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Erosion by Water Liquid water is the major agent of erosion on Earth.

River rocks are often much smoother than rocks found elsewhere, for instance, because they have been eroded by constant contact with other river rocks.

Some rocks shatter and crumble, while others are worn away. Ice and liquid water can also contribute to physical erosion as their movement forces rocks to crash together or crack apart. Plants break up earthen materials as they take root, and can create cracks and crevices in rocks they encounter. Plant growth can also contribute to physical erosion in a process called bioerosion. These processes cause rocks to dislodge from hillsides and crumble as they tumble down a slope. Landslides and other forms of mass wasting are associated with physical weathering. Clastic sediments are composed of fragments of older rocks that have been transported from their place of origin. Rocks eroded through physical erosion often form clastic sediments. Physical erosion often causes rocks to get smaller or smoother. Physical Erosion Physical erosion describes the process of rocks changing their physical properties without changing their basic chemical composition.

This transported material is called sediment. The brown color indicates that bits of rock and soil are suspended in the fluid (air or water) and being transported from one place to another. If the wind is dusty, or water or glacial ice is muddy, erosion is taking place. Most erosion is performed by liquid water, wind, or ice (usually in the form of a glacier). Erosion is the opposite of deposition, the geological process in which earthen materials are deposited, or built up, on a landform. A similar process, weathering, breaks down or dissolves rock, but does not involve movement. Erosion is the geological process in which earthen materials are worn away and transported by natural forces such as wind or water.