Exogenic Processes - Weathering

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EXOGENIC

PROCESSES
Earth Science
OBJECTIVE
-describe how rocks undergo weathering
It includes geological phenomena and
processes that originate externally to the
Earth's surface. They are directly related to
the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere,
and lithosphere

EXOGENIC PROCESSES
WEATHERING AND EROSION
WEATHERING
Processes at or near Earth’ s surface that
cause rocks and minerals to break down.
EROSION
Process of removing Earth materials from their
original sites through weathering and transport
WEATHERING
The breaking down and
changing of rocks as a result
of exposure to the
environment
TYPES OF WEATHERING

Mechanical weathering Chemical weathering


Processes that break Processes that
a rock or mineral change the chemical
into smaller pieces composition of rocks
without altering its and minerals as result
composition of exposure to
different substances
PROCESSES AND AGENTS OF MECHANICAL WEATHERING

01 FROST WEDGING 02 THERMAL EXPANSION


AND CONTRACTION

03 MECHANICAL 04 PLANT GROWTH


EXFOLIATION

05 ABRASION BY WIND, WATER OR


GRAVITY
PROCESSES AND AGENTS OF MECHANICAL
WEATHERING

• Frost Wedging – cracking of rock mass by the


expansion of water as it freezes in crevices and cracks
PROCESSES AND AGENTS OF MECHANICAL
WEATHERING

• Frost Wedging – Expanding ice at a temperature of -


7.6º C can exert a pressure on the rock.
PROCESSES AND AGENTS OF MECHANICAL
WEATHERING
PROCESSES AND AGENTS OF MECHANICAL
WEATHERING

• Thermal expansion and contraction –


repeated heating and cooling of materials cause
rigid substances to crack and separate

• Daily heating cycle causes 30º C variation;


this causes expansion pressure on the
surface of the rocks that creates fracture.
PROCESSES AND AGENTS OF MECHANICAL
WEATHERING
• Exfoliation – As underlying rock layers are
exposed, there is less pressure on them and
they expand. This causes the rigid layers to
crack and sections to slide off (similar to
peeling of outer skin layers after a sunburn). The
expanding layers often form a dome.
PROCESSES AND AGENTS OF MECHANICAL
WEATHERING
• Exfoliation – As underlying rock layers are
exposed, there is less pressure on them and they
expand. This causes the rigid layers to crack and
sections to slide off (similar to peeling of outer
skin layers after a sunburn). The expanding layers
often form a dome. (UNLOADING)
PROCESSES AND AGENTS OF MECHANICAL
WEATHERING

DOME
EXFOLIATION
PROCESSES AND AGENTS OF MECHANICAL
WEATHERING
• Abrasion – Moving sediments or rock
sections can break off pieces from a rock
surface they strike. The sediments can be
moved by wind or water and the large
rock sections by gravity.
PROCESSES AND AGENTS OF MECHANICAL
WEATHERING

WIND
ABRASION
PROCESSES AND AGENTS OF MECHANICAL
WEATHERING

WIND AND WATER


ABRASION
PROCESSES AND AGENTS OF MECHANICAL
WEATHERING

• Root wedging/plant wedging– As plants


such as trees send out root systems, the fine
roots find their way into cracks in the rocks. As
the roots increase in size, they force the rock
sections apart, increasing the separation and
weathering.
PROCESSES AND AGENTS OF MECHANICAL
WEATHERING

PLANT
WEDGING
PROCESSES AND AGENTS OF MECHANICAL
WEATHERING

PLANT
WEDGING
CHEMICAL
WEATHERING
PROCESSES OF CHEMICAL WEATHERING

01 02 03
Dissolving
Oxidation Hydrolysis
(dissolution)
PROCESSES OF CHEMICAL WEATHERING

● Dissolving (dissolution)/Carbonation - Water,


often containing acid from dissolved carbon
dioxide, will dissolve minerals from a rock body
leaving cavities in the rock. These cavities may
generate sinkholes or cave features such as
stalactites and stalagmites.
PROCESSES OF CHEMICAL WEATHERING

LIMESTONE
CAVE FEATURE

RESULT OF
DISSOLUTION
PROCESSES OF CHEMICAL WEATHERING

● Oxidation - Minerals may combine with oxygen


to form new minerals that are not as hard as the
original rock. For example, the iron-containing mineral
pyrite forms a rusty-colored mineral called limonite.
● Iron, aluminum, sodium and copper readily react
with oxygen.
PROCESSES OF CHEMICAL WEATHERING

PYRITE
OXIDATION

Pyrite

Limonite
PROCESSES OF CHEMICAL WEATHERING

● Hydrolysis - Minerals may chemically combine


with water to form new minerals. These are
generally not as hard as the original material.
● Process where molecules of some substance
in rocks chemically combine with water
molecules
PROCESSES OF CHEMICAL WEATHERING

FELDSPAR Kaolinite (clay)


HYDROLYSIS

Feldspar
CHEMICAL WEATHERING

Climate – wet and warm maximizes chemical


reactions
Plants and animals – living organisms secrete
substances that react with rock
Time – longer contact means greater change
Mineral composition – some minerals are more
susceptible to change than others
WEATHERING AND EROSION

• Weathering produces regolith (“rock blanket”)


which is composed of small rock and mineral
fragments.

• When organic matter is mixed into this


material it is called soil.
WEATHERING, EROSION and DEPOSITION

Weathering – the breakdown of rocks into smaller pieces,


called sediments.

Erosion – the process where the sediments are transported by


wind, gravity, glaciers, man, and running water.

Deposition – the process whereby these sediments are


released by their transporting
WEATHERING, EROSION and DEPOSITION

Weathering breaks down the


rocks, erosion moves the
particles, and deposition
drops the sediments in
another location.
Erosion
Erosion
The transportation of
sediments that have been
broken down by weathering
process.
EROSION

There are 5 main agents of erosion:


1. *Running Water*
2. Glaciers
Weathering must happen before
3. Wind erosion. The rocks have to be broken
4. Gravity into smaller sediments before they
5. Man can be eroded away.
There are 4 basic products of weathering
that can be eroded:
1. Soils
2. Solid Sediments (boulders, cobbles,
pebbles, sand, silt)
3. Clay Particles (not visible to your eye)
4. Ions (very small electrically charged
particles)
You can identify which agent of erosion
transported each sediment by looking at a
few characteristics:

Running Water – sediments that


have been transported through
running water appear rounded and
smooth and are deposited in
sorted piles.
Glaciers – sediments that have been
transported by glaciers appear scratched,
grooved, and are deposited in completely
unsorted piles, because they were dropped
during melting. Also, boulders can only be
transported by glaciers
Wind - sediments that have been
transported by wind are appear pitted
(random holes) and frosted (glazed look)
and are deposited in sorted piles. Only very
small particles can be transported by wind.
Gravity – sediments that are transported
by gravity are found in piles at the bottom
of cliffs or steep slopes. They appear
angular and unsorted.
.
Running water can transport sediment in three ways:

A. Solution – the smallest particles of weathering are dissolved in


water, and they are transported in a solution.

B. Suspension – clay sized/colloids are carried along with the


water molecules during erosion. They are neither at the
bottom or on the top. They are suspended in the middle of the
running water.

C. Saltation – solid sediments are rolled and bounces along the


bottom of a river stream because they are denser.
There are 5 ways that man can cause erosion:

1. Forestry – When vegetation are removed, without roots, the


soil will erode away.
2. Strip Mining – removing rock cover to get to the resources
below, which causes the loose sediments to erode away.
3. Construction – the clearing of land to build buildings/houses
also causes all loose soil to erode away.
4. Improper Farming – not plowing the land at right angles to
slopes causes soil to erode away.
5. Salting Highways – the salt is washed off the road to the
sides, where it prevents vegetative growth along the sides.
Deposition – the process where
sediments are released/dropped by their
agent of erosion.
Most deposition happens in standing/still
bodies of water (oceans/lakes).
Deposition is caused by the slowing down
(loss of kinetic energy) of the agent of
erosion.
ENDURING
UNDERSTANDING
The natural energy coming from the sun is
the driving force for the exogenic processes
to occur that is dictated by the weather that
occurs on Earth. These exogenic processes
is responsible for the gradual and steady
changes in the landforms of the Earth.
Mass wasting
MASS WASTING - a collective term for
downslope transport of surface materials in
direct response to gravity
Mass wasting/ Mass Movement

Can happen almost anywhere

Commonly associated with other events (heavy rainfall or


earthquakes, for example) and are therefore under-reported

Movements can either be catastrophic (slope failure) or slow


and steady (creep)

The rate of the mass movement can be increased by various


erosive agents (especially water)
Types of Mass wasting/ Mass Movement

• Slide
• Flow
• Fall
• Creep
• Slump
• Avalanche
• Topple
• Spread
Slide – A
descending rock
mass remaining
coherent, moving
along one well-
defined surface
Flow – The debris
is moving
downslope as a
viscous fluid.
.
Fall – Earth’s material
plummeting downward
freely through air.

Occurs when material


free falls or bounces
down a cliff.
Rockfall is a form of mass movement or mass
wasting in which pieces of rock travel
downward through some combination
of falling, bouncing, and rolling after they are
initially separated from the slope.

Most common type of fall


Creep – A slow
migration of
particles to
successively lower
elevations.
Downslope movement of soil and uppermost
bedrock

Creep happens at too slow of a rate to observe


directly

Instead, creep can be identified by it’s effect on


objects
Slump – Sliding
of coherent rock
material along
curved surfaces.
* Results due to undercutting
of the mountain’s base
Avalanche– A type of mass movement
in which much of the involved material
is pulverized and then flows rapidly as
an airborne density current along
Earth’s surface.
An avalanche is a
rapid flow of
snow down a hill
or
mountainside.
Slump – A type of mass movement in
which much of the involved material is
pulverized and then flows rapidly as
an airborne density current along
Earth’s surface.
Topple–
Forward
rotations out
of the slope
of a soil on
rock mass
Spread– Lateral extension and fracturing
of a coherent mass due to the plastic flow
of underlying material.

*may result from liquefaction or flow of the


softer material.
Risk factors that
increase the
likelihood of
mass movement
Risk factors to increase likelihood of mass movement

Gravity - hill slopes (on top of a hill, on the slope, or at


the bottom of a hill), modified slopes (road cut, cut
flat area to build on, coastal erosion, etc.) are more
vulnerable

Water - risk is higher when ground is saturated


and/or during heavy rains
Risk factors to increase likelihood of mass movement

Earth Materials - loose soils (particularly clay-rich) or


fractured rock, and old landslides pose greater risk
Triggering Events - heavy rain during storm, rain after
big storms or fires, earthquakes (when ground is
saturated.

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