Weathering, Erosion and Deposition
Background: Weathering is the process of breaking down rocks. Weathering can be either
mechanical, simple breaking rocks into smaller pieces by a force, or chemical, changing the rock
by chemical reactions. Erosion is the movement of the rocks away from their original source.
Deposition is the depositing of the rocks in a new location after erosion. Put a W, E or D
_____1. The delta (a fan-shaped mound of underwater dirt) at the mouth of the Jordan River where it
empties into the Great Salt Lake.
_____2. A farmer plowing a field
_____3. Tree roots breaking up a rock
_____4. Lichens (a moss-like organism) crumbling a rock in Little Cottonwood Canyon
_____5. A rock rusting where the rain water has chemically reacted with the metals inside the rock
_____6. A river carving out a deep V-shaped valley
_____7. The sand dunes at Little Sahara in Juab County.
_____8. A large rock being broken down and becoming part of the soil
_____9. The large, fan-shaped area of dirt at the mouth of Slate Canyon in Provo.
_____10. The stone of a statue being “pitted” due to the pollution in the air
_____11. A huge mudslide moving down the hillside at Thistle, Utah.
_____12. New piles of dirt formed along the edges of an ice glacier as it slowly moves along
_____13. A mountain glacier carving out a cirque (also called a ‘bowl’ by skiers)
_____14. Feldspar in a piece of granite being changed into clay by water
_____15. Piles of small rocks at the bottom of steep canyon walls in Big Cottonwood Canyon
_____16. Long stalactites and stalagmites in Timpanogos Cave
_____17. A will animal urinating in a bed of rocks
_____18. Wind-blown sand wearing out the bottom of a rock
_____19. Wind causing rock to fall off of a steep cliff
_____20. After a very cold night, the bright morning sun warms a large rock causing pieces of the rock to
chip off.