GENERAL GEOLOGY

Unit - I
External agencies
Weathering
Wind
River
Sea
Landslide
Internal agencies
Earthquakes
Plate tectonics
Groundwater
Wind
Introduction
Atmosphere is composed chiefly of gases
collectively known as air.
Air in motion is called wind
Wind is one of the major geological agents of
change on the surface
[ORIGIN from Greek anemos wind] [ORIGIN from Greek baros weight]
Creates temporary or permanent changes on the
land surface depending on
wind volume,
wind velocity,
nature of the surface,
duration for which the wind blows etc.
Strong winds blowing over loose ground, dry soils
and deserts may create many features within short
span of time
Wind acts as agent of erosion as a carrier for
transportation of particles and then deposit huge
quantities at different places.
Geological Work of Wind
1. Erosion
Deflation
Abrasion
Attrition
2. Transportation
Source of sediments
Methods of transport
The transporting power of wind
3. Deposition
Dunes
Loess
1. Wind erosion
Deflation
Abrasion
Attrition
Wind Deflation
( To blow away)
Wind possesses not much erosive over the
ground covered with vegetation
Wind moving with sufficient velocity over dry
sands or bare ground covered with dust, its
remove huge quantity of the material from the
surface known as deflation
Wind Deflation
In some desert deflation may remove the sand from a particular
location and creates depression - virtually touching the water table
and such depression is known as BLOW OUTS.
Water filled depression known as OASIS is a place where vegetation
grows in desert
SLACK is another term used for depression created by
deflation
Ex :Quattara in western Egypt (Biggest slack)
Oasis
Wind Abrasion
Wind is a powerful agent for rubbing and
abrading the rock surfaces when naturally
loaded with sand & dust particles.
This type of erosion involves rubbing,
grinding, abrading and polishing of rock
surface by a natural agent known as
Abrasion
Responsible for features of erosion
Yardangs
Pedestal rocks
Ventifacts
Desert pavements
Wind Abrasion
Yardangs
It is an elongated low lying ridges forming
overhangs above depression.
Trend is parallel to the prevailing wind
Yardangs are formed in area where rocks of
alternate hard and soft rock lying one over other
with gentle slope.
Pedestal Rocks
It is known as mushroom rocks
They flat topped rock masses
that are characterized with
slender lower region
The top is commonly referred
as overhang and the support as
pedestal. They are generally
few meters in height
Overhang
Pedestal
Same rock
but affected
unevenly
Small sized rock fragments having
one, two, three or more polished
faces
The polishing of the sides of the
originally rough fragments is
carried out by prolonged wind
abrasion on the surface of each
fragment.
Ventifacts
After one faces is plashed a
second face is made available to
the wind action by overturning of
the fragments during gushes of
wind
These wind polished & facetted
fragments are called ventifacts.
It is flat rock surfaces covered by rounded or sub
rounded pebbles spread all over them & are typical
features of rock deserts.
Pebbeles - distinguishing feature of desert
pavements.
These pebbles may get further polished with time
and even acquire thin filmy oxides of Iron &
manganese.
This coated pebbles give a characteristic brow, dark
red or even black appearance to the desert
pavements.
Wind Attrition
The sand grains and other particles that are
lifted by the winds and carried away do not
travel in a straight path
Their path is determined by their density and
velocity of the wind
It moves in Zig-Zag paths
The wear & tear of load sediments
suffered by wind due to mutual impacts
during transport is Attrition
The above processes depends on
i. Nature of the Region
ii. Velocity of Wind
iii. Duration
Wind Attrition
2. Transportation
Source of sediments
Methods of transport
The transporting power of wind
Source of Sediments
Sand, Silt, Clay (huge volume thousands of tons a day)
Sand deserts and freshly ploughed fields
Abrasive action over the rock surface
Methods of transport
Suspension
The light and silt grade particles may be lifted high up in
the upper regions of the wind and moved along with it is
known as transport in suspension
Because the particles once lifted are not allowed to rest
on ground again and again unless they are finally
deposited.
Saltation:
The heavier and coarse sediments such as pebbles,
gravels and sand grains are lifted up only for short
distance (up to 2m).
This type of sediment transport by wind is saltation.
Transporting power of Wind
Depends on velocity of wind
Particle size, shape and density.
3. Wind Deposition
Aeolian deposits:
Sediments once picked up by the wind from any
source on the surface are carried to varying
distance depending on the velocity of the wind
Landforms and deposits made by accumulation
of wind-blown sediments are commonly referred
as aeolian deposits
Dunes
Loess
Dunes
Variously shaped deposits of sand-grade
particles accumulated by winds.
Gentle windward and steep leeward
A sand dune is defined as a broadly
conical heap of sand characterized with
two slopes on either side of a medial
ridge or crest
Sand dunes show great variation in their
shape, size & groping type of dunes.
1. The Cresentic Dunes
2. The Sigmoidal Dunes
3. Transverse Dunes
1. Crescent dunes:
It is characterized with two slopes in such a
way that the windward slope is convex and
rise gently between 7 and 20
The slip face starts from the crest and is quite steep
and concave in outline.
Simple type of cresentic dunes
typically half moon shape
Developed by wind blowing in
the same direction for
considerable length of time
Barchans
2. The sigmoildal dune:
It is characterized with the absence of horns or
cups and a curved outline
A sigmoidal dune is a s`teep sided ridge that
extends in a s-sheped outline
Both the sides of the sigmoidal dune are steeply
inclined at angle b/w 25 to 32
Longitudinal dunes are called as SEIFS.
Dune classification
Dunes are classified in to simple, compond
and complex
Simple : single dune
Compound : two of more dunes of same type
Complex : group of different types of dunes
Loess
It is used for wind blown deposits of silt and clay grade
particles.
Unconsolidated, Unstratified and Porous
Size range (0.01 0.05mm in diameter) 40 %
Rest 60 % by silt and finer clay
Occur in China, North America and Europe.
Particles get accumulated due to precipitation
Engineering considerations
Protectingthebuilt-upareasandagricultural
lands movementsof sanddunes
Methodsfor combatingandadvancingsands:
1. Establishingfrontal tracts or belt of vegetation that can
resist the advancing sands by checking the velocity of
wind
2. Construction of windbreaksor wallsaroundtheareato
beprotected.
3. Treating thesands locally with crudeoil whereby their
susceptibility for transport by wind is considerably
reduced
Loess soils are very dangerous for
foundation