Name: Date: Number:Study Guide: Earth’s Surface Processes

For questions (1), (2), and (3), write the layer of soil that matches the description.

(1) Humus This layer is composed entirely of recycled organic material.

(2) B Horizon This is the last layer that you would possibly find plant roots.

(3) Bedrock This is the layer that breaks down to form soil.

(4) List two different ways soil can form.1. From bedrock or other rocks that were crushed2. Dead animals and plants recycled by decomposers

(5) Order from biggest to smallest: sand, clay, silt, gravel.Gravel, Sand, silt, clay

(6) How can water be involved in mechanical weathering? How can water be involved in chemical weathering?Mechanical: Freezing and thawing/frost wedging; current can break down rock; abrasion (water carrying rock particles that hit other rocks), rain water, water can dissolve rocksChemical: acid rain, oxidation, water dissolving chemicals

(7) Circle the examples of chemical weathering: frost wedging, oxidation, water dissolving chemicals, water dissolving rock, abrasion, acid rain, weak acids from plants, animal action, plants breaking apart rocks with roots, carbonic acid

Give definitions of each:Frost wedging: (aka freezing and thawing); when water goes into the cracks of rocks and freezes and expands, breaking rocksOxidation: when oxygen and water and iron mix and become rustAbrasion: when rock particles carried by wind, water, gravity, or ice break apart other rocksAcid rain: pollution in the air makes its way into clouds or raindrops and falls in rain, breaking down rocksCarbonic acid: When carbon dioxide dissolves in waterWeak acids from plants: Plant roots produce acid that slowly breaks down rockAnimal action: When burrowers break down soil through digging

(8) Which agent of chemical weathering most likely resulted in the following rock? EXPLAIN.

Oxidation because it appears to have rustWhen oxygen and iron mix and become rust

(9) Which agent of mechanical weathering most likely resulted in the following rock? EXPLAIN.

Freezing and thawing because there is snow and ice around; cracks from freezing and thawing can be wide and dramaticFreezing and thawing/frost wedging – when water gets in cracks and freezes and expands

(10) Which agent of chemical weathering most likely resulted in the following statue? EXPLAIN.

Acid rain – the splotches are where acid raindrops fellAcid rain – pollution makes its way into clouds and raindrops

(11) Will permeable rock weather faster or slower than non-permeable rock? EXPLAIN.Permeables rocks have air holes in them. These rocks weather fast because they have more surface area and water and acids can get inside of them.

(12) If mechanical weathering breaks a rock into pieces, how would this affect the rate at which the rock weathers chemically?If a rock is in pieces, it has more surface area, and therefore will weather faster if chemical weathering happens after.

(13) List the four factors that affect the rate of weathering.Surface area, climate, type of weathering, type of rock

(14) What are the five agents of erosion?Gravity (mass movement), glacier, wind, wave, water

(15) Which agent of erosion has impacted Earth’s surface the most?water

(16) What is the difference between weathering and erosion?Weathering is the process of rocks breaking down and forming sediment. Erosion is moving sediment from one place to another.

(17) How does the cycle of weathering, erosion, and deposition change Earth’s topography?Weathering breaks down rock. Erosion moves those pieces of rock. Deposition deposits the rocks somewhere else.

(18) Give the name of the following land features AND explain how they were formed:a) b)

Delta – where several rivers flow into larger body of tributary – when a smaller river leads into a Water and deposit sediment larger one

c) d) Made of clay

Till – what is left behind from a glacier’s movement Loess – wind moves clay into piles

*NOTE: Look over all features from your homework text search packet!!! Any of those features could appear on the test. You need to be able to identify them AND explain how they were formed.

(19) List the different landforms that could result from the following agents of erosion:Mass movement: mudslide, landslide, creep, slumpGlacier: horn, glacial lake, till, moraineWind: loess, sand duneWater: gully, rills, delta, flood plain, waterfall, stream, tributaryWave: beach, headland, sand bar

(19) (a) What was the experimental question this experiment was trying to answer?How does the masses of rock affect how far the rock is able to travel?(b) What is the independent variable?Size or mass of the rock(c) What is the dependent variable?How far the rock travels(d) What are three controlled variables?Fan, ruler, ground, type of rock, how many rocks, how much wind, type of weathering

(e) Write a C-E-R argument about the results of this experiment.Smaller rocks travel farther. In the experiment, the small rocks blew 1 m and the big rocks blew 0.6 m. Small rocks travel father because they weigh less and can be carried by wind more easily.

(20) Definea) Independent variable: what the experimenter changes across conditionsb) Dependent variable: what the experimenter measuresc) Controlled variables: what stays the same across all conditions

(21) Extending thinking: Does the cycle of weathering, erosion, and deposition happen quickly or over a long period of time?Over a long period of time; although some steps can be fast, most of them take a long period of time, even over hundreds of years.

(22) Explain the different horizons of soil and what you can find in each.Humus – recycled dead plant and animals (nutrients for plants)A horizon – topsoil; humus and clayB horizon – some humus and maybe some plant rootsC horizon – NO humus and lots of rocksBedrock – solid layer of rock beneath the soil

(23) Give an example AND explain what each does for the soil.a) Burrowers – Can become humus source when they die; dig into the soil and break apart rock, forming new soil; example: mouseb) Decomposers – Recycle dead animals and plants; example: worm, bacteria, fungic) Humus source – nurture plants and make soil more fertile; example: dead leaves

(24) Write a C-E-R argument about the results of the water erosion experiment you completed in class._______ condition slowed water erosion the most. In the experiment…. ____ condition slowed water erosion the most because…