WEATHERING

WEATHERING
• The term “weathering” can be defined as the
physical disintegration and chemical
decomposition of rocks because of exposure at
or near the earth surface.
• It can also be defined as the sum of physical,
physio-chemical and biochemical processes that
alter the state, composition and properties of
rocks in the upper part of the earth’s crust
• breakdown and alteration of materials near the
earth’s surface to products that are more in
equilibrium with newly imposed physico-
chemical conditions.
• Weathering is therefore the forerunner of erosion
and mass wasting.
• Weathering has a static character because it does not
involve transport of material, rather it prepares materials
for transport by agents of erosion like water, wind and
glacier
• The products of weathering tend to accumulate in a soft
surface layer called regolith
• Regolith grades downward into solid, unaltered rock
(bedrock) and always provide the source of sediment
• On steep slopes, the movement of weathered materials
will obviously be governed by gravity (mass-wasting).
• Weathering alone is not responsible for the formation of
many landforms, but with the aid of erosion and
transport, various landforms are generated
Therefore, weathering has three important results:

• it is the process by which resistant rocks and

partly weathered rocks are rendered into a state
of lower strength and greater permeability to
facilitate the process of erosion.
• it is the first step in the process of soil formation
• during weathering the accumulation of iron,
silicon and aluminium form oxide shells on rocks
or in soil which become resistant to erosion and
weathering.
• The two main processes of weathering are
physical (mechanical) and chemical. Biological
weathering is the subset of both chemical and
physical weathering because it operates through
chemical and physical effects.
• Physical weathering is the breakdown of rocks/
material by mechanical methods brought about
by various forces.
• These forces involved in the breakdown of rocks
sometimes originate within the rock while others
are external.
• These forces lead to continuous stresses which
lead to strains and finally to rupture.
• Chemical weathering is the decomposition of
rocks by chemically altering or removing some of
the mineral components of the rock
• Weathering processes operate either in series or
in parallel
• Most rock disintegration is effected by a complex
interplay of processes
• For example, chemical weathering cannot take
place without the production of physical
stresses, i.e. the disintegration of rocks by
thermal expansion (physical weathering) cannot
occur in the absence of chemical processes
associated with the presence of moisture.
PHYSICAL WEATHERING
Processes

Insolation weathering
Frost weathering
Salt weathering
Hydration weathering
Insolation weathering
• This involves the volumetric changes in rocks due to
day-time heating and night-time cooling.
• It is most effective in rocks that have fissures and
moisture
• The rate of expansion (day-time heating) and contraction
(night-time cooling) depends on the physical and
chemical properties of a rock.
• This means that expansion and contraction of rocks also
depends on the rock’s surface albedo
• Dark-coloured rocks (olivine) expand faster than light-
coloured rocks (quartz)
• Rocks that are large, but characterized by a higher
degree of moistures are likely to fracture or develop
cracks caused by expansion and contraction.
• Insolation weathering is effective in semi-arid
and desert area (Namib), where diurnal
temperatures can rise the rock surface
temperature to 79 ºC, but drop by 50 ºC during
the night.
• Once this happens the surface of the rock
expands faster than the interior.
• This leads to the creation of a temperature
gradient within the rock.
• The repeated cycles of expansion and
contraction lead to the development of cracks or
fissures which reduce the tensile strength of the
rock.
Thermal expansion and
contraction
Exfoliation of
rocks
Frost weathering
• This involves the expansion and contraction of
rocks due to freeze-thaw cycles
• It is most common in peri-glacial & alpine
environments (Drakensberg)
• It is also common in rocks that are characterized
by high degree of jointing and moisture.
• For freeze-thaw cycles to be effective, freezing
starts from outside to inside the rock crack
• This only occurs when temperatures are
between -4 ºC and -22 ºC.
• Once this occurs the moisture inside the cracks
freezes and expands by 9%, exerting pressure
of up to 220hPa.
• The frozen ice within a crack exerts pressure on
the confining walls of the crack and increase the
crack size.
• The repeated freeze-thaw cycles therefore
increase the size of the rock crack and the
tensile strength of the rock is weakened, and the
rock fails and shatter/ break.
• Rock fragments produced by freeze-thaw cycles
are found at the foot of mountains, and are
usually angular in character.
• These angular rock debris found at the base of
mountains or slopes are known as felsenmeer.
 Freezing direction

Direction of exerting force

Rock vulnerable to frost weathering
Salt weathering
• It is most common in areas characterised by
high teperature, evaporation and availability of
salts.
• It is effective in desert areas adjacent to seas
and oceans like Dead Sea, Red Sea,
Mediterranean Sea, Namib desert etc, or areas
where saline solutions are drawn from the
surface by capillary action
• Just like frost weathering, it is effective in rocks
that are characterised by a high degree of
jointing/ cracks.
• It involves three processes:
• (1) The precipitation of salts into rock
voids
• (2) The heating of salt crystals inside rock
voids
• (3) The hydration of salt crystals inside
rock cracks
• The most common salts are NaCl, KCl,
Na2SO4, NH3. K2So4.
• Once salt crystals are precipitated into
rock voids they are heated and expand.
Salt weathering results
Salt weathering on sandstone
• This exerts force on the confining wall of crack.
The same is true about expansion of salt
crystals due to hydration.
• Some salts like Na2SO4 can expand ten times
upon hydration and this will exert force against
the confining walls of a crack.
• The repeated cycles of expansion and
contraction due to salt crystals accompanied by
chemical weathering weaken the tensile strength
of the rock and it will ultimately fracture.
• On the ground frost weathering leads to ground
patterning and cracks.
CHEMICAL WEATHERING
• It involves the breakdown of the primary
minerals in the rock to new secondary minerals
that are more stable in the surface environment
or to material that may be carried away in
solution.
• The common agents of chemical weathering
are: water, weak acids, air
• Water or abundant moisture is the essential
agent in chemical weathering.
• Water either reacts with minerals directly or
carries dissolved elements which react with
minerals.
• The reactions involved in chemical
weathering are many and complex:

Solution
Hydrolysis
Hydration
Carbonation
Oxidation & reduction
Ion-exchange
Solution
• This is the first step in chemical weathering
where water acts as a solvent.
• The dissolution of quartz can be demonstrated
as follows:
SiO2 + 2H2O → Si(OH)4
(quartz) (water) (silicic acid)
• The extent to which minerals can dissolve in
water is dependent on its equilibrium solubility.
• It is expressed in parts per million by volume)
• The solubility of minerals also depends on
the pH of solution and the environment, as
well as the temperature of solution and
environment.
• E.g. Quartz (>10), ferrous iron (FeO)(7),
Ferric iron (Fe2O3)(<3.5), Alumina
(Al2O3)(insoluble b/n 4&10), Calcium
carbonate (CaCO3)(6.5-9).
Hydrolysis

• It involves the reaction between water and

mineral elements, that is between the hydrogen
ions (H+) of water and the hydroxyl ions (OH-)of
the minerals.
• It is a major process in the decomposition of
feldspars (KAlSi3O8, Na/Ca AlSi3O8) important
minerals in igneous rocks (Quartz – SiO2)
• It usually affects silicate and carbonate minerals.
• During the reaction, pure water ionizes slightly
and reacts with silicate minerals
 17

11
• It involves the replacement of metal cations (K+,
Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+) in a mineral lattice by H+ ions
and the combining of these released cations
with hydroxyl ions (OH-)
• Feldspars break down to produce potassium
hydroxide, sodium hydroxide and alumino silicic
acid.
• During hydrolysis of potash feldspar (KAlSi3O8)
the aluminosilicic acid further decomposes into
clay minerals and silicic acid, while potassium
hydroxide reacts with carbon dioxide (present in
water) to produce potassium carbonate
• The potassium carbonate is removed in
solution, leaving silica and residual clay
materials as the end products.
• 2KAlSi3O8 + 2H2O + CO2 →
(feldspar) (water) (carbon minerals)
Al2Si2O5(OH)4 + K2CO3 + 4SiO2
(kaolinite) (potassium (Silica)
carbonate)
Aluminosilicates when subjected to the hydrolysis
reaction produce a secondary mineral.

• 4NaAlSi3O8 + 6H2O → Al4Si4O10(OH)8 +

(Albite) (water) (Kaolinite)
8SiO2 + 4Na+ + 4OH-
(Silica) (Dissolved hydroxyl
sodium ions)
Hydration
• Some minerals can absorb water into their
crystal structure through reversible
reaction known as hydration.
• E.g.
2Fe2O3 + 3H2O ↔ 2Fe2O3.3H2O
(iron oxide)(water) (hydrated iron oxide)
Carbonation
• This is the process by which carbonic acid changes
calcium carbonate (CaCO3) into calcium bicarbonate.
E.g. H2CO3 + CACO3 → Ca(HCO3)2
(calcium carbonate)

Carbonic acid is produced when water reacts with carbon

dioxide
E.g. CO2 + H2O → H2CO3
(carbonic acid)
• It is active on rocks that have abundant calcium
carbonate (limestone & Chalk)
• This process produces dissected limestone pavements
on well-jointed limestone.
Oxidation and reduction
• Oxidation is the process whereby an atom loses
an electron and thus acquires an increase in its
positive charge or a decrease in a negative
charge.
• The most oxidizing agent is the dissolved
oxygen.
• The reaction can be reversed by reduction which
involves the gaining of an electron.
• Various elements such Fe, Mn, S can be
oxidized to form oxides or hydroxides
E.g. 4Fe2+ + 3O2 → 2Fe2O3
(iron oxide)
Cation exchange
• Involves the substitution of one cation for
another of a different element in a mineral
structure.
• This can occur in any mineral, but most common
in clay minerals
• Each type of clay mineral has a different
propensity for the exchange of exchange of
cations which can be measured by its cation
exchange capacity (c.e.c) in units of
milliequivalentss per 100g of clay.
• The mechanism is important in the alteration of
clay minerals.
• Depends on the pH of the environment.
MASS MOVEMENT/ WASTING
• Mass movement/ wasting involves the
movement of material downslope under
the influence of gravity as creep, flow,
slide or fall.
• Most of the mobile material is derived from
weathered sediments (rocks and regolith)
• Force of gravity is the main agent that
controls movement of material downslope.
• The major factor that helps overcome
resistance of material is water.
Factors affecting the nature and velocity of mass
wasting are:
• The nature of the material and the extent of
saturation.
• The angle of slope. The steeper the slope the
faster the rate of movement.
• Climate, including the amount and nature of
rainfall, and the annual and daily temperature
ranges.
• The influence of plants. Absence encourages
movement.
• Man’s activities- mining, buildings, road
construction, etc.
• Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. These
cause large and widespread movements.
• Slope stability determines the rate and nature of
movement.
• Movement on slopes always occur when the
driving forces exceed the resisting forces (safety
factor: ratio b/n shear strength and shear stress)
• Slopes exist in one of the three states:
(1) Where shear strength is larger than shear
stress the slope is described as stable.
(2) Where shear stress exceeds shear strength
the slope is described as unstable
(3) Conditionally stable slope is dependent on
varying degree of water content from time to
time.
• v

• τ
• β
• σ
V = vertical stress
T = shear stress
σ = normal stress
β = the angle of the shear plane
Factors that contribute to
increased shear stress
Removal of lateral support (undercutting-
steepening slope)
• Erosion by rivers
• Erosion by glaciers
• Weathering
• Previous rockfall or slide, subsidence, or
faulting
• Construction of quarries, pits, canals,
roads
• Alteration of water levels in lakes and
reservoirs
Surcharge (loading of slope)
• Weight of rain, snow, water from pipelines,
sewers, canals
• Accumulation of talus
• Vegetation, trees
• Seepage pressures of percolating water
• Construction of fill, waste piles, buildings
Transitory earth stress
• Earthquakes
• Vibrations, blasting, traffic
• Swaying of trees in wind
Removal of underlying support
• Undercutting by rivers
• Solution at depth
• Loss of strength of underlying sediments
• Squeezing out of underlying plastic
sediments
Lateral pressure
• Water in cracks
• Freezing of water in cracks
• Swelling (hydration of clay or anhydrite)
• Mobilization of residual stress (pressure
release)
Factors that contribute to
reduced shear strength
Weathering and other physiochemical
reactions
• Softening of fissured clays
• Physical disintegration of granular rocks (frost
action, thermal expansion)
• Hydration of clay minerals causing decreased
cohesion, swelling
• Base exchange (changes physical properties
• Drying of shales and clay-loss of cohesion due
to water percolation
• Removal of cement by solution
Changes in intergranular forces due to
water content (porewater pressure)
• Saturation-bouyance, decreased
intergranular pressure and friction, and
capillary cohesion destroyed
• Softening of material
Changes of structure
• Fissuring of shale and consolidated clays
• Remoulding of loess, sand and sensitive
clay

Organic
• burrowing animals
• Decay of roots
MASS MOVEMENT PROCESSES
Creep
• It is an extremely slow, almost imperceptible
downslope movement of soil and rock debris.
• The motion is so slow that it generally is difficult
to observe directly.
• On weakly consolidated, grass-covered slopes,
evidence of creep can be seen as bulges or low,
wave-like swells
• In road cuts and stream banks creep can be
expressed by the bending of steeply dipping
strata in a downslope direction or the movement
of blocks of a distinctive rock type, downslope
from their outcrop.
• Other evidence of creeping include tilted trees,
telephone poles, displaced monuments,
deformed roads and fence lines and tilted
retaining walls.
• In cold environments, creeping is triggered by
frost heaving
• The alternate freeze-thaw cycles in periglacial
and frost prone environments trigger creeping.
• Repeated freeze-thaw cycles force particles to
move downslope in a series of zigzags.
• Wetting and drying (expansion and
contraction) can cause downslope
movement of unconsolidated material
• Other causes of creep include plant roots,
swaying of trees during storms etc.
• Creep can occur on very gentle slope (1°)
• Characterize by ground heave.
• Two types: Seasonal and continuous
Creeping
Slides
• This involves the movement of large masses of
rock and debris.
• Most common on over steepened slopes such
as scarps, cliffs and road cuttings.
• The movement ranges from rapid to extremely
rapid.
• In rocks unconsolidated rock fragments move
along a well-defined shear plane.
• The plane roughness also determines the
velocity of movement downslope.
• Extremely slow slides along a well-defined shear
plane are called creep.
• Slides that occur along a planar surface
are known as translational slides
• Slides that move along a curved surface
are referred to as slumps or rotational
slides
• Rockslide & debris slide

Translational slide

Rotational slide
Solifluction
• Downslope movement of regolith
saturated with water
• Takes place on moderate slopes and the
movement is slow.
• It is a special type of earthflow, which is
common in arctic and subarctic regions
where the subsoil is permanently frozen.
• Can occur in temperate regions where
sufficient moisture can accumulate in the
top soil surface.
Rock falls
• This involves the rapid vertical movement
of rocks.
• It occurs on very steep or vertical slopes in
mountain environments where well-jointed
rocks may be loosened by freeze-thaw
cycles.
• Areas characterized by rock fall have
debris accumulation at the base of the
slopes forming talus slopes.
• Another type of fall is topple.
• This involves the forward movement of
block of rocks and accumulate at the base
as debris or rock slabs.
• The movement in topples is diagonal.
• Weakened fructure
Rock fall Topples

Rock slabs
Flows
• Characterized by semi-liquid mud with gravels
and boulders
• Occurs on moderate to steep slopes.
• Includes large volumes of unconsolidated
material, super-saturated after heavy rain
(become plastic and flow)
• It contains large percentage of silt and clay-size
particles (Mudflow).
• Water content is about 30%.
• Flows usually follow stream valleys and can
transport large boulders by floating them over
slopes as gentle as 5°
• Flows can be over 100m thick and 80km long.
MUDFLOW
• There are two types: Debris and mudflow
• Debris flows are rapid flows of rock
fragments and water.
• They consist of mixtures of rock
fragments, mud and water that flow
downslope as a thick, viscous fluid.
• They normally begin as slumps and
continue as flows near the lower margins
of the slump block
Subaqueous sand flows
• Common beneath water.
SUMMARY
Debris flow
 LANDFORMS OF
TECTONIC ACTIVITY
• Tectonic activity includes all forms of
breaking and bending of the entire
lithosphere, including the crust.
• The breaking and bending of the
lithospheric plates results from volcanic
activity, folding and faulting.
• Faulting is usually associated with
tensional stresses (breaking) and folding
compresional stresses (bending).
•
• Horst Fault scarp/ plane Horst
• Graben
 Anticline
Syncline
(upfold)
(downfold)
• Landforms produced directly by volcanic
and tectonic activity are initial landforms.
• Initial landforms include dropped-down rift
valleys and alpine elevated ranges of
crustal deformation.
• Landforms shaped by processes and
agents of denudation (weathering, erosion,
mass movement) are sequential landforms
FOLDS
• Folds are produced mostly during
continental collision (convergent
boundaries).
• When collision occurs, weak rock strata
undergo tremendous stress and they yield
by bending (folding).
• A wave-like undulation of land surface is
produced.
• The upfold is known as an anticline and a
downfold a syncline.
• Associated with an upfold is an anticlinal
mountain and a downfold a synclinal valley.
• An example of a folded landscape is the Cape
Folded Ranges and the Atlas mountains
(highest fold mountains in Africa > 4000m)
• The Cape Ranges include Cedarberg, Olifants
mountains, Swartberg, Kougaberg and the
Langeberg (anticlinal mountains)
• An example of a synclinal valley is the Hex River
Valley bounded on either side by the Hex River
Mountains and the Kwadouw Range.
• After the formation of initial landforms the
anticlines and the synclines experience
denudation processes that modify them
into secondary landforms (sequential
landforms)
• The tops of the anticlines are eroded to
produce beep ravines and valleys.
• Valleys that are cut along the anticlines
are known as anticlinal valley, bounded
on either side by the anticlininal ridges.
• An example of an anticlinal valley is the
Tulbagh Valley along the Cape ranges.
• Mountains that are formed when erosion
carves the synclines are called synclinal
mountains.
• An example of a synclinal mountain is the
famous Table Mountain (W. Cape)
• Streams that manage to maintain their
original course of flow during folding or
faulting are known as antecedent streams.
ERODED ANTICLINES AND SYNCLINES

• Anticlinal ridges (homoclinal ridges)

• Anticlinal valley Synclinal mountains

FAULTS
• Faulting is accompanied by the
displacement along the plane of breakage
known as the fault plane
• They are normally accompanied by
earthquakes.
• There are four types of faults (normal,
reverse, transcurrent, and low-angle
overthrust fault.)
Normal fault
• It is characterized by a steep or nearly vertical
fault plane.
• Movement of plates during faulting is
predominantly vertical.
• One plate is upthrown and the other
downthrown.
• A normal fault results in a deep fault scarp.
• Fault scarps range in height from a few meters
to several hundred meters.
• Their lengths are measurable in km. They often
attain lengths of 100km or more.
• The upthrown fault forms mountain called
a horst while the downthrown fault results
in a valley called a graben (rift valley)
• Horsts make block-like plateaus or
mountains with flat tops and steep sides.
• Grabens make conspicuous trenches, with
straight parallel walls.
• The Red Sea graben is the biggest rift
valley produced by continental rifting.
• Other rift valleys include the Great East
African Lakes.
They are categorized into four main sections
(1) Ethiopian Rift, from Afar Triangle south to
Lake Turkana (Rudolf)
(2) Eastern Rift, in Kenya and Tanzania,
including the branches in which lie Lake Eyasi
and the Kavirondo Gulf of north east Lake
Victoria,
(3) Western Rift, from Lake Mobutu (Albert) to
Lake Tanganyika
(4) Malawi Rift, bounding Lake Malawi and the
Shire Valley.
 Reverse fault
• With the reverse fault movement is
triggered by colliding plates such that
crustal shortening occurs.
• Instead of bending, the plates yield to
stress by breaking and a fault
characteized by overhanging cliff is
formed.
• The overhanging cliff is characterized by
intense mass wasting
Overhanging cliff

Valley
 Transform/ transcurrent fault
• Movement is predominantly horizontal
• No fault scarp is produced by this type of a fault.
• A fault line is produced by movement of plates
and streams tend to follow this fault line for a
short distance.
• In a transform fault one plate glides past
another.
• Earthquakes are common along these plate
boundaries.
• An example of the transform boundary occurs along the San
Andreas Fault of California (USA).
• This fault which runs north-south, separates the North
American Plate on the east side, on which San Francisco
sits, from the Pacific Plate west of the fault, on which Los
Angeles sits.
• The Pacific Plate is moving in a northerly, and the North
American Plate in southerly direction.
• As the two plates grind and scrape past each other, Los
Angeles slowly moves north and San Francisco moves
south.
• At times the edges of the plates grab and lock, and as they
do the rocks on both sides flex and bend. When the locked
section breaks free, the flexed rock suddenly snaps back and
an earthquake results.
• Transform/ Transcurrent fault
 Low-angle overthrust fault
• Low-angle overthrust fault involves
predominantly horizontal movement, but the
fault plane is nearly horizontal.
• One slice of rock rides over an adjacent ground
surface.
• A thrust slice may be up to 50km wide
Low-angle overthrust fault
Fault plane
Topography associated with
horizontal strata
• The African continent is characterized by
horizontal layers.
• These rock layers were deposited in the
geological past at the bottom of inland seas,
developed on land, as stream deposits forming
large alluvial plains , were developed as large-
scale lava flows.
• Almost all of these horizontal layers were
deposited during the Paleozoic, Mesozoic and
Cenozoic ages (Refer to geological time period
chart)
• If these layers are uplifted, with little change in
their horizontal position, the normal cycle of
erosion would begin
• In the initial stage the landscape is very even,
but running water is able to find weak places on
the surface and erode them.
• In the youthful stage the rapid downward erosion
leads to the development of V-shaped or steep-
sided valleys (canyons – narrow valleys) to be
incised into softer underlying layers.
• In this stage very few large rivers occur. This
might be caused by low precipitation amounts to
supply more water for stream erosion.
• The rock layers are characterized by alternating
weak and resistant parts that produce terraced
valley slopes (step-like).
• An example of a canyon produced is the Fish River
Canyon (Namibia) which is 65km long, 450m deep and
10km wide. This is relatively small compared to the
Grand Canyon which is 350km long, 2km deep (in some
places) and 30km wide.
• With the passage of time continued erosion reduces
plateaus to small isolated landmasses called mesas.
• An example of a mesa is the Tafelberg bear Middelburg
(Eastern Cape).
• Continued erosion will further reduce these landmasses
to very small isolated features capped by resistant caps.
• These small land features are called buttes
• An example of a butte is the Three Sisters near
Beaufort West, Teebus and Koffiebus.
• The elevation of the resistant cap lies at the
same level as graded plateaus before erosion
reduced them to isolated landmasses.
• These resistant caps are formed from resistant
sedimentary layers or sills of igneous rocks
such as dolerite. If erosion becomes intense,
these caps are removed to form conical hills.
Mesas, buttes and conical hills are a
characteristic of the Great Karoo.
• Hills with steep rounded slopes are formed in
regions where rock layers are horizontal and
resistant to erosion.
• Examples of such hills are Swartland near
Malmesbury and the Rûens area near Caledon
and Bredasdorp in the Western Cape.
• In arid and semi-arid regions there is very little
rainfall water that enters the streams from the
banks. This makes hillslopes in this area to be
rugged and steep. These landscapes are known
as the “badlands” in the USA.
• Regions of horizontal strata have branching
stream networks formed into Dendritic drainage
pattern. The smaller streams in this pattern take
a variety of directions.
PLAINS AND INSELBERGS
ORIGIN OF PLAINS AND
INSELBERGS
• A plain is an extensive tract of flat land or gently
undulating terrain without prominent hills or
depressions.
• Some plains have been formed by deposition of
sediments
• An inselberg (a German term referring to an island
mountain) – is a prominent steep-sided hill of solid
rock, rising abruptly from a plain of low relief.
• It is characteristic of tropical landscapes particularly in
the savanna zone, and is generally composed of a
resistant rock, such as granite
• An inselberg is is derived by the process of parallel
retreat of slopes in which pediments encroach into
residual uplands during the process of pediplanation
• An inselberg is the end-product of the pediment
encroachment, and may occur as an isolated
hill or in a residual group of hills.
• They generally look like huge rounded domes
or piles of rocks and boulders
• There are generally two types of inselbergs:
• (a) Bornhart: high steep-sided dome-shaped
hill formed mainly in massive crystalline rocks
such as granite or gneiss.
• Domes are generally less upstanding features
with rounded outline.
• Low elongated domes are called whalebacks
• (b) Castle kopjes: a steep sided pile of
massive crystalline boulders
• They often have castle-like profile.
• In many African countries they are called tors
• Pediplanation accounts for the origin of
plains and inselbergs by the process of
scarp retreat and extension of the pediment.
A plain is formed by the destruction of an
older, higher plain along the scarp
• At the scarp, where waterfalls sometimes
occur, erosion is active and in conjunction
with weathering
• This causes the gradual retreat of the scarp
 Scarp Parallel retreat of scarp and formation of plain and inselberg
Pediment

Scarp retreat

Pediment extension

Bornhart Plain
Plain
• At the foot of the scarp a rock surface of low
gradient, called the pediment, slopes gently
down to the plain
• On the pediment erosion, erosion is less active
and sheet flooding becomes the main process
• This is sufficient to cause the extension of the
pediment, a process called pedimentation, as
the scarp retreats
• Over the level surface of retreating pediments
(plains) erosion is limited and rivers tend to
develop wide shallow channels.
• This is due to low gradients
• The lower plain is enlarged at the expense
of the higher plain
• The scarp face is worn down rather than the
whole landscape as in the case of
peneplanation (the lowering of the
landscape by subaerial denudation to form a
peneplain→ undulating surface of low relief,
interspersed with occasional residual hills
known as monadnocks – formed by the
widening of of the floodplains and the
wearing down of interfluves by subaerial
denudation)
• As the scarp retreats pediments are gradually
extended until all that remains between two
encroaching pediments is a final remnant
(inselberg/ tor) of an original higher planation
surface.
• The inselbergs that are produced are large and
of bornhart variety, but they are eventually worn
broken down into castle kopjes by weathering
attacking the joint planes
• When the inselbergs are worn away the
pediments coalesce to form a continuous plain
called a pediplain
BORNHART
CASTLE KOPJES
• In the savanna regions plains are the result of
deep weathering followed by stripping of the
weathered layer and scarp retreats
• The deep weathering by chemical
decomposition (humid tropics feature) produces
a layer of rotted rock up to 60m thick
• However, the depth differs from place to place
according to the mineral composition and
jointing of the rock.
• Streams that flow across the plains develop
wide shallow channels and due to both the low
gradient and fine nature of chemically
weathered load, vertical erosion is limited.
• Where weathering was deep the material is
easily stripped off by streams, and a new
lower plain is formed which is gradually
extended by a scarp retreat.
• In areas where the rock was resistant,
inselbergs of hard unweathered rock will rise
above the plain.
• The actual form an inselberg/ tor will take
depends on the spacing of the joints.
• Wide-spaced joints produce bornharts, and
close-spaced joints produce castle kopjes.