What Are Some Examples of Erosion?
Examples of erosion include water erosion, wind erosion and ice erosion. These different types of erosion slowly wear down land structures over long periods of time. One of the most famous examples of a landmark created by erosion is the Grand Canyon.
Water erosion occurs with just about any body of water, but it is more common with water in motion. For example, ocean waves erode the shores they hit, which often causes beaches to form when the shore is worn down into smaller and smaller pieces that eventually become sand. Water moving downhill slowly carves a path through the earth by slowly eroding away pieces of the rock. Eventually, this process creates riverbeds that are deep beneath the surface and shores that are far apart. Wind erosion happens when wind blowing across the face of a mountain pulls away little bits of rocks and dirt until the substance of the mountain is slowly ground down. Ice erosion happens when water trickles into cracks in the earth’s crust and then freezes. The freezing water expands, forcing the crack further apart. This slowly breaks down rocks. Falling rocks and precipitation like rain and snow also erode away mountains and help give them their shapes.
