Weathering and Erosion Weathering processes by which environmental

Weathering and Erosion

• Weathering – processes by which environmental agents at or near the earth’s surface cause rocks and minerals to break down Sediment. Small pieces of rock. Mud, sand, or silt are very fine pieces of rock.

Weathering Processes Mechanical weathering – breaks a mineral or rock into smaller pieces (physical changes) Chemical weathering – changes the chemical composition of minerals and rocks

Mechanical weathering. Wind weathering in Monument Valley, Arizona

Chemical Weathering- Rusting can completely eat away iron.

Erosion – process by which gravity, moving water, wind, or ice transports pieces of rock and deposits them elsewhere Devil’s Tower- volcanic plug

Water Erosion Deer Creek Falls

Thunder River in the Grand Canyon

Water erosion in a field

Wavecut pattern, a geological feature caused by the sea's erosion of cliffs, seen at Southerndown near Bridgend, South Wales.

Loess is a deposit of silt or material which is usually yellowish or brown in color and consisting of clay or dust brought by wind

Glaciationchanging of landforms by slowly moving glaciers In the Swiss Alps. The Upper Grindelwald Glacier and the Schreckhorn

Glacial Erosion A glaciated valley in the Mount Hood Wilderness showing the characteristic U-shape and flat bottom.

• Moraine is rock debris, fallen or plucked from a mountain and transported by glaciers or ice sheets. The moraine may be lying on the glacier's surface or have been deposited as piles or sheets of debris, where the glacier has melted

Soil Factors • Parent material – chemical composition of the original rock from which soil develops • Relief-physical features of a landscape • Organisms- plants, worms, ants that decompose material • Climate – amount of precipitation and prevailing temperature • Time – longer period develops thicker more well-developed soil(2. 5 cc per 100 years)

Building Soil • Weathering and erosion are a part of the process of building soil • Soil is a loose mix of: – Weathered rock – Organic matter – Air – Water

Soil Fertility depends on the texture of the soil and the amount of: • humus- the amount of organic material • air and water

Works cited • scidiv. bcc. ctc. edu/barmin/geo 101/6. html • Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia • http: //www. edu. pe. ca/southernkings/loesss p. htm