Erosion — Science definition
Defined in 2 courses:
- Transport of material by agents such as flowing water, wind, ice, or gravity. (Science 6: Matter, Energy & Earth Systems)
- The transport of weathered sediment from one location to another by water, wind, ice, or gravity. (Earth & Space Science)
Where it is taught
- Rocks, Weathering & the Rock Cycle — Earth Systems, Plates & Earth Materials, Science 6: Matter, Energy & Earth Systems, Grade 6
- Weathering, Erosion & Deposition — Rocks, Landscapes & Water, Earth & Space Science, Grade 9
In use
Once rock has been broken into loose sediment, erosion is the step that picks it up and carries it somewhere new.
Weathering, Erosion & Deposition
Questions using erosion
Problem 1
- The rock cycle forces every rock through one fixed sequence.
- erosion: Transport of material by agents such as flowing water, wind, ice, or gravity.
- Metamorphism requires complete melting of the rock.
- One illustrative result establishes every real condition and needs no further evidence.
Answer and explanation
erosion: Transport of material by agents such as flowing water, wind, ice, or gravity.
Transport of material by agents such as flowing water, wind, ice, or gravity. Cooling forms igneous rock; weathering supplies loose fragments; erosion transports them; deposition makes sediment layers; cementation can form sedimentary rock. The original igneous rock could instead undergo metamorphism while solid, or later remelt. The sequence does not require every rock to follow these events or specify their duration.
Problem 2
- Only earthquakes
- Wind, water, ice, and gravity
- Only chemical reactions
- Only volcanic eruptions
Answer and explanation
Wind, water, ice, and gravity
Erosion transports sediment via wind, water, ice (glaciers), or gravity (mass wasting).
Problem 3
- moves material
- breaks material down in place
- deposits material
- only happens in water
Answer and explanation
breaks material down in place
Weathering breaks rock down where it sits; erosion transports the pieces.