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Ex. McQueen - Earthquake

Landforms

Earthquake

Tsunami

Volcanic Eruption

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Comment your name HERE if you have chosen this topic. Only 5 students can join! The first 5 to comment will get the spot.

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Comment your name HERE if you have chosen this topic. Only 5 students can join! The first 5 to comment will get the spot.

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Comment your name HERE if you have chosen this topic. Only 5 students can join! The first 5 to comment will get the spot.

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Typhoons are powerful storms that bring strong winds, heavy rain, and large waves. In other parts of the world, they are called hurricanes or tropical cyclones, but in the Philippines and nearby countries, we call them typhoons. These storms start over warm ocean water and can grow very big and strong. While typhoons come from the sky—not from inside the Earth like volcanoes or earthquakes—they can still change the land in many ways.

🌊 Flooding and Erosion

One of the biggest dangers from a typhoon is flooding. When a typhoon brings too much rain, rivers and lakes can overflow. Water can rush over streets, farms, and fields. As the flood moves, it carries soil, rocks, and plants with it. This process is called erosion—when land gets worn away or moved.

Sometimes, entire fields or parts of a forest can disappear after a big flood. The land that remains may be muddy, changed, or even dangerous to live on. Roads and houses might be covered in mud or water, and some areas take months or even years to recover.

🏞️ Landslides

Another way typhoons change the Earth is through landslides. When the soil on hills or mountains gets soaked with rain, it becomes heavy. If it becomes too heavy, it can slide down suddenly. This is called a landslide.

Landslides can change the shape of hills and mountains, destroy forests, and cover roads or villages. They also move soil and rocks from one place to another, creating new shapes on the land. After a landslide, the ground may look very different from before.

🏝️ Changing Coastlines

Typhoons also bring strong waves and storm surges—a sudden rise of ocean water pushed by the wind. These waves crash onto beaches and shores, washing away sand, rocks, and even houses.

Over time, this can change the shape of coastlines. Some beaches disappear, while others grow as waves bring new sand. Sometimes, land near the ocean sinks or breaks apart. In a single storm, an island’s shape can be completely changed.

🧂 Saltwater in Farmland

When a storm surge pushes seawater inland, it can reach rice fields and farms. This is called saltwater intrusion. Saltwater damages the soil, making it hard for crops to grow. Farmers may not be able to plant for a long time until the soil becomes healthy again.

This can affect food supply and the way people live. Some families have to move or wait before they can plant again.

🗺️ New River Paths

After a typhoon, some rivers may change direction. If a river overflows and breaks its banks, it can dig a new path through the land. This changes the shape of valleys and fields. People who live near rivers may wake up and find the water flowing in a different place than before!

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How Tectonic Plate Movement Changes the Earth

Have you ever seen pictures of mountains, volcanoes, or heard about earthquakes in the news? These amazing and sometimes dangerous events all happen because of something going on beneath our feet. The Earth’s outer layer is made up of giant pieces of rock called tectonic plates. These plates fit together like puzzle pieces and are always moving—very slowly. Even though the movement is slow, it causes big changes on the surface of the Earth.

🌍 Earthquakes – When the Earth Trembles

Tectonic plates are constantly moving, but they can get stuck when their edges push against each other. When that pressure builds up and the plates finally slip, it causes the ground to shake. This is called an earthquake. Earthquakes can be small, but some are strong enough to shake buildings, crack roads, and move the land itself.

The shaking can cause a lot of damage to cities and homes. It can also break apart land, create deep cracks called faults, and change how rivers or lakes flow. Some very strong earthquakes, especially those under the ocean, can cause tsunamis—huge waves that flood coastlines. One of the most powerful earthquakes in history happened in Japan in 2011. It was so strong that it moved parts of the country several feet and caused a massive tsunami that affected many people.

🌋 Volcanoes – When Magma Builds New Land

When one tectonic plate slides under another, the rock melts deep underground and turns into magma. This hot liquid rock rises through cracks and erupts onto the surface as lava. When lava cools and hardens, it forms new land. This process builds landforms like volcanic mountains, plateaus, and islands.

Volcanic mountains form after many eruptions build up layers of hardened lava and ash. Mount Mayon in the Philippines is one example. It is known for its perfect cone shape. Other famous volcanic mountains include Mount Fuji in Japan, Mount Vesuvius in Italy, and Mount St. Helens in the United States. When volcanoes erupt under the sea, they can create islands. The Hawaiian Islands were made this way, as well as Iceland and the Canary Islands. Even the Philippines’ Taal Volcano is a special landform—a volcano on an island, inside a lake, on another island!

Volcanoes can also form new land even today. In 2013, a new island appeared near Japan after an underwater volcanic eruption. This shows us that volcanic activity is still shaping the Earth.

⛰️ Mountains – When Land Rises Up

When two tectonic plates crash into each other, neither plate goes down. Instead, the land is pushed upward, forming tall landforms called mountains. This process happens very slowly, over millions of years, but it changes the Earth in a big way.

The Himalayan Mountains are one of the best examples. They were formed when the Indian Plate pushed against the Eurasian Plate. The tallest mountain in the world, Mount Everest, is part of the Himalayas. These mountains are still growing today, a little bit each year. When new mountains form, they can change the weather in the area by affecting wind and rain patterns. They also become homes to many plants and animals that can live only in cooler, higher places.

🌊 Trenches and Ridges – Changing the Ocean Floor

Tectonic plates don’t just move on land—they also move under the ocean. When one ocean plate sinks under another, it creates a deep trench. Trenches are the deepest parts of the ocean, and they can be so deep that no sunlight reaches the bottom. The Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean is the deepest part of Earth’s ocean, reaching over 11,000 meters below sea level.

When plates move apart under the sea, magma rises up and cools, forming underwater mountains called mid-ocean ridges. These ridges slowly create new ocean floor in a process called seafloor spreading. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is one of the longest mountain ranges in the world, and it lies under the Atlantic Ocean. These underwater changes may be hidden from view, but they are constantly shaping the ocean floor.

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Plate Tectonic Movement

The Earth’s surface is not just one solid piece. It is made up of giant pieces called tectonic plates. These plates fit together like puzzle pieces and float slowly on hot, melted rock deep under the ground. Sometimes, these plates move toward each other, away from each other, or slide past each other. This is called plate tectonic movement, and it causes big changes to the Earth’s surface.

When plates move toward each other, they can push land upward to form mountains. A great example is the Himalayan Mountains, which were formed when the Indian plate pushed against the Eurasian plate. Even today, the Himalayas are still growing taller because the plates are still moving.

When one plate slides under another, it can form volcanoes. As the plate sinks, it melts and hot liquid rock, called magma, rises to the surface. This can cause volcanoes to form in a chain or group. The Philippines has many volcanoes because it sits along the edge of two moving plates.

If plates move away from each other, they can create rifts or large cracks in the ground. These cracks can fill with water and become valleys or even new oceans over a long time. For example, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a place in the ocean where two plates are pulling apart and creating new ocean floor.

When plates slide past each other, they can cause earthquakes. Earthquakes shake and break the ground, and they can change the shape of the land by creating cracks, raising some areas, or sinking others. In some places, earthquakes can even cause underwater lands to rise up and form small islands. This has happened in places like Japan and Iceland.

Sometimes, when plates move under the ocean, they push water up and cause tsunamis — giant ocean waves that crash onto the land. These waves move sand, rocks, and soil and can change the shape of coastlines and beaches.

So, whenever the Earth’s plates move, they change the Earth’s surface. They make mountains, volcanoes, valleys, islands, and even oceans. These changes may take a very long time, or they may happen suddenly, but they all help shape the world we live in.

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How Plate Tectonics Works (and why it matters)

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Typhoons and Cyclones

Typhoons and cyclones are very strong storms that form over warm ocean waters. They have powerful winds and heavy rains and can cause a lot of damage. The water cycle plays a big role in their formation. First of all, the sun heats up the ocean water, causing it to evaporate and rise into the air. As a result, this warm, moist air condenses to form clouds. Additionally, when the rising air continues to condense, it releases heat, which powers the storm and makes it grow stronger. Finally, as the storm moves over the ocean, it picks up more moisture and energy, leading to the powerful winds and heavy rains associated with typhoons and cyclones. In conclusion, the water cycle is essential in creating these intense weather events.

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A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that generally tracks in a westward or northern direction. Basically it is a hurricane formed in the western North Pacific Ocean. Cyclone, Hurricane, Typhoon all are same but have different names depending on the ocean basin they have formed in. All of them are strong tropical storms with winds over 75 miles per hour.

They have a circular or spiral system of violent winds and heavy rains. These circular systems can range up to hundreds of kilometers in diameter. The term typhoon has been derived from the Cantonese word 'tai feng.'
Quick Facts: -

The spin in the hurricane requires Coriolis force to be formed. This force is too weak near the equator so these tropical storms do not form there.

They are most commonly formed in late summers and if the winds hit 150 miles per hour then it becomes a Super typhoon.

The eye of a storm can be defined as its low-pressure center which can range from 10 to 40 miles in width.

Just outside the eye of the storm winds can reach at speeds of 110 miles per hour.

Supertyphoons are very destructive and can measure several hundred miles across.

The Caroline Islands in the south-western Pacific Ocean rarely get hit by fully developed storms because this is where these storms originate.

A thunderstorm can take hours or even days to develop into a strong tropical cyclone.

The usual typhoon season starts in the early summer and ends in early autumn. It generally coincides with the monsoon season in Southeast Asia.

They typically form between 5 to 15 degrees latitude north and south of the equator.

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A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that generally tracks in a westward or northern direction. Basically it is a hurricane formed in the western North Pacific Ocean. Cyclone, Hurricane, Typhoon all are same but have different names depending on the ocean basin they have formed in.

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A typhoon is a very strong storm that forms over warm ocean water. It brings heavy rain, strong winds, and huge waves. When a typhoon reaches land, it can cause big changes to the Earth’s surface by moving soil, rocks, sand, and water from one place to another.

One major change caused by typhoons is flooding. When too much rain falls, rivers and lakes overflow. The water spreads out and covers large areas of land. As the water rushes through fields and valleys, it washes away topsoil, changes the path of rivers, and sometimes creates new streams or ponds. The ground can become soft and muddy, and when the water dries up, it leaves behind layers of sand, mud, or silt that were not there before.

The strong winds in a typhoon also change the land. The wind can blow away sand from beaches, making them smaller. It can also move sand dunes and push waves farther onto the land, which makes the shoreline move. In some places, the coast becomes narrower, and rocks that were once underwater may now be visible. In others, new sandbars may form just off the shore.

When the rain makes the ground too wet, it can cause landslides, especially in hilly or mountainous areas. A landslide happens when mud, rocks, and soil slide down a slope. This can flatten parts of a mountain, block rivers, or form new hills where the earth piles up.

One real example is Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), which struck the Philippines in 2013. In Leyte and Samar, the powerful waves from the storm washed away beaches and removed entire layers of sand. The strong floodwaters cut new paths into the land, turning roads into shallow rivers. In coastal areas, land that used to be dry became covered with seawater and remained underwater. In some places, riverbanks broke apart, and rivers flowed in new directions. The land near the coast looked completely different after the typhoon — flatter, muddier, and missing trees and natural barriers.

Another example is Typhoon Jebi, which hit Japan in 2018. In the city of Osaka, the typhoon pushed seawater far inland, flooding the airport and nearby roads. The powerful waves damaged sea walls, allowing even more water to rush through. After the storm, the coastline had changed — some low-lying land sank and became permanent water areas, while sandbars and small islands shifted position. In some harbors, the shape of the sea floor changed, making the water shallower in some spots and deeper in others.

Typhoons may only last a few days, but they can reshape the land in lasting ways. They change the height of hills, move rivers and beaches, and even create new landforms. The Earth’s surface is always changing — and typhoons are one of nature’s powerful tools in doing so.

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A tsunami is a giant wave that crashes onto the land. It is not just a regular wave from the ocean — it is much bigger and stronger. Tsunamis usually happen after an underwater earthquake, a volcanic eruption, or a sudden landslide under the sea. These events push a huge amount of water very fast, creating a powerful wave.

When a tsunami reaches land, it moves with great force. It can wash away soil, rocks, sand, and trees. The strong waves can change the shape of coastlines, flatten beaches, and even move large rocks to new places.

In 2004, a powerful tsunami hit countries around the Indian Ocean. In Indonesia, the land near the sea was changed. Some areas were washed away completely, and new pools and sandbars were formed. In some places, the sea moved farther inland, covering areas that were once dry land.

🔎 Did you know? The word tsunami comes from Japanese and means "harbor wave." Tsunamis can travel across the ocean at speeds of up to 800 kilometers per hour, like an airplane!

In Japan, after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, parts of the coastline were carved away, and the land around the ocean sank lower. This caused the sea to cover land that was once used for farming or roads. The tsunami even pushed boats and large debris far inland, showing how powerful the waves were.

Sometimes, after a tsunami, the shape of the seafloor also changes. The force of the water can dig deep holes, move sandbanks, or create new underwater valleys.

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A volcano is an opening in the Earth where magma (hot, melted rock) escapes from deep underground. When magma comes out, it is called lava. A volcanic eruption happens when lava, ash, rocks, and gas shoot out or flow from the volcano.

🔎 Did you know? There are over 1,500 active volcanoes in the world today, and about 50 erupt each year!

Volcanic eruptions can quickly change the Earth’s surface. When lava flows out, it spreads over the land. As it cools, it hardens and turns into solid rock. This new rock creates new landforms, like hills, mountains, or even islands. Over time, the cooled lava builds up and forms a volcanic mountain.

For example, in the Philippines, Mount Mayon is one of the most active volcanoes. It has a perfect cone shape because of repeated eruptions. Each time it erupts, lava flows down and adds new layers to the mountain, slowly changing its shape.

Volcanoes can also cause the land to break open or sink down. Sometimes the top of the volcano falls in and forms a large bowl-shaped hole called a caldera.

In 2020, Taal Volcano in the Philippines erupted and caused big changes. It created cracks in the ground, pushed up parts of the land, and turned green fields into gray, rocky land by covering them with ash. Even the shape of the lake and island around the volcano changed!

🔎 Fun fact: Taal Volcano is one of the few volcanoes in the world that sits in the middle of a lake — and it even has its own lake inside!

Some eruptions happen under the sea. When this happens, lava can pile up and create new islands. This has happened in Iceland and the Pacific Ocean, where new land rose above the water after eruptions.

So even though a volcanic eruption may last just a few hours or days, it can change the Earth’s surface forever — forming mountains, creating islands, and shaping new land wherever it occurs.

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the Earth change quickly | volcano, floods, landslide, and earthquakes

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An earthquake happens when the ground suddenly shakes. This shaking is caused by the movement of tectonic plates under the Earth. These plates sometimes get stuck, and when they suddenly break free, the energy makes the ground shake — and that’s an earthquake!

Earthquakes can change the Earth’s surface in many ways. They can crack the land, break rocks, and even make the ground rise or sink. After an earthquake, you might see big lines or holes in the ground called faults. Some parts of the land may be lifted up to form small hills, while other areas may drop down or form deep cracks.

Here are some other ways earthquakes change the Earth’s surface:

Landslides
In some places, earthquakes cause land to slide down from hills or mountains. This is called a landslide. It moves soil and rocks from one place to another and changes the shape of hills and valleys.

Tsunamis
Earthquakes can also happen under the ocean. When the ocean floor shakes, it pushes water upward and causes a giant wave called a tsunami. When the tsunami reaches the shore, it can change the shape of beaches and coastlines by moving sand, rocks, and soil.

In 2016, a strong earthquake shook New Zealand, especially the town of Kaikōura. During the earthquake, parts of the land were pushed upward. In some places, the ground rose as high as 2 meters. The sea floor was lifted, turning some parts of the ocean into dry land. People could suddenly walk on areas that used to be underwater. Some rivers changed direction, and big cracks opened in the ground. Hillsides broke apart, and new bumps and dips appeared.

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Plate Tectonics  | Tectonic plates Theory | Video for kids

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Global Warming - The End Game | The Dr. Binocs Show | Best Learning Videos For Kids | Peekaboo Kidz

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Global Warming 101 | National Geographic

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How Does Global Warming Change the Earth’s Surface?

What is global warming?
Global warming is the steady rise in the Earth's temperature over time. It is mainly caused by human activities such as burning fuel in cars and factories, cutting down trees, and using too much electricity made from coal and gas. These activities release harmful gases into the air, which trap heat around the Earth. Because of this, the Earth is getting warmer, and this extra heat is causing big changes to the land, water, and air — changing the way the Earth looks and behaves.

One of the biggest changes caused by global warming is the melting of glaciers and ice sheets. Glaciers are large blocks of ice found in places like Greenland, Antarctica, and in high mountain ranges. As the temperature rises, these glaciers melt faster and faster, and the melted ice turns into water that flows into the oceans. This causes sea levels to rise. When sea levels go up, they cover parts of the land, especially low-lying coastal areas. Over time, some land disappears underwater, and beaches and shorelines begin to shrink. This is why some islands are slowly getting smaller, and some coastlines are changing shape. For example, in the island nation of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean, rising sea levels have already started to flood villages, and some families have had to move because the ocean has taken over parts of the land.

Global warming also causes ocean water to expand. When water gets warmer, it takes up more space. This means the ocean doesn’t just rise because of melted ice — it also rises because warm water spreads out. As the oceans expand, they push farther onto land, changing the shapes of coasts and river mouths. In Bangladesh, this has caused seawater to flow into rivers and farmland, making the riverbanks break and washing away parts of the land.

Aside from rising seas, global warming also leads to stronger and more powerful storms. When the ocean is warm, it gives more energy to storms, making them grow bigger and stronger. These storms bring heavy rains, strong winds, and large waves. When a storm hits the land, it can move soil, sand, and rocks, causing changes in the landscape. This is called erosion. After strong storms, land may look very different — rivers may overflow, shorelines may wash away, and new gullies or broken land may appear. A real example is Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), which struck the Philippines in 2013. After it passed, parts of Leyte and Samar had new shorelines because the strong waves and flooding carried away large amounts of sand and soil.

Global warming also causes some places to become much hotter and drier than before. When there is very little rain and too much heat, the land dries up and cracks. The soil becomes dusty and can be blown away by the wind. This turns once-green areas into dry, empty land. Without enough water, the land becomes weak and may even break apart. In California, USA, large areas of farmland have turned into dry, cracked ground after years of extreme heat and almost no rain.

Two special weather patterns that are made stronger by global warming are El Niño and La Niña. These affect how much rain or heat different places get. During El Niño, the weather becomes very hot and dry. Rivers shrink, lakes get smaller, and the ground cracks from the heat. In the Philippines, El Niño has caused many provinces to have very dry land and empty rice fields. In 2019, Mindanao experienced cracked soil and dried-up farms because of a strong El Niño season. On the other hand, La Niña brings a lot of rain. Too much rain can cause floods and landslides. When hills or mountains get too wet, large pieces of land can slide down, changing the shape of the Earth. In 2021, during La Niña, heavy rain in Cagayan Valley caused landslides that broke hillsides and changed where rivers flowed.

All of these changes — melting ice, rising seas, strong storms, very dry or very wet weather — show how global warming is reshaping the Earth’s surface. The land we see today may not look the same tomorrow, because global warming is always at work, slowly changing the shape of our planet.

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Soil Erosion  | Types and Causes | Video for Kids

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How Erosion Changes the Earth

Discover how water, wind, and soil erosion shape the land around us!

Erosion is a natural process that moves soil, sand, and rocks from one place to another. It happens slowly over time, and sometimes quickly during strong weather events. Erosion is caused by water, wind, and the loss of soil. These forces change the shape of the land and help create new landforms.

Water erosion happens when rain falls or when rivers and ocean waves move across the land. Rainwater can wash away the top layer of soil, especially if there are no plants to hold it in place. Rivers carry soil and rocks as they flow, and over many years, they can dig deep into the land, forming valleys and canyons. A great example of this is the Grand Canyon in the United States, which was shaped by the Colorado River. In the Philippines, coastlines often change during strong typhoons. Ocean waves crash into the shore, breaking down cliffs and moving sand. That’s why some beaches become smaller each year after heavy storms.

Wind erosion happens most often in dry, open places like deserts, where there are few plants. When the wind blows, it picks up tiny pieces of sand or dust and carries them across the land. Over time, this wind can wear down rocks and form new shapes. One real example is the Sahara Desert in Africa, where strong winds create large sand dunes that move and change. In the Philippines, the Paoay Sand Dunes in Ilocos Norte were also shaped by wind. These sandy hills move as the wind carries sand from one place to another.

Soil erosion happens when the top layer of soil, called topsoil, is removed. This topsoil is important because it has the nutrients that plants need to grow. When people cut down trees or leave land bare, the soil is not held in place. As a result, rain or wind can carry it away. This happened during Typhoon Ondoy in the Philippines in 2009, when heavy rains caused floods and landslides that washed away a lot of soil. When soil erosion happens often, the land becomes dry, cracked, and less useful for farming. It can even lead to landslides, especially on hillsides where no plants are growing.

Erosion helps shape the Earth in amazing ways. It forms beautiful landforms like canyons, rivers, sand dunes, and cliffs. But when erosion happens too fast, it can harm the land. It can damage farms, pollute rivers, and make it hard for plants and trees to grow. That’s why people try to stop too much erosion by planting trees, building walls, and covering bare land with grass.

Erosion may seem slow, but it is always working. Whether it’s water carving a canyon, wind building a sand dune, or soil being washed away during a storm, erosion plays a big role in shaping the world around us.

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Erosion is the geological process in which earthen materials are worn away and transported by natural forces such as wind or water. A similar process, weathering, breaks down or dissolves rock, but does not involve movement. Erosion is the opposite of deposition, the geological process in which earthen materials are deposited, or built up, on a landform. Most erosion is performed by liquid water, wind, or ice (usually in the form of a glacier). If the wind is dusty, or water or glacial ice is muddy, erosion is taking place. The brown color indicates that bits of rock and soil are suspended in the fluid (air or water) and being transported from one place to another. This transported material is called sediment.

Physical erosion describes the process of rocks changing their physical properties without changing their basic chemical composition. Physical erosion often causes rocks to get smaller or smoother. Rocks eroded through physical erosion often form clastic sediments. Clastic sediments are composed of fragments of older rocks that have been transported from their place of origin. Landslides and other forms of mass wasting are associated with physical weathering. These processes cause rocks to dislodge from hillsides and crumble as they tumble down a slope.

Plant growth can also contribute to physical erosion in a process called bioerosion. Plants break up earthen materials as they take root, and can create cracks and crevices in rocks they encounter. Ice and liquid water can also contribute to physical erosion as their movement forces rocks to crash together or crack apart. Some rocks shatter and crumble, while others are worn away. River rocks are often much smoother than rocks found elsewhere, for instance, because they have been eroded by constant contact with other river rocks.

Erosion by Water

Liquid water is the major agent of erosion on Earth. Rain, rivers, floods, lakes, and the ocean carry away bits of soil and sand and slowly wash away the sediment. Rainfall produces four types of soil erosion: splash erosion, sheet erosion, rill erosion, and gully erosion.

Splash erosion describes the impact of a falling raindrop, which can scatter tiny soil particles as far as 0.6 meters (two feet).

Sheet erosion describes erosion caused by runoff.

Rill erosion describes erosion that takes place as runoff develops into discrete streams (rills).

Finally, gully erosion is the stage in which soil particles are transported through large channels.

The Fish River Canyon, in southern Namibia, is the largest canyon in Africa and a product of valley erosion. Over millions of years, the Fish River wore away at the hard gneiss bedrock, carving a canyon about 160 kilometers (99 miles) in length, 27 kilometers (17 miles) wide, and 550 meters (1,084 feet) deep.

The battering force of ocean waves also erodes seaside cliffs. The action of erosion can create an array of coastal landscape features. For example, erosion can bore holes that form caves. When water breaks through the back of the cave, it can create an arch. The continual pounding of waves can cause the top of the arch to fall, leaving nothing but rock columns called sea stacks. The seven remaining sea stacks of Twelve Apostles Marine National Park, in Victoria, Australia, are among the most dramatic and well-known of these features of coastal erosion.

Erosion by Wind

Erosion by Ice

Ice, usually in the form of glaciers, can erode the earth and create dramatic landforms. In frigid areas and on some mountaintops, glaciers move slowly downhill and across the land. As they move, they transport everything in their path, from tiny grains of sand to huge boulders. Rocks carried by glaciers scrape against the ground below, eroding both the ground and the rocks. In this way, glaciers grind up rocks and scrape away the soil. Moving glaciers gouge out basins and form steep-sided mountain valleys. Eroded sediment called moraine is often visible on and around glaciers.

Several times in Earth's history, vast glaciers covered parts of the Northern Hemisphere. These glacial periods are known as ice ages. Ice Age glaciers carved much of the modern northern North American and European landscape. Ice Age glaciers scoured the ground to form what are now the Finger Lakes in the U.S. state of New York, for example. They carved fjords, deep inlets along the coast of Scandinavia. The snout of a glacier eroded Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts, U.S., and formed the recognizable fishhook shape of Cape Cod itself.

Today, in places such as Greenland and Antarctica, glaciers continue to erode the earth. Ice sheets there can be more than a mile thick, making it difficult for scientists to measure the speed and patterns of erosion. However, ice sheets do erode remarkably quickly-as much as half a centimeter (0.2 inch) every year.

Other Forces of Erosion

Factors Impacting Erosion

Some of the natural factors impacting erosion in a landscape include climate, topography, vegetation, and tectonic activity. Climate is perhaps the most influential force impacting the effect of erosion on a landscape. Climate includes precipitation and wind. Climate also includes seasonal variability, which influences the likelihood of weathered sediments being transported during a weather event such as a snowmelt, breeze, or hurricane. Topography, the shape of surface features of an area, can contribute to how erosion impacts that area. The earthen floodplains of river valleys are much more prone to erosion than rocky flood channels, which may take centuries to erode. Soft rock like chalk will erode more quickly than hard rocks like granite.

Vegetation can slow the impact of erosion. Plant roots adhere to soil and rock particles, preventing their transport during rainfall or wind events. Trees, shrubs, and other plants can even limit the impact of mass wasting events such as landslides and other natural hazards such as hurricanes. Deserts, which generally lack thick vegetation, are often the most eroded landscapes on the planet.

Finally, tectonic activity shapes the landscape itself, and thus influences the way erosion impacts an area. Tectonic uplift, for example, causes one part of the landscape to rise higher than others. In a span of about 5 million years, tectonic uplift caused the Colorado River to cut deeper and deeper into the Colorado Plateau, land in what is now the U.S. state of Arizona. It eventually formed the Grand Canyon, which is more than 1,600 meters (one mile) deep and as much as 29 kilometers (18 miles) wide in some places.

Erosion and People
Deposition, Soils, and Sediments
Eroded sediments have profoundly influenced the development of civilizations around the world. Agricultural development is often reliant on the nutrient-rich soils created by the accumulation of eroded earth. When the velocity of wind or water slows, eroded sediment is deposited in a new location. The sediment builds up in a process called sedimentation and creates fertile land. River deltas are made almost entirely of sediment that has eroded from the banks and bed of a river.

The rich delta soils of the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers in northern California, for example, have created one of the most agriculturally productive areas in the world. Loess is an agriculturally rich sediment made almost entirely of wind-blown, eroded sediment.

The Yellow River in central China gets its name from the yellow loess blown into and suspended in its water. The fertile lands around the Yellow River have been among China's most productive for thousands of years.

Erosion is a natural process, but human activity can make it happen more quickly. Human activity altering the vegetation of an area is perhaps the biggest human factor contributing to erosion. Trees and plants hold soil in place. When people cut down forests or plow up grasses for agriculture and development, the soil is more vulnerable to washing or blowing away. Landslides become more common. Water rushes over exposed soil rather than soaking into it, causing flooding.

The rise in temperature is also quickly melting glaciers. The slower, more massive form of glacial erosion is being supplanted by the cumulative impact of rill, gully, and valley erosion. In areas downstream from glacial snouts, rapidly melting glaciers are contributing to sea level rise. The rising sea erodes beaches more quickly.

Erosion control is the process of reducing erosion by wind and water. Farmers and engineers must regularly practice erosion control. Sometimes, engineers simply install structures to physically prevent soil from being transported. Gabions are huge wireframes that hold boulders in place, for instance. Gabions are often placed near cliffs. These cliffs, often near the coast, have homes, businesses, and highways near them. When erosion by water or wind threatens to tumble the boulders toward buildings and cars, gabions protect landowners and drivers by holding the rocks in place.

Living shorelines are another form of erosion control in wetland areas. Living shorelines are constructed by placing native plants, stone, sand, and even living organisms such as oysters along wetland coasts. These plants help anchor the soil to the area, preventing erosion. By securing the land, living shorelines establish a natural habitat. They protect coastlines from powerful storm surges as well as erosion.

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Erosion is the geological process in which earthen materials are worn away and transported by natural forces such as wind or water.