Weathering & Erosion Review

The sand in the Monahans Sand Dunes originated in the Rockies. What process caused it to be in Texas?

• deposition

• sledding

• weathering

• plate tectonics

Sandbars swirl beneath the inlet on North Carolina's Outer Banks. What two factors can cause the sandbars here to shift and change literally by the hour, making conditions hazardous for boats?

• wind

• glaciers

• water waves

• gravity

What caused the erosion of the trunk of this old pine tree into what look like a pair of sideways spectacles, in the mountains of Nevada's Great Basin National Park?

• wind

• water

• gravity

• acid

White lichens cover a blue granite gravestone like snow in New York. Lichens can be powerful weathering agents because they -

• secrete chemicals that work to break down rock.

• break the rocks apart using physical changes

• use gravity against the rock and cause it to fall

• add water to the path of the rock, causing it to break apart

Heavy rains in Iowa washed away soil, leaving this scarred tableau. What could reduce this erosion?

• Reducing pollution to decrease acid rain

• An increase in wind

• Recycling more paper

• Planting more vegetation

This area of Alaska's Saint Elias Mountains looks like a huge alpine highway. What slow moving agent caused this formation?

• River

• Glacier

• Wind

• Gravity

How can ice cause weathering?

• Ice contracts when it freezes, causing the rock to break

• Ice expands when it freezes, causing the rock to break

How do plants cause weathering?

• They secrete water into the rock

• They secrete acid from their roots

• They do photosynthesis

• They slide downhill and carve the rock

Why are the Appalachian Mountains more rounded than the Rockies?

• The Appalachian Mountains are older.

• The Rocky Mountains are older.

• They were formed by different types of boundaries.

• They are both at fault lines.

What do you think will happen to the Rocky Mountains over time?

• They will become sharper and higher.

• They will be replaced by big craters.

• They will become more rounded and lower.

• They will become a depression.