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Erosion and Mass Wasting

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I have the following task, and I need some help getting started: Write a response about: the importance of wind as an agent of erosion, and explain why statements that credit wind as having sculpted the landscape are probably inaccurate. Also comment on how climate influences mass wasting, and why might arid climates experience a great deal of mass wasting even though there is less annual rainfall?

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Solution Summary

A review of variations of erosion compared to weathering processes; comparing mass wasting in different climates.

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It is true that the earth's surface is constantly moving. This is true as a result of two processes: weathering and erosion. Both processes include wind, but wind is not the only process involved. When rocks are exposed to wind, water, cold and heat, they break down into smaller pieces by the process of weathering. This material is moved by gravity wind and water, a process called erosion.

There are two types of weathering, mechanical and chemical. Mechanical weathering is a gradual physical process from rock to clay, caused by hot and cold weather expanding and shrinking rocks to cause cracks. When water enter the cracks and freeze it can split the rock. Flowing water can turn the rock into sand, as can sand caught up in wind blowing across the rock. Even a glacier can rub debris against the rock to ...

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