GEOLOGICAL PROCESSES OF EARTH

GEOLOGICAL PROCESSES

 Natural forces that influence the shape and structure of the earth
 Geologists and other scientist studied this to:
o Expand their ideas how to earth evolved
o Locate useful resources
o Improve their knowledge on disastrous events. (constructive and destructive processes)

EXOGENOUS - Originating on or above the surface of the Earth, Driven by sun’s energy.

ENDOGENOUS – Originating within the earth, within the earth.

EXOGENOUS PROCESS OF THE EARTH

EXOGENOUS

 Processes come from forces on or above the earth’s surface.

 Leave changes on landscape and in the ecosystem of an area
 Interconnected with the four subsystems of the earth that include: weathering, erosion, transportation,
deposition.

WEATHERING

 Breaking down of rock

 Disintegration of rocks, soils, and materials together with other materials on earth
 On-site breaking down of rocks due to weather.

MECHANICAL WEATHERING

 Whenever rocks are broken up without any change in their chemical composition.
 Factors: pressure, warm temperature, water, and ice
 Examples: disintegration, exfoliation, and frost action

TYPES OF MECHANICAL WEATHERING

EXFOLIATION – when the outer layer peel or flakes off, like dead skin.

FROST WEDGING – when ice forms in cracks, expands, and break up rocks

TREE ROOTS - when trees and plants break apart rocks by pressure in their roots.

THERMAL EXPANSION – heating and cooling things rapidly causes to form.

CHEMICAL WEATHERING

 Weakening or disintegration of rocks and the formation of new compounds caused by chemical
reactions.
 Oxidation, hydrolysis, acid action.
EROSION AND TRANSPORT -process where in a soil and weathered materials are transported from one place to
another.

TYPES OF EROSION AND TRANSPORT

WIND EROSION - Occurs when sediments move one place to another by wind power

GLACIERS - Glacial erosion includes processes that occur directly in association with the movement of glacial ice
over its bed

MASS WASTING/MASS MOVEMENT - processes of erosion, transport and accumulation of material that occur on
both gentle and steep slopes mainly owing to gravitational forces

DEPOSISTION - Process in which sediments settle out of the transporting medium (sediments that are deposited).