Weathering and Erosion | What Is the Difference between Weathering and Erosion?

Summary

The script explains the processes of weathering and erosion that shape landforms over time. It details how weathering breaks down rocks through chemical, mechanical, and biological means. Erosion then moves these particles via water, wind, ice, gravity, and living things. The constant interplay between weathering and erosion along coastlines creates landforms like bays and sea cliffs. The script reviews the differences between weathering and erosion, emphasizing that erosion requires prior weathering. It concludes by encouraging viewers to observe how even small natural processes like raindrops and worms can drive these Earth-shaping forces.

Takeaways

• 😀 Weathering breaks down rocks while erosion moves rocks and sediment
• 🌊 Water, wind and ice are main causes of erosion
• 😮 Chemical, mechanical and biological processes cause weathering
• 🌱 Worms, roots, etc. cause biological weathering
• ⛰️ Gravity causes erosion through landslides and rock slides
• ❄️ Glaciers are massive ice formations that cause erosion
• 👷 Humans cause erosion through farming and construction
• 🛑 Deposition stops erosion and can form new landforms
• 🔁 Weathering and erosion are constant, ongoing processes
• 🎓 Understanding these processes helps appreciate nature's impact

Q & A

What are the two main processes that create or destroy landforms?

The two main processes that create or destroy landforms are weathering and erosion.

What is the difference between weathering and erosion?

Weathering is the breaking down or decomposing of rocks, while erosion is the movement of the broken down rocks and sediment.

What are the three types of weathering?

The three types of weathering are: chemical weathering, mechanical weathering, and biological weathering.

How does chemical weathering cause changes to rocks?

Chemical weathering causes changes through chemical reactions on the surface or minerals inside the rock.

What causes mechanical weathering?

Mechanical weathering is caused by forces like frost, ice, moving water, or heat from the sun.

What causes biological weathering?

Biological weathering is caused by living organisms like plants, animals, worms, and tree roots breaking rocks into smaller pieces.

What are the three main causes of erosion?

The three main causes of erosion are water, wind, and ice.

How can humans cause erosion?

Humans can cause erosion through activities like farming, cutting down trees, and constructing roads and buildings.

What is deposition?

Deposition is when eroded sediments, soil and rocks come to rest and build up in an area, possibly forming new landforms.

Why do weathering and erosion constantly reshape the earth?

Weathering and erosion are ongoing, natural processes that are constantly breaking down and moving rock particles around the planet.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Weathering and erosion concepts for beginners

This paragraph introduces weathering and erosion. It explains that weathering is the process of breaking down rocks, while erosion is the movement of those broken pieces. Examples are given, like breaking a rock into smaller pieces is weathering, and blowing those pieces away is erosion. Coastlines show constant weathering and erosion from water and wind carrying away sand and rocks over time, shaping the land.

05:01

😀 Review of key learnings on weathering and erosion

This paragraph summarizes the key learnings. The 3 types of weathering are listed (chemical, mechanical, biological). The 3 main causes of erosion are listed (water, wind, ice). It explains biological weathering happens through living organisms. Key differences between weathering and erosion are highlighted. The paragraph ends by encouraging readers to observe weathering and erosion processes in nature.

Keywords

💡weathering

Weathering is the process of breaking down or decomposing rocks. It is one of the main processes that creates or destroys landforms. The script gives examples of different types of weathering like chemical, mechanical, and biological. For example, it states that beach coastlines are constantly weathering when the sea water crashes against the rocks.

💡erosion

Erosion is the movement of rocks, soil, and sediment that have been broken apart through weathering. It is the second key process along with weathering that changes landforms. The script lists different causes of erosion like water, wind, ice, gravity, living organisms, and even human activities.

💡landforms

Landforms refer to the natural physical features on the Earth's surface, like mountains, valleys, plateaus etc. The video explains how weathering and erosion can create or destroy different landforms over time, like bays, caves, sea cliffs and dunes.

💡chemical weathering

Chemical weathering causes changes to the mineral composition of rocks through chemical reactions. It alters rocks on a molecular level. The script states it happens to minerals inside or on the surface of rocks.

💡mechanical weathering

Mechanical weathering physically breaks apart rocks using mechanical forces, without changing their chemical composition. The script gives examples like frost, ice, heat causing cracks and breaking of rocks.

💡biological weathering

Biological weathering is the breakdown of rocks caused by living organisms like plant roots, animal burrows etc. The script specifically points out how worms and tree roots can weather rocks.

💡water erosion

Water is one of the main causes of erosion that moves sediment particles. The script lists natural sources of water erosion like rain, rivers, waves and floods.

💡wind erosion

Wind picks up and carries particles, eventually crashing them into landforms and causing erosion through abrasion over time. Wind erosion is therefore a key process in shaping landforms.

💡ice erosion

Glaciers as massive ice formations move and shift their weight, causing erosion of landforms in their path. The gravitational force and pressure exerted causes landforms to break apart over time.

💡deposition

Deposition refers to the settling of eroded sediments and soils in new locations. It marks the ending point of erosion, and possibly the beginning of new landform creation. The script relates it to particles reaching a temporary or final resting place.

Highlights

Weathering breaks up rocks, while erosion moves the broken pieces

Chemical weathering changes minerals in rocks through chemical reactions

Mechanical weathering breaks rocks through frost, ice, water or heat

Biological weathering happens when plants, animals or organisms break rocks

Erosion moves broken rock pieces through wind, water, ice and gravity

Deposition is when eroded sediments come to rest forming new landforms

Weathering and erosion shape coastlines creating bays, cliffs and dunes

Erosion can happen quickly in landslides or slowly over millions of years

Humans cause erosion through farming, construction and resource use

Raindrops and worms slowly change the earth through weathering & erosion

There are 3 types of weathering: chemical, mechanical and biological

The 3 main causes of erosion are water, wind and ice

Biological weathering involves living organisms breaking rocks

Erosion can happen quickly or slowly over millions of years

Weathering breaks rocks, erosion moves the broken pieces

Transcripts

[Music]

weathering and erosion for kids

there are two main processes that result

in the creation or destruction of

landforms weathering

and erosion

weathering is the process of decomposing

breaking up or changing the color of

rocks

while erosion is the movement of rocks

and sediment that have been broken apart

through weathering

both of these things might seem pretty

similar but there are actually a few key

differences

so what are the differences between

weathering and erosion

think of it this way if you break up a

rock into a bunch of tiny little pieces

the rock has gone through the process of

weathering

after you break up the rock you might

hold some of the rock pieces in your

hand and blow them away

the movement of the rock pieces from

your hand to somewhere else is the

process of erosion

here's another example

beach coastlines are constantly

weathering when the salty sea crashes

against the coast's rocks and sand the

rocks and sand then go through the

process of erosion when they're carried

away by wind and water

this constant process of weathering and

erosion along the coastline can create

or destroy all kinds of new landforms

like bays

caves

sea cliffs and coastal dunes

weathering there are three main types of

weathering

the first is chemical weathering

chemical weathering causes changes to

the minerals inside or on the surface of

a rock

this process

happens through chemical reactions

second is mechanical weathering

mechanical weathering is caused by frost

ice

moving water

or heat from the sun

an example is when water seeps inside a

rock and freezes the frozen water

expands causing the cracks in the rock

which eventually breaks the rock into

smaller pieces

the last type of weathering is called

biological weathering

biological weathering is the process

that occurs when plants animals and

other living organisms cause larger

rocks to be broken into smaller pieces

worms and tree roots are two examples of

biological weathering because in both

cases the weathering happens because of

a living organism

these three types of weathering cause

rocks to break up into smaller pieces

which sets the stage for erosion to take

place

erosion

once weathering has taken place the

smaller pieces of rock left over can

begin to move by natural forces this is

the process of erosion

erosion can happen rapidly or over the

course of millions of years

the three main causes of erosion are

water

wind

and ice

but all different kinds of things can

cause erosion to happen

water can cause erosion through rain

rivers

waves and floods

these natural events and landforms

cause erosion as the water crashes into

the earth

gathering and moving particles along the

way

wind picks up and carries loose

particles and dust sometimes crashing

into other landforms and breaking off

more particles

this process is called abrasion

there are massive formations of ice

called glaciers these icy masses move

and shift to cause erosion

the forces of gravity can cause erosion

too think of a landslide or a rock slide

falling down the slope of a mountain

this happens because of earth's

gravitational pull

living organisms like plants and animals

cause erosion as they move particles

from place to place

even humans can cause erosion

although not naturally occurring humans

can cause erosion through farming

cutting down trees and building roads

and buildings

everything you do to the earth can cause

all kinds of changes

through erosion the sand pebbles mud or

other pieces of sediment might

eventually reach their final or

temporary resting place

when the sediment rests or deposits it

is called deposition

deposition is the process of sediments

soil and rocks being added to a landform

or land masses

it marks the process of erosion coming

to an end and possibly results in the

forming of a new landform

but remember weathering and erosion are

happening all the time so when one of

these processes has finished another

process just might be starting

we've learned a lot of new facts so

let's review

what are the three different types of

weathering

chemical

mechanical

and biological

what are the three main causes of

erosion

water

wind

and ice

what kind of weathering happens when a

living organism is involved

biological weathering

true or false

erosion only takes place over millions

of years

faults

erosion can take place gradually over

time but it can also happen quickly

what's the difference between weathering

and erosion

weathering causes rocks to break up into

smaller pieces

while erosion is the process of taking

these particles somewhere else

great job science geniuses

the next time it rains consider how each

little drop of water affects the rocks

and dirt it touches and when the rain

settles and you see worms and snails

rising from the soil think about how

their movement no matter how small

can change the earth beneath your feet

forever

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