Changes to Land
By Mr. Cramer
Student Expectations
•You are expected to observe and
identify slow changes to Earth’s
surface caused by weathering,
erosion, and deposition from water,
wind, and ice.
Important Ideas
•Wind, water, and ice can cause changes to
Earth’s surface slowly over time.
•Earth’s materials can be changed by
weathering, erosion, and deposition.
•We can observe the results of weathering,
erosion, and deposition on Earth’s surface.
Vocabulary
• Weathering
• Erosion
• Sediment
• Deposition
• Glaciers
• River Delta
Weathering
• Weathering is the breakdown of rock due to the effects of chemical
reactions, water, ice, plant life, temperature and air.
Weathering in action-Freeze/Thaw (Freezing
expands the crack)
• Weathering is when rocks are broken down into smaller and smaller
pieces by the effects of weather (water, freezing and thawing).
Erosion
• Erosion is the wearing down and movement of sediment by wind,
water or ice (glaciers).
Glacial Erosion
More Glacial Erosion- “a hanging valley”
Cool erosion in the Arizona desert
Sediment
• Sediment is rock and shells that are broken down due to erosion and
weathering.
Deposition
•Deposition is when eroded
sediment is finally dropped in a new
location.
River Delta
• A river delta is a large flat area of land at the
mouth of a river created by deposited sediment.
Glaciers
• A glacier is a large body of moving ice that stays
frozen all year. A glacier causes erosion.
Questions???????
•What are the causes of weathering?
•What are the causes of erosion?
•What are the effects of weathering,
erosion, and deposition on the Earth’s
surface?