​Factors related to a streams ability to erode material

​Erosion Creates Valleys and Canyons

​Formed by deposition

Many layers of deposited sediment can form a flat area called a floodplain.

​​Floodplains

​Formed by deposition

Streams often deposit their loads in a fan shaped pattern called a delta.

Deltas

Movement of water underground can also cause erosion. Groundwater is the water located within the rocks below Earth's surface. When underground water erosion happens caves can form.

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Groundwater

A shoreline is the place where land and a body of water meet. Ocean waves crashing against the shoreline have a great deal of energy.

What forces shape a shoreline?

Waves play a massive role in building up and breaking down shorelines. Strong waves erode materials. Soft waves deposit materials.

Waves

Ocean currents are like giant rivers of water moving through the ocean. They flow in different directions and can be found near the surface or deep underwater. These currents are caused by things like wind, the Earth's rotation, and differences in water temperature and saltiness.

Currents

Sea caves form when waves cut large holes into weak rock along base of sea cliffs

Sea Caves

​Sea arches form when wave action erodes sea caves until a hole cuts through.

Arches

​Sea stacks form when the top of sea arches collapse and leave behind isolated rock.

Stacks

​Landforms Created by Erosion

Waves and currents carry a variety of materials including rock, sand, dead coral, and shells. These materials are often deposited on the shorelines, where they form a beach. A beach is an area of a shoreline that is made up of these deposited materials. ​

Landforms created by deposition