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Weathering, Erosion and Deposition/Plate Tectonics Study Guide
Know and be able to define:
1. The Theory of Continental Drift – explains how the continents moved,
single land mass called Pangea
2. The Theory of Plate Tectonics – explains that the earth’s crust is made up
of moveable plates that can join together or break apart
3. Subduction – when one plate slips under the other to form a trench
(convergent boundaries)
4. Lithosphere – lower crust, upper mantle
5. Elevation – how high something is above sea level
6. Erosion – the movement of weathered rock/earth material by water,
wind, gravity
7. Deposition – when weathered, eroded rock is dropped off or deposited in
a new place
8. Weathering – breaking down of rock by water, wind, temp/ice, living
things
Explain how plants can protect soil.
Plants roots hold the soil together to help prevent erosion. Plants slow down the
flow of water across soil which helps keep it in place
List at least 3 ways that humans impact the land by increasing erosion.
Acid rain increases risk of chemical weathering which would increase rates of
erosion
Farming – cutting down trees or plants and livestock grazing =removal of roots,
which increases erosion
Mining practices – when you build a mine you are removing and destroying layers
of earth
Building man made land forms –houses on hills or cliffs / construction in general
Removing sand dunes, changing the shapes of the land
Building roads
List the three most common types of soil in order from smallest to largest particle
size.
Clay –- silt---- sand
Explain why contour lines that show a steep cliff look different from contour lines
that show a gentle slope.
The steeper the cliff the closer the contour lines are, gentle
slopes/flat areas contour lines are further apart
Explain why wetlands, deltas and floodplains have very fertile soil.
When a river floods the nutrients and minerals the water carries are deposited
onto the land increasing the fertility of the soil on the surrounding areas
(think Nile river floodplains).
Explain the difference between a constructive and destructive earth process. Give
an example of each one
Constructive: process that builds up earth material to create new land forms
( ex. Delta, marshes, beaches, after volcanoes erupts it makes new land,
mountains, hills)
Destructive: process that breaks down or destroys land ( ex. Cliff, hoodoo, arches,
volcano, canyon)
5. List the layers (4) of the earth (in order: outer to inner) and give one fact about
each layer.
Crust - solid rock – where we live 3-46miles
mantle – upper mantle is solid lower mantle is magma/ convection currents
happen here (1800 miles thick)
outer core – liquid metal, iron and nickel 1400 miles thick
inner core - solid metal – 800 miles thick – gives us magnetic field
6. What is the Ring of Fire and where is it located?
__ The ring of fire is where many plate boundaries meet and is an area of extreme
volcanic and earth quake activity located in the pacific ocean.
7. How old is the earth? _______4.54 or 4.6 billion years
**9. At what boundaries is new crust/ lithosphere created? How? At what
boundaries could crust be destroyed?
___Crust is always being created and destroyed. Divergent boundaries allow
magma to break through and cool forming new crust/lithosphere and convergent
boundaries is where old crust is destroyed because the crust collides and
subducts into the mantle where it is melted down
Where do convection currents occur? Explain how this process works
-Heat rises and cold sinks takes place in mantle, explains how plates move
-draw pic of heat rising from core and cooling as it reaches the surface
Who came up with the Theory of Continental Drift? Why was it rejected for so
long by other scientists?
Wegner/ bc people couldn’t understand how the continents would’ve moved
back and forth (the theory of plate tectonics explained this many years later)
13. Are the continents and tectonic plates the same/different size? Shape?
Explain.
NO!! bc some plates end in the ocean and many continents have multiple plates
running through them. Plates are also found under the ocean
___________________________________________________________________
Describe the movement of each of these plates and then a landform that can
occur at each type of plate boundary?
Transform: slide…. Earthquake
Convergent: collide – mountains and subduct into trenches
Divergent: separate – volcanoes and new land