Weathering Word Search With Erosion, Deposition and Soil Lists

Print a weathering and erosion puzzle with its answer key, plus a line that asks pupils to sort six words.

Name Date

Weathering and Erosion Word Search

Find every word hidden in the grid. Words go across and down.

0 of 16 words found

VVALLEYAVEPKSJO

SXWIYHUMUSTCRYT

PWFECMBEGLACIER

SENFHOECRBNOWJP

WDUNEUDHFCANYON

MMBWMORAINENEOJ

TEFAIDONBRTFCRE

POITCZCINSWRXRF

JCHEAPKCYETEIDA

WJJRLZRASDDVLJT

IISOILRLDILPSSG

NORSRYELEMQDATE

DDSINKHOLEPUMRM

TINOEGWCTNGOWHE

YSHNBNHRATYCGIT

This grid is wider and taller than its box. Slide it to see every letter.To drag, hold the first letter for a moment, then slide.Keyboard: Tab to the grid, arrow keys to move, Enter on the first and last letter.

WindWIND
WaterWATER
GlacierGLACIER
MechanicalMECHANICAL
ChemicalCHEMICAL
ErosionEROSION
SoilSOIL
CanyonCANYON
ValleyVALLEY
SinkholeSINKHOLE
DeltaDELTA
DuneDUNE
MoraineMORAINE
SedimentSEDIMENT
HumusHUMUS
BedrockBEDROCK

16 of 24 words from the Weathering and Erosion Key Terms list.

Sort six words you found. Write two that belong to weathering, two to erosion and two to deposition.

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Easy: words go across and down.

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Word list

Large print Lower-case letters Name and date line on paper

The puzzle changes as you go. See the puzzle

Answer key: Weathering and Erosion Word Search

VVALLEYAVEPKSJO

SXWIYHUMUSTCRYT

PWFECMBEGLACIER

SENFHOECRBNOWJP

WDUNEUDHFCANYON

MMBWMORAINENEOJ

TEFAIDONBRTFCRE

POITCZCINSWRXRF

JCHEAPKCYETEIDA

WJJRLZRASDDVLJT

IISOILRLDILPSSG

NORSRYELEMQDATE

DDSINKHOLEPUMRM

TINOEGWCTNGOWHE

YSHNBNHRATYCGIT

WIND, WATER, GLACIER, MECHANICAL, CHEMICAL, EROSION, SOIL, CANYON, VALLEY, SINKHOLE, DELTA, DUNE, MORAINE, SEDIMENT, HUMUS, BEDROCK

Next step Build a puzzle from your own erosion unit notes Scramble the same weathering words

All 129 words

Wind, Water, Ice and Gravity 18

Climate The usual weather of a place over many years, which sets how fast its rocks break down.
Current A steady flow of water in one direction, in a river or along a coast.
Flood Water that overflows a river's banks and spreads mud and silt over the low land beside it.
Frost A thin cover of ice crystals that forms on cold nights when the air is below freezing.
Glacier A huge, long-lasting body of ice that moves slowly downhill under its own weight.
Gravity The pull that drags loose rock, soil and glaciers downhill.
Ice Frozen water. It takes up about 9 percent more space than the liquid, so it pries cracks open.
Rain Drops that fall from clouds, loosen soil where they land and feed runoff.
Rapids A fast, rough stretch of river where water tumbles over rocks.
River A large natural flow of fresh water that cuts a valley and carries sediment toward the sea.
Roots Plant parts that grow into cracks in rock and slowly widen them.
Storm Rough weather whose strong wind, heavy rain and big waves speed up erosion.
Stream A small flow of water in a channel that picks up sediment and wears down its bed.
Surf The line of foaming, breaking waves along a shore.
Tide The regular rise and fall of the sea, which shifts sand and mud along a shore.
Water The liquid that soaks into cracks, flows downhill in rivers and carries sediment away.
Waves Moving ridges of seawater that pound a coast and wear back its cliffs.
Wind Moving air that lifts dust and sand and blasts them against bare rock.

Show all 129 words (111 more)

Mechanical and Chemical Weathering 22

Abrasion Wearing down by scraping, as when sand carried by wind or water grinds against rock.
Acid rain Precipitation soured by air pollution, which eats into limestone and marble.
Burrow A hole or tunnel an animal digs, which lets air and water reach deeper rock.
Carbonation Carbon dioxide dissolved in rainwater makes a weak acid that dissolves limestone.
Chemical Weathering that changes the minerals in rock into new substances, as when iron turns to rust.
Crack A narrow break in rock where water, ice and roots can get in.
Crumble To fall apart into small loose bits, as weathered rock does.
Dissolve To break up and disappear into a liquid, as limestone slowly does in slightly acidic water.
Exfoliation Rock peeling away in curved sheets as the weight that once pressed on it is removed.
Expand To grow larger, as water does when it turns to ice.
Freeze To turn from liquid to solid, as water does at 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 Celsius).
Frost wedging Water freezes in a crack, swells and pries the rock apart, night after night.
Hydrolysis A chemical reaction with water that turns hard minerals such as feldspar into soft clay.
Joint A natural break in rock along which the two sides have not slipped.
Lichen A crusty growth of fungus and alga living together on bare rock and slowly breaking it down.
Mechanical Weathering that breaks rock into smaller pieces without changing what it is made of.
Moss Small, soft green plants that grow in damp mats on rock and hold moisture against it.
Oxidation Oxygen reacting with iron in rock, which leaves reddish-brown stains and weakens the rock.
Rust The flaky reddish-brown coating that forms when iron meets oxygen and water.
Surface area The total outside of a thing. Broken rock has more of it for water and air to attack.
Thaw To melt after freezing. Bryce Canyon freezes and melts on over 170 nights a year.
Weathering The breaking down of rock in place, with no movement, by water, air, ice and living things.

Erosion and Moving Sediment 22

Avalanche A mass of snow that rushes suddenly down a mountainside, sweeping up ice, rocks and trees.
Creep The slowest downhill movement of soil and rock, too slow to see as it happens.
Deflation Wind lifting and removing loose, dry, fine particles from the ground.
Dust Dry particles fine enough for the wind to lift high and carry far.
Erosion The picking up and carrying away of rock and soil by water, wind, ice or gravity.
Gully A deep ditch cut into a hillside by runoff after heavy rain or melting snow.
Landslide A mass of rock and earth that slides quickly down a steep slope.
Load All the sediment that a river, a glacier or the wind is carrying.
Longshore drift Waves that hit a beach at an angle move sand along the coast in a zigzag.
Mass wasting Any downhill movement of rock and soil under gravity, from slow creep to a sudden slide.
Mudflow A fast river of wet earth and debris rushing down a slope after heavy rain.
Plucking A glacier freezing onto chunks of bedrock and pulling them away as it moves.
Rill A very small channel cut into a slope by running water; many of them join to form a gully.
Rockfall Loose pieces breaking from a cliff and dropping freely to the ground below.
Runoff Rainwater that flows over the ground instead of soaking in, taking loose soil with it.
Saltation Sand grains moving in short hops and bounces along the ground or a riverbed.
Slope Ground that tilts. The steeper it is, the faster loose rock and water move down it.
Slump A block of soil or soft rock that slips down along a curved surface.
Soil The loose top layer of the land, a mix of weathered rock, humus, air and water, where plants grow.
Suspension Fine particles held up in moving water or air and carried without touching the bottom.
Transport To carry from one place to another, as a river does with sand and silt.
Undercut To wear away the base of a bank or cliff so that the top hangs over and may fall.

Landforms Carved by Erosion 21

Arch A rock opening with a span of stone left above it. One Utah park has over 2,000.
Badlands Dry country of soft rock cut by rain into a maze of gullies and sharp ridges.
Butte A lone hill with steep sides and a small flat top, narrower than a mesa.
Canyon A deep, narrow valley with steep rock walls, cut by a river over a very long time.
Cave A natural underground room, often dissolved out of limestone by groundwater.
Cirque A bowl-shaped hollow scooped out of a mountainside at the head of a glacier.
Cliff A high, steep face of rock, often cut back by waves at its foot.
Fjord A long, narrow arm of the sea between steep walls, in a valley a glacier dug.
Gorge A narrow valley between steep, rocky walls, usually with a stream along the bottom.
Groundwater Water that fills the cracks and spaces in soil and rock below the surface.
Hoodoo A tall, thin spire of rock left standing by frost and rain. Bryce Canyon is full of them.
Horn A sharp mountain peak left when glaciers carve at it from several sides.
Karst Limestone country full of caves, sinkholes and streams that vanish underground.
Meander A wide, looping bend in a river, which cuts its outer bank and builds up its inner one.
Mesa A wide, flat-topped hill with steep sides. Its name is the Spanish word for table.
Natural bridge A span of rock over a gap, formed where a stream wore its way through the rock.
Pothole A round hole ground into a rocky riverbed by stones whirled around in the current.
Sea stack A pillar of rock standing in the water just off a coast, cut off from the cliffs by waves.
Sinkhole A pit that opens when the ground sinks into a space dissolved in the rock below.
Valley Low land between hills: V-shaped when cut by a river, U-shaped when carved by a glacier.
Waterfall A place where a river drops over a ledge of hard rock.

Landforms Built by Deposition 22

Alluvial fan A spreading pile of gravel and sand where a steep mountain stream runs out onto flat ground.
Barrier island A long, sandy strip of land lying just off a coast and parallel to it.
Beach A strip of sand or pebbles laid down by waves along a shore.
Delta A fan of sediment dropped where a river slows as it enters a lake or the sea.
Deposition The dropping of sediment when the water, wind or ice carrying it slows down or melts.
Drumlin A smooth, long hill of glacial debris, shaped like a half-buried egg.
Dune A hill of sand piled up by the wind.
Erratic A boulder carried far by a glacier and left on bedrock of a different kind.
Esker A long snaking ridge of sand and gravel, left by a stream that once ran under a glacier.
Floodplain The flat land beside a river, built from the mud left each time the river overflows.
Levee A low ridge along a riverbank, built up by floods or raised by people to hold them back.
Loess A thick blanket of fine, windblown silt.
Meltwater What runs from melting snow and glacier ice.
Moraine A ridge of rocks and dirt that a glacier carried and left along its sides or at its end.
Outwash Sand and gravel carried beyond a melting glacier by the streams that flow from it.
Oxbow A U-shaped lake left behind when a river cuts through the neck of one of its loops.
Sandbar A long, low ridge built by waves or currents in a river or just off a beach.
Spit A finger of sand growing out from the coast into open water, built by longshore drift.
Stalactite A stone icicle hanging from a cave roof, built drip by drip from dissolved minerals.
Stalagmite A cone of stone rising from a cave floor, built where mineral-rich drips land.
Talus A sloping pile of broken rock at the foot of a cliff. Also called scree.
Till The unsorted mix of clay, sand, gravel and boulders dropped directly by a glacier.

Soil and Sediment 24

Bedrock The solid layer that lies under all the soil and loose material.
Boulder A loose rock more than 256 millimeters, about 10 inches, across.
Clay The finest particles in soil: sticky when wet, hard when dry.
Contour plowing Farming across a slope along lines of equal height, so furrows catch the runoff.
Cover crop Plants such as clover or rye grown to hold and protect the soil between harvests.
Dust Bowl The 1930s disaster in which drought and plowing let wind strip the soil from the Great Plains.
Earthworm A burrowing animal that mixes soil and opens channels for air and water.
Gravel Loose, mostly rounded pieces of rock more than 2 millimeters across.
Horizon One layer in a soil profile. From the top down they are lettered O, A, E, B, C and R.
Humus The dark, crumbly part of soil made of decayed leaves and other once-living things.
Leaching Rainwater soaking down through soil and carrying dissolved material to lower layers.
Loam Soil with a balanced blend of sand, silt and clay, prized by gardeners and farmers.
Mud Wet, soft, sticky earth: water mixed with silt and clay.
Nutrients Substances such as nitrogen and potassium that plants take from the soil to grow.
Parent material The weathered rock or loose deposit that a soil forms from: the C horizon.
Pebble A small stone, 4 to 64 millimeters across, worn round by tumbling in water.
Regolith The blanket of loose, broken rock and soil that covers solid bedrock.
Sand Loose grains of rock, up to 2 millimeters across, smaller than gravel and bigger than silt.
Sediment Loose bits of rock, sand, shell and plant matter moved and dropped by water, wind or ice.
Silt Grains finer than sand and coarser than clay. Dry, it feels like flour.
Subsoil The layer under the top one, with less humus. Scientists call it the B horizon.
Terrace A flat step cut into a hillside so that rain soaks in and does not rush down.
Topsoil The dark upper layer of the ground, richest in humus. Scientists call it the A horizon.
Windbreak A line of trees or bushes planted beside a field to shelter it and keep its soil in place.

How this list was compiled: Own work: the word list and every clue were written for this page. The facts in the clues were checked on 2026-09-19 against the National Park Service (https://www.nps.gov/subjects/erosion/weathering.htm), the United States Geological Survey (https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-glacier) and Wikipedia, among them https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erosion. Spellings follow the American Heritage Dictionary (https://www.ahdictionary.com/). Some clues were reworded on 2026-09-20, and any fact that changed was checked against Wikipedia the same day. Licence: own work

How it works

A weathering word search with a job after the hunt: a line under the word list asks pupils to sort six finds into weathering, erosion and deposition. It opens on 16 of 24 key terms; 9 lists hold 129 words.

Read the full guide

Six lists that follow the unit

In the Start from a list row under the puzzle, six lists follow the unit: Wind, Water, Ice and Gravity (18 words), Mechanical and Chemical Weathering (22), Erosion and Moving Sediment (22), Landforms Carved by Erosion (21), Landforms Built by Deposition (22) and Soil and Sediment (24). Easy Weathering and Erosion holds 50 words of 3 to 5 letters, such as Dune, Silt and Rill.

Two printed pages and a sorting line

Print or save as PDF gives 2 pages on Letter or A4: the puzzle under a Name and Date line, then the answer key on its own sheet. Below the word list, two ruled lines hold the sorting task. For a PDF, pick Save as PDF in the print window.

Rain reads inside Moraine and Water inside Waterfall, so each pair sits in separate lists.
Thirteen two-word entries hide as one run of letters, FROSTWEDGING for one. The key terms are all single words.
The Show clues, not words tick box turns Dune into "A hill of sand piled up by the wind."

Questions and answers

What is the difference between weathering, erosion and deposition?

Weathering breaks rock down where it sits. Erosion carries the pieces away by water, wind, ice or gravity. Deposition drops them somewhere new, building deltas, dunes and moraines. The sorting line under the word list checks that pupils can tell the three apart.

Does the weathering and erosion puzzle have an answer key?

Yes, on page 2 of the printout, and Show answers rings the words on screen. The sorting line has no key: any six words pass if each sits under the right process, such as Abrasion under weathering and Delta under deposition.

What is frost wedging?

Water freezes in a crack, swells and pries the rock apart, night after night. Frost wedging is in Mechanical and Chemical Weathering, and the Hoodoo clue names a place it shaped: Bryce Canyon, full of thin spires left standing by frost and rain.

Are rock names and the rock cycle in this puzzle?

No. Rock names such as granite and steps such as melting are on the rock cycle word search and are left out here on purpose. To mix a few in, type them at the end of the word list under the grid.

All 129 words

Wind, Water, Ice and Gravity 18

Mechanical and Chemical Weathering 22

Erosion and Moving Sediment 22

Landforms Carved by Erosion 21

Landforms Built by Deposition 22

Soil and Sediment 24

How it works

Six lists that follow the unit

Two printed pages and a sorting line

Questions and answers

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