| A | B |
|---|
| Weathering | The mechanical and chemical processes that break rock into smaller pieces over time |
| Mechanical weathering | Physical processes – such as abrasion, growing plant roots, expanding ice, or burrowing animals – that naturally break rocks into smaller pieces |
| Chemical weathering | The processes – such as dissolving by water, reaction with acids, or reaction with oxygen – that change the composition of rocks and minerals and cause them to wear away |
| Erosion | The movement of weathered material from one location to another by gravity, water, wind, and glaciers |
| Deposition | The laying down or settling of eroded material |
| Meander | A broad, C-shaped curve in a stream |
| Longshore current | A current that flows parallel to the shoreline |
| Delta | A large deposit of sediment that forms where a stream enters a large body of water |
| Abrasion | The grinding away of rock or other surfaces as particles carried by wind, water, or ice scrape against them |
| Dune | A pile of windblown sand |
| Mass wasting | The downhill movement of a large mass of rocks or soil due to gravity |
| Landslide | The rapid, downhill movement of soil, loose rocks, and boulders |
| Talus | A pile of angular rocks and sediment from a rockfall |
| Glacier | A large mass of ice, formed by snow accumulation on land, that moves slowly across Earth’s surface |
| Moraine | A mound or ridge of unsorted sediment deposited by a glacier |
