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Changes over Time:
Constructive Processes
 Constructive Processes: build Earth’s surface up.
 Destructive Processes: wear Earth’s surface down.
Deposition
Weathering breaks down rock into smaller pieces  erosion moves pieces of
rock to new places  Wind and water move the rock pieces along, but when
wind and moving water slow down, they cannot carry as much material They
drop some or all of the rock pieces they are carrying.
Deposition is the dropping of material by water, wind, or glaciers.
 The deposition material is called sediment, which builds up into new
landforms.
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Deltas
a flat piece of land made up of
sediment deposited by a river
near its mouth.
- is usually shaped like a
triangle or fan.
Floodplains
Heavy rainfall, a river may
overflow its banks. Then water
spreads out over the land on
both sides of the river. The
water slows down and drops
the sediment it is carrying. The
sediment forms a wide, flat
area of land called a
floodplain.
Beaches
Ocean water deposits sediment.
- the sand on beaches starts far
inland. Rivers carry it to the ocean,
where it sinks to the bottom. Ocean
waves wash some sand back on
shore. Over thousands of years a
beach forms.
Dunes
- a hill of sand deposited by
wind that form along some ocean
shores and in sandy deserts. Wind
blowing from the ocean toward
land picks up sand along the shore
and deposits it nearby. As the wind
deposits more sand, dunes form.
- a ridge of rock and soil
deposited when a glacier
melts.
 As a glacier moves it picks
up rock and soil and then
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when it melts it leaves
material behind.
Moraines
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 Earthquakes can build up areas on land. They happen when rock
suddenly moves along a fault.
 A fault is a break in the rock that makes up Earth’s crust, or top layer.
 Pressure deep underground may push the land on one side of the
fault upward. The result is a clifflike landform called a fault scarp.
 Changes during an earthquake happen quickly, but rock can also move
at faults much more slowly. Over millions of years, rock pushed up
along faults can form tall mountain ranges. The Sierra Nevada
Mountains in California formed in that way.
 Volcanic eruptions also build up Earth’s surface. When a
volcano erupts, hot, melted rock flows out of it. Melted rock
underground is called magma.
 When magma reaches the surface it is called lava.
 On the surface, lava cools and hardens and forms solid rock.
 As a volcano erupts over and over, rock formed from lava piles
up. Over a long time, a mountain can form.
 The Hawaiian Islands are mountains that formed around
volcanoes on the ocean floor.
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Vocabulary – Words to Know
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Deposition- the dropping of material by
water, wind or glaciers.
Sediment- rock particles or other material
deposited by water, wind, or glaciers.
Delta- a flat piece of land made up of
sediment deposited by a river near its
mouth.
Floodplain- a wide, flat area of land formed
from sediment deposited by a river outside
its bank.
Dune- a hill of sand deposited by wind.
Moraine- a ridge of rock and soil deposited
when a glacier melts.
Fault- a break in the rock that makes up
Earth’s crust, or top layer.
Magma- melted rock below Earth’s surface.
Lava- melted rock that has reached Earth’s
surface.
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Created by: Cammie’s Corner