← Earth and Environmental Science syllabus

New YorkEarth and Environmental Science

Surface Processes: Weathering, Erosion and Deposition

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

Why does moving water drop its sediment, and in what order do particles settle out?

Explain how deposition occurs as transporting agents lose energy, and use the Reference Tables relationship of particle size to water velocity, together with particle size, shape and density, to predict settling order and sorting.
A Regents answer on deposition and sorting: how sediment is dropped when a transporting agent slows, the Reference Tables graph of transported particle size versus water velocity, why larger and denser particles settle first, horizontal and vertical sorting, graded bedding, and how rounded versus angular shape affects settling, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →

What moves weathered material across Earth's surface, and how can we tell which agent did it?

Identify the agents of erosion (running water, glaciers, wind, waves and gravity) and use the characteristic shapes and deposits of sediment to infer which agent transported it.
A Regents answer on erosion: the agents that transport sediment (running water, glaciers, wind, waves, gravity), why running water is the dominant agent, the tell-tale evidence each agent leaves (rounded versus angular particles, scratched and grooved bedrock, V-shaped versus U-shaped valleys, sorted versus unsorted deposits), with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →

What makes one landscape a mountain and another a plateau, and how do New York's regions differ?

Explain how landscapes are classified (mountains, plateaus, plains) by elevation, relief and structure, how climate and bedrock control landscape development, and use the Reference Tables map of New York's landscape regions.
A Regents answer on landscapes: how mountains, plateaus and plains are classified by elevation, relief and rock structure, how climate (arid versus humid) and bedrock resistance shape landscape development, stream drainage patterns, and how to use the Reference Tables Generalized Landscape Regions and Bedrock Geology maps of New York, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →

How do streams shape the land, and how do we read gradient and elevation from a topographic map?

Describe stream behavior and drainage patterns, and use topographic (contour) maps with the Reference Tables gradient equation to calculate gradient, determine stream flow direction and read elevations.
A Regents answer on streams and topographic maps: how stream velocity changes with gradient and discharge, the inside versus outside of meanders, reading contour lines, the rule that contour lines bend upstream (V points uphill), determining flow direction, and using the Reference Tables gradient equation, with worked exam questions and a full gradient calculation.
13 min answer →

How does solid rock break down at Earth's surface, and how does soil form?

Distinguish physical from chemical weathering, explain the factors that control the rate of weathering (climate, surface area, rock type), and describe how weathering and other processes form soil.
A Regents answer on weathering and soil: physical (mechanical) weathering such as frost wedging versus chemical weathering such as carbonation and oxidation, how climate, surface area and rock type control the rate, why warm wet climates weather chemically faster, and how soil forms as a mix of weathered rock and organic matter, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →