Erosion and Deposition

Chapter 8

Changing Earth’s Surface

Erosion Sediment Deposition Mass Movement Gravity

Creep Mudslides Landslides Slump

Changing Earth’s Surface

Weathering, erosion and deposition act to wear down and build up Earth’s surface

Gravity pulls sediment downhill in the process of mass movement. There are 4 main types of mass movement: landslides, creep, slump and mudslides

Water Erosion

Runoff Rill Gully Stream River Tributary

Divide Flood plain Meander Oxbow lake Alluvial fan Delta

Water Erosion

Stalactite Stalagmite Karst Topography Drainage Basin Groundwater

Water Erosion

Moving water is the major force of erosion that has shaped Earth’s land surface

A river may form V-shaped valleys, waterfalls, meanders, oxbow lakes and flood plains

When a river slows down it deposits some of the sediment load it carries, forming features such as alluvial fans and deltas

The Force of Moving Water

Energy Potential energy Kinetic energy Abrasion

Load Friction turbulence

The Force of Moving Water

When gravity pulls water down a slope, water’s potential energy changes to kinetic energy

Most sediment washes or falls into streams, or is eroded from the streambed by abrasion

The greater a rivers slope or volume of flow, the more sediment it can erode

Glaciers

Glacier Valley Glacier Continental

Glacier Ice Age Fiord Cirque

Till Moraine Kettle Lake Glacial Lake Plucking Arete Horn

Glaciers

The 2 kinds of glaciers are valley glaciers and continental glaciers

Glaciers erode the land through plucking and abrasion. Melting glaciers deposit sediment

Most famous Glacial landform is the Matterhorn on the border between Italy and Switzerland in the Pennine Alps. Has an elevation of 4,478 meters.

Matterhorn

Glaciers

Chugach National Forest

Child’s Glacier

Waves & Wind Erosion Key Terms Beach Longshore Drift Spit

Sand Dune Deflation Loess Glacial Flood

Plain

Waves

The energy of ocean waves comes from wind blowing across the water’s surface and transferring energy to the water

Ocean waves hitting land cause erosion through impact and abrasion. Waves also move and deposit sediment along the shore.

Much of the sand on N.C.’s Cape Hatteras originally came from the Hudson River, Long Island and Southern New England

Wind Erosion

Wind causes erosion mainly through deflation, the blowing of surface materials

Landforms created by wind deposition include sand dunes and loess deposits

There are two main sources of wind-deposited clay and silt: deserts and glacial meltwater floodplains