PROCESSES THAT CAN CAUSE PHYSICAL WEATHERING

EXOGENIC PROCESSES
1. FROST WEDGING OR FROST WEATHERING
EXOGENIC PROCESSES
● occurs in regions where temperature fluctuates above and
- The processes which occur on the earth's surface due to the influence below freezing point, resulting in a freeze-thaw cycle.
of exogenic forces are called exogenic processes or exogenic
● Water that enters through the cracks and empty spaces of
geomorphic processes.
rocks expands when it freezes. The ice exerts enormous
- Part of the rock cycle outward force. When the ice thaws, water can flow further into
the crack. Repeated freeze-thaw cycles weaken the rock and
- Responsible for transforming rock into sediment.
break up the rock into smaller pieces.

TYPES OF EXOGENIC PROCESSES 2. INSOLATION WEATHERING OR THERMAL STRESS

I. WEATHERING ● As a result of temperature changes causing the expansion and

contraction of rocks Each mineral in the rock has a distinct
- Is the action of elements of weather and climate over earth material. coefficient of expansion, resulting in varied stresses that might
cause the rock to fracture apart. Furthermore, because the
- The physical breakdown and/ or chemical alteration of rocks at or
exterior surface of the rock is warmer or colder than the inside
near Earth’s surface.
regions, the outer layers may peel away. Exfoliation is the
- It is a degradation process and does not involve movement of process of "peeling off."
materials.
3. UNLOADING OR PRESSURE RELEASE
TYPES OF WEATHERING
● occurs when the overlying rock is eroded away, causing the
outer rock to expand more than the rock below. Continued
A. PHYSICAL WEATHERING
weathering causes sheets of rocks to break away. This
● Physical or mechanical weathering processes depend on some exfoliation is due to the pressure released, often referred to as
applied forces. sheeting.

● The breakdown of rocks without a change in its composition B. CHEMICAL WEATHERING

● Breakdown would mean that the rock is fractured, cracked or ● Chemical weathering causes rocks to degrade by changing
fragmented into smaller pieces. their chemical composition.
 ● Oxidation, Hydrolysis, Carbonation, and Solution, as well as
Biological Action, are some of the processes involved.
C. BIOLOGICAL WEATHERING
PROCESSES THAT CAN CAUSE CHEMICAL WEATHERING
● Weakening and subsequent disintegration of rock by plants,
animals and microbes.
1. OXIDATION
● Is caused by several biological activities like the growth or
● Some materials will oxidize when oxygen is dissolved in water.
movements of organisms.
On the surface of iron-rich minerals, reddish-brown rust
appears, which easily crumbles and weakens the rock. ● They also bring conditions for physical or chemical weathering.

2. HYDROLYSIS ● Grazing of animals, ploughing by human beings etc are

examples of biological weathering.
● Chemical weathering is aided by water, which is likely the most
essential agent. It has an effect on silicate. In the case of RATES OF WEATHERING
olivine, for example, a silicate and water:
● Mineral composition, solubility, and fractures are all rock properties.
● In solution: olivine + water à magnesium hydroxide + silicic acid Differentiated weathering is caused by variations in mineral content of
the rock. The ability of water to infiltrate through the rocks is influenced
● *The original mineral dissolves as a result of the reaction.
by cracks.
3. CARBONATION AND SOLUTION
● The rate of weathering is influenced by climate, specifically
● Carbon dioxide dissolves in water to form carbonic acid and temperature and moisture. Frost wedging is influenced by the
reacts with the carbonate rocks to form a soluble product freeze-thaw cycle, which is affected by temperature fluctuations. A
(calcium bicarbonate). desirable environment for chemical weathering is one with warm
temperatures and plenty of moisture.
4. BIOLOGICAL ACTIONS
II. MASS MOVEMENTS (MASS WASTING)
● Chemical weathering can be caused by plants and animals
releasing chelating and audifying substances, which react with - is the movement of rock and soil down slope under the influence of
certain minerals in rocks. Organic acids formed by gravity.
decomposing plant residues in soil can produce chemical
weathering when dissolved in water.
TYPES OF MASS WASTING HUMAN AND MASS WASTING

- Although mass wasting is a phenomenon, human activities may

1. ROCKS AND DEBRIS FALLS
induce mass movement.
● Rock falls occur when a piece of rocks or a mass of rocks become
- Examples of how humans trigger mass movements:
dislodged and makes free-fall along a steep cliff. Debris fall is similar
to rock fall, except that it involves a mixture of soil regolith, vegetation ● Deforestation
and rocks. At the base of the cliff in an accumulation of fallen ● The construction of homes on a slope
materials called talus. ● Drainage
- How can slope be stabilized?
2. LANDSLIDES
● Plant vegetation

● Landslides occur when a cohesive mass of soil, rock, or regolith moves ● Improve the building of infrastructures

quickly. There are two sorts of slides: translational and rotational. The
movement of a mass of materials over a well-defined surface, such as
III. EROSION AND TRANSPORTATION
a bedding plane, foliation surface, or joint surface, is referred to as
- Erosion is the process of transporting weathered sediments by agents
translational slides. When descending materials travel en masse down
of erosion to different places.
a concave, vertically curving surface, this is known as a rotational slide
or slump.
AGENTS OF EROSION
3. FLOWS
1. RUNNING WATER
● Flows are a very fast form of mass movements. They can occur in
● is the primary agent of erosion on Earth. Most running water is found
areas with high rainfall.
in streams and rivers.
● Mudflows or also called Debris Flows - they consist of soil and
There are different types of water erosion that affect landforms: Splash
a lot of water. They travel downstream channels.
erosion, Sheet erosion, Rill Erosion, Gully erosion and Tunnel Erosion.
● Earthflows is a downslope viscous flow of fine-grained
materials that have been saturated with water and moves ● Splash Erosion - raindrops cause tiny particles of soil to be detached
under the pull of gravity. and to move out.
4. CREEP
● Sheet Erosion - raindrops break apart the soil structure which moves
● Soil creep is a very slow form of mass movement. It is the downhill
down the slope as water flows over land as sheet.
movement of soil and regolith or the layer of rocky materials covering
bedrock.
● Rill Erosion - Rill erosion follows after, when the water concentrates 4. Transportation
deeper in the soil and starts forming faster-flowing channels
● Materials are transported in four distinct ways--- as solution, as
● .Gully Erosion - after heavy rain, water flows in narrow channels,
suspension, by traction, or through saltation.
eroding gullies into great depth.
● Solution - materials are described in water and carried along
● Tunnel Erosion - This is the so-called “hidden” type of land
by water.
degradation by water that can cause severe disruption even before
any signs are evident to the eye. ● Suspension - the suspended particles are carried by medium
(air, water or ice)
2. Glacier
● Traction - particles move by rolling, sliding, and shuffling along
● A glacier is a massive, thick mass of ice that has accumulated over eroded surfaces.
hundreds or thousands of years in remote locations such as the poles
● Saltation - particles move from the surface to the medium in
or high mountains. They take a long time to move.
quick repeated cycles.
● The method of plucking involves incorporating fragmented bedrock
● There are factors that affect the transportation of particles: particle
into the ice. When icy water freezes, it creates this condition. It
weight, size, shape, surface configuration, medium type, resistance of
expands, loosens, and pulls rock particles out of the glacier, becoming
particles to cohesions, and other environmental factors.
a part of it.

● When ice and its cargo of rock fragments move over bedrock, the IV. DEPOSITION AND DEPOSITIONAL LANDFORMS
abrasive effect occurs. The surface beneath the abrasion is smoothed
- Deposition is the aggradation or accumulation of weathered
and polished. Abrasion on the bedrock surface can result in rock flour
sediments to create different landforms.
(pulverized rock) or glacial striation (scratches and grooves).

3. Wind TYPES OF DEPOSITIONAL LANDFORMS

● Wind carries dust, sand, and volcanic ash from one place to another. 1. WATER AND LANDFORMS
In dry areas, strong winds wear away soft rocks, and also polish rocks
Whenever stream velocity decreases, it deposits the sediments it carries. The
and cliffs until they are smooth. Wind can also erode materials until
material deposits of the stream are called alluvium.
nothing is left.

● Deltas - are formed when a river loses energy as it flows into an area
of slow-moving water, such as a lake or the sea.
 ● Alluvial fans - are formed when a stream reaches a flat area (called magma, can rise. When magma seeps through the gaps, it cools and
piedmont) or gently sloping plain. solidifies, forming a new layer of ocean crust. This results in structures
such as oceanic ridges, which are continuous mountain chains
2. Glaciers and Landforms located beneath the sea's surface.

All unsorted deposits of rock formed directly by the ice are called glacial till.
● Moraines - are layers or ridges of till. A long pile of rocky material at
the edge of a glacier is called lateral moraine while at the middle of
the glacier is called medial moraine.
● Esker - is a winding ridge of sand and gravel deposited under a
glacier by water melting from the ice.
● Consider their formation in the same way that a scab forms over a
wound. When you cut your finger, for example, it bleeds. The magma
flowing out of the gap between the spreading plates corresponds to
the blood flowing out of the cut. The cut on your finger will form a
raised scab, and as the magma cools, it will form a raised layer of
crust on the seafloor.

● Drumlins - are streamlined asymmetrical hills composed of till. They

may occur in clusters as drumlin fields.

● Kames - are steep-sided hills. Like eskers, they are composed of sand
and gravel

V. SEDIMENTATION

- is the process of allowing particles in suspension in water to settle out

of the suspension under the effect of gravity.

- It is a natural process in which a material is carried to the bottom of

bodies of water and forms a solid.

OCEAN BASINS are those areas found under the sea. They can be relatively
inactive areas where deposits of sediment slowly collect or active areas
where tectonic plates meet.

OCEAN BASIN FEATURES

● Plates can separate by moving away from one another. This creates
gaps through which hot molten rock from the earth's mantle, known as