Answer
Streams, winds, and glaciers are three different agents of erosion and transportation that deposit sediments in distinct ways:
1. Stream Deposits: Streams carry sediments in suspension and as bed load. When the flow velocity decreases, sediment settles out and forms layers of varying grain sizes. Stream deposits often show sorting of sediments with coarser grains settling first, followed by finer grains. The sediments deposited by streams can range from gravel to clay, and the sorting is relatively good, meaning similar-sized particles tend to accumulate together.
2. Wind Deposits: Wind transports fine-grained sediments, such as silt and clay, as suspended load and saltation. When the wind loses its energy, it deposits the sediment as a blanket of fine particles, forming loess deposits or sand dunes. Wind deposits are typically uniform in grain size, with particles of similar size being carried by wind over long distances.
3. Glacier Deposits: Glaciers carry a wide range of sediment sizes, from clay to boulders. As glaciers move, they can grind rocks into fine rock flour. When the glacier melts, it deposits this mixture of sediments, called till, forming moraines and other glacial landforms. Glacier deposits tend to have poor sorting, with a mix of different-sized particles, due to the random nature of deposition as the ice melts.
The deposit with the most uniform grain size would be wind deposits, as wind can effectively carry and sort particles of similar sizes over long distances. The deposit exhibiting the poorest sorting would be glacier deposits, as the melting ice releases the sediments in a random manner, resulting in a mixture of various grain sizes.
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