Chapter 3 Information Sheet

Important Vocabulary: erosion, sediment, deposition, gravity, mass movement,

runoff, energy, flood plain, meander, delta, load, headland, beach, sand dune, glacier, ice age

Important Concepts:
1. The geologic cycle wears down (weathering, erosion) and builds up (deposition) the Earths surface. This has been happening for billions of years. (p89) 2. Gravity causes mass movement which moves sediment downhill rapidly in the case of landslides, mudflows, and slump, or slowly in the case of creep. (p89-91) 3. Runoff causes water erosion. How much rain, vegetation, soil type, land shape, and human usage affect the amount of runoff in an area. Runoff collects into rills which form gullies which form streams. (p95-96) 4. Energy in a river does work changing the shape of the land by erosion to create waterfalls and valleys, to widen flood plains, and to form meanders and oxbow lakes. Through deposition, rivers create alluvial flans and deltas, and enrich the fertility of flood plains by adding soil. Slope, volume, and streambed shape affect a rivers sediment load. (p96-103) 5. Wind energy creates waves which shape the coast by erosion from impact and abrasion. Wave erosion create headlands, cliffs, arches, and caves while wind deposition creates beaches, spits, and sandbars (p108-112) 6. Wind erosion is greatest in the desert. Deflation blows sediment away. Deposition forms sand dunes and fertile loess deposits (112-114) 7. Glaciers from where snow falls faster than it melts. Continental glaciers are huge and flow in all directions. They cover 10% of Earths land. During the Ice Ages continental glaciers expanded to cover much more of Earths surface. Valley glaciers are bound by mountains. (p116-117) 8. Glaciers erode the land though plucking and abrasion. When glaciers melt, deposition of till create a moraine. When glaciers retreat kettles and kettle lakes form. (p117-119) Practice Due Test Due: