Weathering and Erosion Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. A bare hillside is losing topsoil during rainstorms. Which change would most directly reduce raindrop impact and help hold the soil in place?
Removing loose leaves and organic material
Establishing native ground-cover vegetation
Deepening channels that run straight downhill
Breaking exposed rock into smaller fragments
2. Overlying material is removed from a mass of granite. As pressure decreases, curved outer sheets of rock begin to peel away. What is this called?
Carbonation
Unloading or exfoliation
Sediment compaction
Stream abrasion
3. Which statement best defines erosion?
It changes sediment into solid bedrock through compaction
It forms minerals as magma cools underground
It breaks down rock without moving the resulting material
It removes and transports weathered material
4. Two monuments are exposed to acidic rainwater: one is made of limestone and the other of relatively resistant quartz-rich rock. Why is the limestone likely to show faster surface loss?
Limestone expands more whenever wind speed increases
Its surface attracts more sediment deposition
Its carbonate minerals react readily with weak acids
Quartz-rich rock cannot undergo any weathering
5. Pebbles transported along a streambed become smoother and more rounded as they collide. Which process best explains this change?
Oxidation by dissolved oxygen
Pressure release beneath the stream
Deposition during flooding
Abrasion during transport
6. How do weathering and erosion differ?
Weathering breaks down or alters material in place, while erosion transports material
Weathering transports material, while erosion only changes it in place
Weathering affects only soil, while erosion affects only rock
Weathering occurs only in dry climates, while erosion occurs only in wet climates
7. Water enters a crack in a rock, freezes, expands, and gradually widens the crack. Which process is occurring?
Freeze-thaw weathering
Deposition
Oxidation
Carbonation
8. After heavy rain, muddy water carries loose soil from a field into a stream. Which part of the scene is an example of erosion?
The soil being carried away by the moving water
Minerals in buried rock changing chemically
Mud settling where the stream slows
Plant roots widening cracks in bedrock
9. In a dry region, wind-blown sand repeatedly strikes an exposed rock and smooths its surface. Which process is most directly responsible?
Dissolution
Deposition
Frost wedging
Abrasion
10. Which text-described scene is the clearest example of deposition?
Tree roots split a rock beside a trail
A stream carries sand through a steep channel
Acidic water enlarges cracks in limestone
Sediment settles where a river slows as it enters a lake
11. A weakly acidic solution slowly dissolves limestone. What type of process is this?
Wind erosion
Mechanical weathering
Chemical weathering
Sediment deposition
12. Roots grow into joints in a sidewalk and force the pieces farther apart. How is this best classified?
Erosion caused by running water
Chemical weathering caused by oxidation
Biological activity causing mechanical weathering
Deposition caused by gravity
13. Fence posts on a gentle slope gradually lean downhill, and small ridges form on the uphill sides of obstacles. Which slow mass movement is most likely?
A sudden rockfall
Soil creep
Sediment deposition by a river
Glacial plucking
14. Exposed rock in a desert repeatedly heats during the day and cools at night. Over time, unequal expansion and contraction contribute to cracking. Which process does this illustrate?
Chemical dissolution
Glacial erosion
Thermal mechanical weathering
River deposition
15. What is weathering?
The transport of sediment from one location to another
The breakdown or alteration of rock at or near Earth’s surface
The settling of transported material in a new location
The melting of rock beneath Earth’s surface
16. An iron-rich rock develops a reddish-brown coating after long exposure to air and moisture. What caused the change?
Oxidation
Ice wedging
Unloading
Salt deposition