Question: Earth’s External Processes

Answer: Occur at or near the Earth’s surface and include weathering, mass wasting, and erosion.

Question: Weathering

Answer: The physical breakdown and chemical alteration of rocks

Question: Mass wasting

Answer: The transfer of rock and soil downslope because of gravity

Question: Erosion

Answer: The physical removal of material by wind, water, or ice.

Question: Mechanical weathering

Answer: The physical forces that break rock into smaller pieces without changing its composition. (Paper being ripped.)

Question: Chemical weathering

Answer: Involves a chemical transformation of rock into one or more new compounds.

Question: Frost wedging

Answer: The freeze/thaw cycle of water that breaks rocks apart

Question: Talus slopes

Answer: Large piles of rocks at bases of steep rocky cliffs.

Question: Sheeting

Answer: Onion-like layers that form on exposed igneous rock due to erosion.

Question: Exfoliation domes

Answer: Crystalline rocks that exhibit sheeting when they expand because of erosion.