Glaciers, wind and landslides reshape the land

Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. 1.

   What shape does a river cut a valley into, by Bo's reading (NPS)?

   • A flat-topped mesa
   • A V shape
   • A bowl-shaped cirque
   • A U shape
2. 2.

   What is a cirque, by Kira's reading (NPS)?

   • A rounded, steep-sided bowl carved at a glacier's head
   • A pile of windblown sand
   • A ridge of rock dumped at a glacier's end
   • A V-shaped river valley
3. 3.

   What carves striations into bedrock, by Jun's reading (NPS)?

   • A river cutting a V
   • Soil creeping downhill over it
   • Wind blowing sand across it for years
   • Ice-borne rocks scraping bedrock
5. 4.

   NPS: when melting equals snow buildup, what does a glacier's face do, by Luz's reading?

   • It stays in place, though the ice keeps flowing
   • It retreats quickly
   • It advances quickly because the ice flows downhill faster
   • Its ice stops flowing
6. 5.

   NPS: a glacier's face advances when more snow and ice build up than melt. What happens when melting wins, by Milo's reading?

   Use the picture in question 4.

   • The ice stops moving entirely
   • The face retreats, though the ice still flows downhill
   • The ice starts flowing uphill
   • The face advances faster
8. 6.

   What is abrasion by wind, by Pia's reading (USGS)?

   • Wind lifting away fine dust and loose grains from bare ground
   • Windborne grains grinding and sandblasting surfaces
   • Rock dropping from a cliff
   • Rain dissolving limestone
9. 7.

   What are ventifacts, by Ren's reading (USGS)?

   Use the picture in question 6.

   • Ridges left by glaciers
   • Hollows dug out by the wind
   • Rocks cut and polished by wind-driven sand
   • Rocks that tumbled down from steep cliffs above
11. 8.

    What is mass wasting, by Tala's reading (NPS)?

    • Rock and soil moving downhill by gravity
    • Wind carrying fine dust across a desert floor
    • Rock dissolving in rain
    • Ice carving a U-shaped valley
12. 9.

    What is creep, by Zee's reading (USGS)?

    Use the picture in question 8.

    • A sudden drop of rock from a steep cliff onto the slope below
    • Wind moving sand up a dune
    • Very slow, steady downslope movement of soil or rock
    • A fast flow like wet cement
13. 10.

    Which signs show creep on a slope, by Esme's reading (USGS)?

    Use the picture in question 8.

    • Curved tree trunks, tilted poles and small soil ripples
    • Fresh boulders at a cliff's base
    • Polished, wind-cut rocks
    • Scratches on bare bedrock