Weathering, Erosion, Soil & Mass Movements Vocabulary

4. slabs of outer rock separate and break loose
5. downward movement of a block of material along a curved surface
7. material that contains a lot of water and moves quickly downslope as a thick fluid
9. zones in soil that vary in composition, texture, structure, and color at different depths
13. the transformation of rock into one or more new compounds
14. wedging the repeated cycle of water in the cracks of rocks, freezing and thawing. Over time this breaks the rocks into smaller pieces
15. the transfer if rock and soil downslope due to gravity
16. a block of material moves suddenly along a flat, inclined surface

1. the slowest downhill movement of soil and regolith, cannot be directly observed.
2. a vertical cross section through all of the soil horizons
3. flows that move relatively slow
6. the part of the regolith that supports plants
8. when rock fragments fall freely through the air
10. layer of rock and mineral fragments produced by weathering
11. that contains a lot of water and moves quickly downslope as a thick fluid
12. physical forces that break rocks into smaller pieces without changing the rock's mineral composition