| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| erosion | Process in which surface materials are worn away and transported from one place to another by agents such as gravity, water, wind and glaciers |
| deposition | dropping of settlements that occurs when an agent of erosion, such as gravity, wind, or water, loses its energy and no longer carry its load |
| mass movement | any type of erosion that occurs when a mass of materials down slope |
| slump | a type of mass movement that occurs when a mass of material moves down a curved slope |
| creep | a type of mass movement in which settlements move down slope very slowly; it is common in areas of freezing and thawing, can calls walls, tress, and fences to lean downhill |
| glacier | large, movement masses of ice and snow that change large areas of the Earths surface through erosion and deposition |
| plucking | process that adds gravel, sand, and boulders to glaciers bottom and sides as water freezes and thaws, breaking off pieces of surrounding rock |
| till | mixture of different-sized sediments that is dropped from the base of retreating glacier and can cover huge areas of land |
| moraine | large ridges of rocks and soil deposited by glacier when it stops moving forward |
| outwash | material deposited y meltwater from a glacier |
| deflation | a type of erosion that occurs when wind blows over loose sediments, removes small particles, and leaves coarser sediments behind |
| abrasion | the type of erosion that occurs when windblown sediments strike rocks and sediments, polishing and pitting their surface |
| loess | windblown deposit of tightly packed, fine-grained sediments |
| dune | mound formed when windblown sediments pile up behind an obstacle; common land form in the desert areas |
