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What is Erosion?

Erosion - moving of rock material from


one place to a new location
For erosion to occur three processes must
take place: detachment of particles, lifting
them, and transporting them
Many agents of erosion - flowing water,
moving ice, waves, gravity, or wind
Sand consists of small pieces of rock that
have been weathered from a parent rock,
eroded, and deposited somewhere else

What Is Wind Erosion?


Wind - responsible for wearing away rocks and
creating great deserts like the Sahara Desert
and Gobi
Most effective in moving loose material
Two main effects: (1) Wind causes small
particles to be lifted and moved away. (2)
Suspended particles may impact on solid
objects causing erosion by abrasion (rubbing).
Occurs in areas where there is not enough
rainfall to support vegetation

Wind Erosion

What Is Water Erosion?


Water - most influential force in erosion
Ability to move materials from one location to
another over long distances
The faster water moves in streams the larger
objects it can pick up and transport
Responsible for wearing away of rocks in
rivers, lakes, and the oceans

Water Erosion

What Is Wave Erosion?


Waves - relentless pounding
Erodes the softer, weaker parts of the rock
first, leaving harder, more resistant rock
behind
Can take over 100 years to erode a rock to
sand
Energy of waves along with the chemical
content of the water erodes the rock off the
coastline

What Is Gravitational Erosion?


Mass movement - downward movement of
rock and sediments, mainly due to the force of
gravity.
Moves material from higher elevations to
lower elevations where streams and glaciers
can pick up the material and move it to lower
elevations
Process is occurring continuously on all
slopes, some act very slowly while others
occur very suddenly until equilibrium is
reached

Gravity Erosion

Gravity Erosion is better known as Mass Movement and is


defined as the transfer of rock and soil down slope by direct
action of gravity without a flowing medium (such as water
or ice). Some of the best examples of Mass Movement are:
Creep
Rock fall
Slump
Landslides
Avalanches

What Is Glacial Erosion?


Ice

- moves and carries rocks, grinding the

rocks beneath the glacier


Glaciers pluck and abrade to cause erosion
Plucking occurs when water enters cracks
under the glacier, freezing, and breaking off
pieces of rock that are then carried by the
glacier.
Abrasion cuts into the rock under the glacier,
smoothing and polishing the rock surface

Ice Erosion

Transportation
Solution - materials are carried along by
water.
Suspension - the suspended materials are
transported by medium (air, water, or ice)
Traction - Particles are moved by rolling,
sliding and shuffling along eroded surface
Saltation - Particles move from the surface
to the medium.

What is Deposition?
Deposition - laying down of sediment that has
been transported by a medium such as wind,
water, or ice
Process of erosion stops when the moving
particles fall out of the transporting medium
and settle on a surface. This settling is
deposition.
If the speed of the medium slows or the
resistance of the particles increases, the
balance changes and causes deposition.
Speed can be reduced by large rocks, hills,
vegetation, etc.

Deposition - Wind
Wind speed can be related to variations in
heating and cooling
Wind can transport fine particles in suspension
hundreds of km from its original source in the desert.
Heavier material may be blown along the ground.
Material is eventually deposited when the wind
changes direction or loses its strength.
Obstacles, whether natural of man-made, will often
decide where the deposition occurs and the nature of
the feature formed.

Deposition - Water
Running water enters a large, fairly still body of
water and its speed decreases.
As speed decreases, water's ability to carry
sediments decreases
Sediments carried by running water are deposited
where the slowing water can no longer move them.
Largest particles are deposited near the shore.
Increasingly smaller particles settle out farther from
the shore where the water is calmer
Occurs in streams, rivers, oceans, etc.

Deposition - Ice
Glacial flows of ice - become slower when the ice
begins melting
Deposits left by glaciers are called moraines and
outwashes
Moraines are large chunks of broken rock left at the base
and sides of the glacier as it melts and recedes
Finer material is carried in the rivers that form when the
glacial ice melts. The deposits of these rivers look similar
to normal river deposits and are called outwashes

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