
Rocks are broken apart.
Erosion
Deposition
Rocks are moved to
Rocks are dropped
another location.
into the new
location.