Water, wind and ice relentlessly sculpt the Earth’s surface. Many of the planet’s most spectacular landscapes were carved out as rocks were worn down and the fragments washed away. This destruction provides the raw materials that form sedimentary rocks.When the movement slows, the fragments settle out into a layer of sediment.
Over millions of years, vast amounts of material can be removed, transported and deposited. Layers of new sediment form on the sea floor, in lakes and on flood plains, or form dunes.