Science Study Guide – Chapter 7 – Weathering and Erosion Name: _______________________________
Chapter 7 – How the Earth’s surface is changed
1. The Earth’s crust is the outer layer of the Earth.
2. Be able to list 4 landforms on the Earth’s surface include mountains, plains, peninsulas, valleys, and canyons.
3. Be able to list several types of landforms.
4. Landforms may take shape very slowly or very quickly.
5. Weathering is the process that breaks rocks in Earth’s crust into smaller pieces; landforms are then changed.
6. Weathering can happen slow or fast.
7. Causes of weathering include water, ice, temperature change, living things, and chemicals.
8. In chemical weathering, chemicals cause rocks to change into different materials and break down.
9. Acid rain is an example of chemical wreathing.
10. In physical weathering, rocks are broken down into smaller pieces.
11. Glaciers are huge sheets of ice that creep slowly over land and can cause physical weathering.
12. Be able to explain physical weathering with flowing water and waves, sand and gravel.
13. The constant action of flowing water and waves shapes landforms and is an example of physical weathering.
14. Sand and gravel from the waves continue to weather landforms and is an example of physical weathering.
15. Freezing and thawing is an example of physical weathering.
16. Living things, such as growing roots, can break about rock and cause physical weathering.
17. What is soil made of? Sand, silt, clay, dying (decaying) plants and animals.
18. Most soil is made up of sand, silt, and clay, and may include decaying plants and animals.
19. Erosion is the movement of weathered materials and is caused by wind, water, glaciers, living things and
gravity.
20. Wind, water, glaciers, and living things transport (move) and deposit rock in new places.
21. Deposition is the laying down of pieces of rock and soil; the land is built up by these deposits of rocks, sand,
and soil.
22. The rapid downhill movement of a large amount of rock and soil is a landslide, or mudslide, and is an example
of a rapid change to earth’s crust.
23. A volcano is a cone-shaped landform that forms at a weak spot in Earth’s crust where magma reaches the
surface.
24. When a volcano erupts or there is a flood, these are examples of a rapid change to Earth’s crust.
25. A volcano that has not erupted for a long time is said to be dormant.
26. An active volcano has frequent eruptions. (frequent = often)
27. A fault is a break or crack in rocks where Earth’s crust can move.
28. The sudden movement that causes Earth’s crust to shake is an earthquake.
29. In California, many towns and cities are built along a huge fault system called the San Andreas Fault.