Earth Life Notes – Week 10

GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES – create and modify landforms on the surface of the earth; may be
exogenic or endogenic.

Exogenic processes – external processes that occur at the near surface of the earth.

 Degradation – levelling of earth surface which decreases the height of the landforms. Can be
classified into weathering, mass wasting, and erosion.

WEATHERING - breakdown of rocks near the Earth’s surface to smaller pieces.

 Mechanical weathering – breakdown of rocks into smaller fragments without chemical

composition.
o Frost weathering – occurs in regions where temperature fluctuates above and below
freezing point.
o Insolation weathering – due to expansion and contraction of rocks.
o Unloading – overlaying rock is eroded away which causes the outer rock to expand more
than the rock below.
 Chemical weathering – breaks down rocks but involves chemical change.
o Oxidation – oxygen dissolved in water will oxidize some materials.
o Hydrolysis – breakdown of rocks due to minerals reacting with water.
o Carbonation and Solution – carbon dioxide dissolved in water forms carbonic acid;
some minerals are dissolved in water.
o Biological weathering – weakening and subsequent disintegration of rock by plants,
animals and microbes.

Rates of Weathering – weathering can be affected by rock characteristics and climate.

MASS WASTING – also known as slope movement or mass movement; soil, sand, regolith, and rock
move downslope typically as a mass under the force of gravity.
  Rocks and Debris Falls – happen when materials are dislodged and make free fall along steep
cliffs.
 Landslides – fast movement of cohesive mass of soil, rock or regolith
 Sediment flows – a sediment flow is a mixture of rock, and/or regolith with some water; occur
when sufficient force is applied to rocks and regolith that they begin to flow down slope.
o Slurry flows – sediment flows that have 20-40% water.
o Granular flows – sediment flows that have 0-20% water.

EROSION – Process of removing weathered sediments by agents of erosion. These sediments are
transported somewhere else. Agents include water erosion, glaciers, and wind.

 Water Erosion – splash erosion, sheet erosion, gully erosion, valley erosion, bank erosion,
coastline erosion, seaside cliff erosion.
 Glaciers – thick large ice mass formed over hundreds or thousands of years; can cause erosion
through plucking and abrasion.
 Wind – can carry dust, sand, and volcanic ash from one place to another.

AGGRADATION – levelling of earth surface which increases the height of the landforms. Deposition is
one type of aggradation.

 Deposition – geological process where material is added to a landform; agents of erosion are also
agents of deposition.