Download Study Guide Weathering Erosion ES3 SY1415

ES3
STUDY GUIDE: Weathering Part 1
GEOLOGIC PROCESSES
Use this side as a “checklist” of your understanding prior to the test.
Reminder: Additional resources, including extra credit, are on the class website:
www.EarthRocks3.teachercanvas.com
Textbook Resources:
Our Weathering and Erosion unit is divided into two parts. Part 1 covers several sections of your textbook: Chapter
14 (all) and Chapter 18, Section 1 only (Wind.) Your book is a good reference tool, but your notes cover the
specific skills and knowledge you must have. The end-of-chapter review and “Standardized Test Prep” sections at
the end of textbook chapters are good practice!
Learning Intentions for this Unit:
You should know and/or be able to do all of these things by the end of our unit:
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Understand the role of weathering and erosion in the rock cycle.
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Compare and contrast weathering and erosion. How are they related?
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Calculate surface area of a rectangular prism, and the area of just one of its sides.
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Describe the characteristics of the A, B, and C horizons and define parent material.
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Be able to identify pictures or descriptions of mountains, plains, plateaus, mesas, buttes and explain
how they are shaped by weathering and erosion. (Refer to your workbook pages or textbook if you
have forgotten!)
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Be able to arrange sediment particles sand, silt, and clay in order by size.
Know that quartz, feldspar, calcite, and mica are the four most common rock-forming minerals. Be able
to explain how each one weathers (chemically? mechanically? does it form sand or clay or does it
dissolve?)
Identify water, air, and organisms as major agents of weathering.
Identify factors that affect weathering rates and explain each one, including composition, surface area,
climate, and topography.
Predict what will happen to the weathering rate if surface area of a rock is increased.
Compare and contrast chemical and mechanical (physical) weathering.
Identify water, ice, and wind as major agents of erosion.
Explain how soil is formed and its typical composition.
Label a soil diagram with bedrock and the C, B, and A horizons. Where would the “O” horizon be if
there is one (hint: O stands for organic in this case)
Be able to label the three major climate zones on Earth (tropical, temperate, polar.)
Understand the characteristics of pedocal, pedalfer, and laterite soils and their climate zones.
Apply understanding of weathering to identify landforms and rocks that are more or less weathered.
Very rounded rocks and mountain tops have been weathered longer, and are therefore typically older,
than more angular rocks and mountain tops.
Distinguish between permeability and porosity. What kind of soil is best for agriculture, and why?
Identify basic ways to reduce erosion on slopes and in agricultural fields (refer to your workbook pages
and/or textbook if you don’t remember.)