5. sediment – pieces of material; sediment can range
in size from boulders to gravel, sand, silt and
dissolved materials
6. meander – bends, or “S” shapes in a river cause by
river currents slowing down in flat land and
dropping sediment
Click here to learn more about
rivers and coasts!
7. flood plain – flat landscape near rivers; the rivers
flood the land from time to time and create very
fertile soil.
8. mouth (of river) – where a river empties into the
ocean; river currents slow when they hit the ocean
and drop sediment
9. delta – a fan-shaped piece of land that forms
from sediment dropped at the mouth of a river
10. water gap – a rare, narrow, steep-walled canyon
created as water cut through hard rock
11. valley – formed when small channels are
deepened and widened by erosion
12. canyon – a deep, V-shaped valley that is usually created
as a result of both water cutting into earth and
geological forces pushing earth upward
13. dune – sand hill created by wind erosion; found in
deserts or at the beach
14. landslide – when water saturates the land and
makes soil loosen and fall; gravity can create
landslides, too
