Mass Wasting

• Is mouvement in which bed rock, rock debris, or soil moves down slope in bulk.

 Weathering

• Break down of the materials of Earths crust into smaller pieces.

Mechanical Weathering

• Process by which rocks are broken down into smaller pieces by external conditions.

Salt Cracking

• Occurs when saltwater enters a crack in a rock and then evaporates. It leaves behind salt crystals which can exert force and enlarge the cracks.
• common near coastlines as salty spray constantly hits the rocks.

Frost Wedging

• Break up due to repeated freezing and thawing

Thermal Expansion

• Occurs when rocks are exposed to severe heat. The crystal structures of the minerals in the rock expand, causing outer layers of rock to "peel" off. 

Organic Activity: Plant Growth

• Roots growing in cracks can break apart rocks.

Organic Activity: Animals

• Burrowing animals can help to remove soils and expose the rocks to weathering.

Chemical Weathering

• The process that breaks down through chemical changes.

Acid Rain

• Compounds from burning coal, oil and gas react chemically with water creating acids.
• Acid rain causes very rapid chemical weathering.

Karst Topography

• A type of landscape in rainy regions where there is limestone near the surface.
• For examples by caves, sinkholes and disapearing streams.
• Created by chemical weathering of limestone.

Residual Soil

• Forms from the weathering of the underlying bedrock.

Transported Soil

• Different in composition from underlying bedrock. Ex Long Island Soil.
• Takes hundreds of years for soil to form.

Erosion

• The process by which water, ice, wind orgravity moves fragments of rocks and soils.

Soil Degradation

• The decrease in soil productivity or loss of soil to erosion.

Sorting

• Sediments are seperated based on the size of their grains.

Lithification

• The process where by sediments are altered into sedimentary rocks. This involves the compaction and/or cementing of sediments.

Compaction

• Occurs when buried sediments are squeezed together by the pressure from overlying sediment.
• This is most effective with small particles.

Cementing

• Occurs when minerals such as calcite, silica and iron compounds precipitate from ground water and bind sediments together.

Deposition

• The process in which sediment is laid down in new locations.