ESQ: Surface Water Erosion

What is the process of moving sediments from location to another?

• Deposition

• Erosion

• Weathering

• Compaction

Which is not a factor that affects water runoff?

• Slope of the land

• Vegetation

• Pull of the moon

• Soil Type

Look at this picture. How does rainwater cause weathering and erosion?

• Rain can't cause erosion.

• The water breaks down soil and carries it down the river.

• The water eats the soil.

• The water does not carry soil.

The course of a river changed over a period of 100 years, as shown in the before and after diagrams below. Which two factors most directly caused this change over time?

• wind and rain 
• freezing and thawing
• erosion and deposition
• condensation and evaporation

The diagrams below show what a river looked like fifty years ago and what it looks like today. Which statement describes how a process acting slowly could have caused the river to become shallow over time?

• A heavy rainfall raised the water level and flooded the river.
• A glacier melted upstream and the water flowed into the river.
• A large amount of soil was moved into the river during an earthquake.
• A small amount of soil was deposited each time the river current slowed down.

A meander cut off from a river forms which feature?

• alluvial fan

• delta

• flood plain

• oxbow lake

A wide, sloping deposit of sediment formed where a stream leaves a mountain range and deposits onto land.

• flood plain

• delta

• alluvial fan

• gully

An area of land in which all of the water falling or flowing over it drains to the same location is a/an…

• drainage basin

• water table

• river system

• aquifer

Which of the following forms of surface water erosion is correctly explained?

• Sheet erosion, over time, eventually produces rills and gullies.

• Rills are small channels formed by rain, over time they may broaden to become gullys.

• Gullies may accumulate sediments and eventually narrow, becoming rills.

• Sediments eventually plug up rills and gullies, leaving only sheet erosion to impact an area of land.

Which of the following statements is not true?

• Water causes more erosion on slopes without plants
• Water flows from higher to lower ground
• Faster water erodes more sediment
• As water slows, smaller particles are deposited first