Erosion at the Beach

The surface of the Earth is always changing. Carving away at the Earth are the wind, and water. Wind blows against the rocks and takes off little loose particles. These loose particles along with the wind work like sand paper against the rocks, sanding them into smaller pieces. In three different forms, water changes the shape of the rocks. Ice, waves, and rain all make the rocks smaller. In colder climates, rain seeps into the cracks of rocks. The rain turns into ice and actually gets bigger. Because the ice expands, it POPS apart the rocks like a wedge. Waves pound against rocks along the coast. The force of the water removes tiny particles, and sometimes bigger chunks off of the rock. Also, the waves make the rocks tumble against each other. When they rub against each other, they get worn down over time. Rain falling from the sky also moves the rocks and takes away small bits and pieces. See the bigger rocks that have broken off of the cliff? Those are cold boulders. Then the boulders get broken down into smaller pieces called stones. Look at all of the gray and tan stones below the cliff. The stones get broken down into even smaller pieces called pebbles. Pebbles are broken down into sand. Finally, the sand gets broken down into very tiny pieces called silt. Have you ever played with clay? Clay is made of silt and water. So silt, sand, pebbles, stones, and boulders were all once part of a larger piece of rock. But over a long time, water and wind wore them down. This process is called erosion. Does your home sit on flat land, or hills, or even mountains? How do you think erosion change the landscape around your home?


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