Study Guide Weathering / Erosion / Water Cycle / Topography
The following questions all concern things we’ve read about in the text, discussed in class,
watched in movies, worked on with models or activities, or completed on worksheets.
Please look over all returned work, notes, your textbook, and especially your memory to help
you find the answers. This is NOT Homework. It is optional.
1) What is weathering? What are the two types of weathering?
2) What does breaking rocks down “mechanically” mean? “Chemically”?
3) Besides HOW they are broken down, what is the main difference between rocks broken
down mechanically and rocks broken down chemically?
4) What are the five different ways to break down rocks mechanically?
5) What is abrasion?
6) How is it possible that a little particle, like sand, can break down big rocks down into
little pieces? What is required to wear away an entire mountain?
7) What is an “agent”?
8) What are the four “agents” of abrasion?
9) What is a “wedge”? What is ice wedging?
10) How does freezing and thawing water create a “wedge” that breaks down rocks?
11) What is exfoliation? How does it break down rocks?
12) How do plants help break rocks down into smaller pieces?
13) How do animals help break rocks down into smaller pieces?
14) What are the five “agents” of chemical weathering?
15) How does water chemically break down a rock?
16) Why is water considered the most important agent of weaterhing?
17) How does carbon dioxide chemically break down a rock?
18) What is carbonic acid? How are caverns formed?
19) How do plant roots chemically break down a rock?
20) What is sulfuric acid? How is it formed?
21) What is acid precipitation? How does it chemically break down a rock?
22) Why don’t we have much acid rain on the west coast, but more on the east coast?
21) What is oxidation? What is rust?
22) How does oxygen chemically break down a rock?
23) What is a catalyst? How does water act as a catalyst for oxidation of metal?
24) What is surface area? What does it have to do with weathering rock?
25) What does permeable mean? How does being permeable help speed up how fast a
rock breaks down?
26) What is climate? How is it different from weather?
27) Which area of the world (or country) do you think rocks would break down the fastest in?
The slowest? Please explain why for each.
28) What does elevation mean?
29) Why would rocks at the top of a mountain weather more quickly than rocks at the bottom?
30) Why/how does hotter temperatures help break down rock faster?
31) Why would the type of rock be a factor in how fast the rock breaks down?
32) Why would the type of agent be a factor in how fast the rock breaks down?