Deposition is best described as the process that

• A. Removes sediment from a river channel.
• B. Moves sediment to new locations.
• C. Lays down sediment that has been transported.
• D. Changes rock into sediment chemically.

Answer: (C)

Deposition is the process by which sediment that has been moved by wind, water, or ice settles out and is laid down in a new location. This happens when the energy of the transporting medium decreases—streams slow, rivers enter a lake or ocean, wind loses speed, or ice drops its load. As a result, particles settle and accumulate, forming features like river deltas, beaches, dunes, or floodplains. It is not removing sediment from a channel (that’s erosion) nor moving sediment to new locations without settling (that’s transport), and it isn’t a chemical change converting rock to sediment (that’s chemical weathering). Deposition marks the laying down of material that has been transported.