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| rock forms when sediments and the remains of tiny living things settle and harden |
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| rock formed as magma and lava harden |
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| Rock formed deep below the earth's crust by heat and pressure |
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| the changing and transforming of the rock as it undergoes weathering, heat and pressure |
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| the process of breaking down rocks |
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| breaks rocks into smaller and smaller pieces |
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| transforms rocks into new substances |
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| frost wedging/frost action |
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Definition
| mechanical weathering in which water freezes and expands in cracks of rocks, forcing the rocks apart like a wedge |
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Definition
| mechanical weathering in which water freezes and expands underneath a rock, pushing the rock farther out of the ground |
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Definition
| a type of mechanical weathering that occurs when rocks shift and reduce pressure, allowing rocks to rapidly expand and creating cracks and breaks in the rock |
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| a process of mechanical weathering in which sheets of rock peel away like layers of an onion; a result of pressure release |
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| a type of mechanical weathering that occurs when rocks rub against each other |
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| type of chemical weathering when oxygen in the air combines with iron, iron oxide (rust) forms |
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| common type of chemical weathering |
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| a weak acid formed from water and carbon dioxide |
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| rain containing sulfuric acid, carbonic acid and other chemicals is stronger and weathers rocks |
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Definition
| beautiful formations in caverns, form as the dissolved calcite is deposited out of the water |
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Definition
| a cave formation that hangs from the ceiling of a cave; made from the dripping of dissolved calcite; look like stone icicles |
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Definition
| a cave formation that builds on the floor of a cave; made from the dripping of dissolved calcite; they "grow" up |
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| people who enjoy exploring caves |
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| forms when a stalactite and a stalagmite grow together |
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Definition
| forms when water seeps along a crack and hardens, leaving calcite behind in a long, delicate curtain like sheet |
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Definition
| loose material at the surface of the earth |
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| decayed organic material found in soil |
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| a scientist who studies soil |
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Definition
| the largest particle of soil. It does not retain water in the soil. |
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Definition
| the smallest particle of soil; holds nutrients and water but does not have room for air |
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| a tiny particle of soil that allows water and air to mix in the soil |
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| the amount of each kind of particle in a soil sample i.e. a sandy soil texture would contain a large amount of sand |
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| soil that has properties of all three soil particles - sand, silt and clay |
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| leaf litter and humus compose the top layer of soil |
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| A-horizon; the layer of the soil in which most plants germinate and where roots grow |
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Definition
| B-horizon; the layer of soil that contains nutrients from the humus that have washed down through the upper layers and weathered minerals from the parent rock below |
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Definition
| consists mainly of larger weathered fragments of the bedrock; it contains clay and sand particles but very little organic material; it is rich in minerals |
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| R-horizon; the layer underneath the soil that consists of unweathered rock; also called regolith |
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| small particles produced by the weathering of rocks |
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Definition
| the action of weathered material moving from one location to another |
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Definition
| a vehicle, such as gravity, water, wind, or ice, that causes erosion |
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| the droppings of sediment and rocks in a new location by gravity, wind, water or ice |
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| erosion that occurs where gravity is the primary factor |
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| mass movement where gravity slowly pulls soil down the slope of a hill; sometimes causing trees and fences on the hillside to lean at awkward angles |
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| mass movement where gravity pulls at rocks and sediment on the sides of hills and mountains |
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| mass movement where water combines with soil |
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| huge slabs of rock break off along cracks and faults |
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| mass movement where a mass of snow along the side of a mountain becomes unstable & the pull of gravity starts the snow moving and burying everything in their path |
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| the sediment that a stream carries |
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| sediment that dissolves in the water and is transported to larger bodies of water |
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| sediment that is carried by water but not dissolved |
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| an area that commonly floods |
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| the area at the mouth of a river where sediment is deposited |
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| the name of an unusually shaped delta that sprawls in all directions |
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| water is a force of erosion along shorelines |
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| wind is a powerful agent of erosion in dry areas such as deserts |
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Definition
| the action of the wind blowing and picking up loose sediment and carrying it away |
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| a storm caused by wind blowing small, loose particles high into the air |
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| a storm caused by wind blowing sand particles along the ground |
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| ice formation formed where layers of unmelted snow compact into ice |
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| the action of a glacier pulling a huge piece of bedrock loose as the glacier slides down a mountain |
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| the pile of sediment deposited by a glacier as it melts and recedes |
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| rocks that a glacier has ground into fine powder |
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| a glacier that melts faster than new snow falls |
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