Chapter 6: Diastrophism

(Geomorphologic Processes, and Geologic Hazards)

August, 2022

Compiled By: Assnake B.

 6) Geomorphologic processes

Basic definition in geomorphology

 Geomorphology: is the study of earth surface processes,
landforms and physical, morphological and structural
process that influence landform development.

 Topography: refers to the elevation and relief of the

Earth’s surface. Topography is measured by the
differences in elevation across the earth’s surface.

 Landforms: are the topographic features on the Earth’s

surface.
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 Elevation: height above sea
level.

 Slope: spatial gradients in

elevation; it controls the local
stability of hillsides and
sediment transport

 Relief: the contrast between

minimum and maximum
elevation in a region.

 Landscape: - the combined

effect of numerous landforms
- Mountainous Terrain

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 6.1) Geomorphologic processes

Geomorphic processes can be classified in to two;

1) Exogenic processes: processes that act and

affect the external surface of the earth.

2) Endogenic processes: processes that act

and affect the interior of
the earth

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 6.1.1 Exogenic processes
 Exogenic processes :- are process that operate at the surface of the
earth crust due to different agents such as the action of water, wind,
ice, gravity.

(Earth’s external) Exogenic processes include:-

 Weathering,
 Erosion,
 Mass wasting,
 Deposition etc.

 Source of energy for

exogenic processes:
 Solar energy
 Gravitational energy
 Water
 Wind
 Ice/glacier. 5
 Earth’s external processes

 Weathering – the physical breakdown (disintegration) and

chemical alteration (decomposition) of rock at Earth’s surface.

 Mass wasting – the transfer of rock and soil down slope under the
influence of gravity.

 Erosion – the physical removal of material by mobile agents such

as water, wind, ice, or gravity.

 Deposition - is the accumulation or accretion of weathered and

eroded materials

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 Weathering
Two types of Weathering:

(A)Physical (Mechanical) weathering – breaks down rocks

into smaller pieces.
Types of mechanical weathering:
 Frost wedging
 Unloading
 Thermal expansion
 Biological activity

(B) Chemical weathering - breaks down rock into components

and involves change in mineralogical composition of rocks

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 A) Physical Weathering
a) Frost wedging:- Water seeps into cracks or joints, freezes, expands, and
eventually splits rock.

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Shattered rocks are common in cold & alpine
environments where repeated freeze-thaw cycles
gradually opens rocks apart.

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b) Pressure Release/Unloading/
–Erosion strips away overlying
material

–Decrease in overlying
pressure (load) causes
underlying rock to expand
upward

–Leads to pressure release

cracks in the exposed rock

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c) Exfoliation/ (Thermal Expansion)/Fluctuation in temperature:
 When temperature increases>>>>The rock expands
 When temperature decreases>>>>The rock contracts
This non-uniform heating & cooling can lead to weathering of rock and
this process is called Thermal Expansion.

Dome Exfoliation

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d)Salt wedging/Salt Crystallization: Growth of salt crystals
in small rock openings

 Honeycomb weathering is the result of salt crystal growth on

surface of rock, expanding the size of the hollows.
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e) Abrasion by: wind, stream water & glaciers

Wind Abrasion

Stream water Abrasion: Water carry

small particles that can impact bed rock

Glaciers Abrasion: Glacial ice drags rocky

wind Abrasion material that scours the surface it flows over

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 B) Chemical Weathering
 Chemical weathering breaks down rock components and internal
structures of minerals.

 Most important agent is water: responsible for transport of ions and

molecules involved in chemical processes.

Major processes of chemical weathering

1) Oxidation: Any reaction when electrons are lost from one
element .
2) Dissolution: Aided by small amounts of acid in the water.
3) Hydrolysis: The reaction of any substance with water.
– Hydrogen ion attacks and replaces other ions.

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 Chemical Processes -----------decomposition of rocks
a) Oxidation: chemical union of oxygen with iron &water to form iron oxide (RUST)

Iron-containing mineral, pyrite (FeS2) forms

a rusty-colored mineral, limonite (FeO)

Iron oxide :
Mineralization Halos
along Rock Joints

Pyrite Oxidation

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Pyrite (FeS2) Limonite (FeO)
b)Hydration: chemical union of water (H20 ) with a mineral ---- H20 is absorbed
Ex Anhydrite -------------- readily transforms ------------ Gypsum
(CaSO4) by the absorption of H20 to (CaSO4·2H20)
c) Dissolution: Minerals in a rock are dissolved by water (H20 ) ----- H20 dissolves
Ex Halite, Limestone and Gypsum dissolves by WATER

Sinkholes: large depressions on the

Water dissolves calcium carbonate in the surface where limestone bedrock
limestone forms cave has been dissolved resulting in
collapse on the overlying su1r6face
 C) Rates of weathering
Factors affecting rates of weathering
(a) Effective surface area for chemical reactions (ion
exchange and oxidation).

Increase in surface area

 (b) Rock characteristics:
Rocks containing calcite (marble and limestone) readily dissolve in weakly
acidic solutions.

 Silicate minerals weather in the same order as their order of

crystallization.
 Ferro-magnesian minerals (olivine, pyroxene, Ca-feldspar) decay
first and followed by amphibole and biotite.
 Quartz is extremely stable, and remains unaltered.

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(c) Climate:
– Temperature and moisture characteristics.
– Chemical weathering is most effective in
areas of warm, moist climates.

(d) Differential weathering:

– Rocks do not weather uniformly due to regional
and local factors.
– Results in many unusual and spectacular rock
formations and landforms.
Spheroidal Weathering
 Role of rock joints in
weathering

Spheroidal weathering is common

between joint-bordered blocks;
because water is the principal agent
in fomenting oxidation reactions with
adjacent minerals.

Joint-controlled
weathering
Water flows through rock masses along their
respective joint systems.
Rapid weathering occurs between closely
spaced joints, due to increased surface area
  Engineering classification of weathering

• Generally, strength of rocks decreases with increasing of degree of

weathering.

• Based on degree of weathering, geological materials mainly rocks

are classified into six broad categories (classes).

1) Grade-I.....Fresh rock
2) Grade-II…Slightly weathered
3) Grade-III…Moderately weathered
4) Grade-IV…Highly weathered
5) Grade-V….Completely weathered
6) Grade-VI…Soil

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Grade Degree of Field Recognition Engineering Properties
Decomposition
VI Soil  No recognizable rock  Unsuitable for important
texture; contains hums foundations and slope
and plant roots.
V Completely  Rock is  Can be excavated by hand
completely
Weathered decomposed but texture method.
is recognizable.  Unsuitable for large structures
 Cannot be recovered such as dams
during drilling.  May be suitable for earth dams.
 Unsuitable in high cuttings
 Requires erosion protection.
IV Highly Weathered  Rocks are so weakened  Unsuitable for foundation of
by weathering. concrete dams
 Some portion of such  Erratic presence of rock also
rocks can be recovered make them unsuitable for
during drilling. foundation of large structures.

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Grade Degree of Field Recognition Engineering Properties
Decomposition
III Moderately  Considerably  Difficult to excavate without use of
weathered weathered explosives
 Cannot be broken by  Mostly crushes under bulldozer
hand. tracks
 Suitable for foundation of small
concrete dams and rock fill dams
 Cutting depends on joint orientation.
II Slightly weathered  Degree of weathering  Requires explosives for excavation.
is very small  Suitable for concrete dam foundation
 Their strength  Highly permeable through open
approaches that of joints
fresh rock
I Fresh  Degree of weathering  Requires explosives for excavation.
is negliable  Suitable for concrete dam foundation

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 6.1.2 Endogenic Process

 Are internal process within the earth that result in uplift and

reconstruction of the landscape, and usually lead to an increase in

elevation and relief.

Three major activities are involved

a) Igneous activity - movement of molten rock or magma,

b) Orogensis/orogeny - mountain building, and

c) Epeirogenesis - is the uplift of usually large area without significant

folding or fracture.

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There are three types of plate boundaries arise from the relative
movement of lithospheric plates:
1) Convergent boundary,
2) Divergent boundary, and
3) Lateral slip (or transform) boundary

Deformation isoccurred along suchgeologic environment!

CPB DPB
 Divergent geological environment

 Tensile force : are responsible to deformation at divergent environment .

Brittle structures are mostly develop in such environment.
 Normal fault is atypical example, successive normal fault in the main Ethiopian
rift valley is the result of tensile stress.
 Continental rift & MOR most known divergent geologic environment.
 Convergent geologic environment

 compressional force : are responsible to deformation in convergent

geologic environment .Both brittle and ductile structures can develop in such
environment
 subduction zone &collisional zones are atypical convergence geologic
environment.

Eg. Reverse fault , continental collision in turn mountain building process (folds)
,subduction of denser oceanic crust at continental and oceanic convergence are the
most conditions which will occurred in such environment .
 Transform geologic environment

 Shear forces : are responsible to deformation in in such geologic

environment .
 Strike slip fault and ductile shearing is the dominate structure .
 Source of energy for Endogenic processes

 Geothermal energy (E.g. Geothermal gradient of the earth),

 Radioactive energy (E.g. U238 and Th232) have the longer half-lives,
so they are presently the principal sources of radiogenic heat, and

 Residual heat of the earth.

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6.2 Geological Hazards

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The most Common geologic
hazards are:
Mass movement/landslide
 Earthquakes,
Volcanic eruptions
Surface subsidence
Flooding and tsunamis

With regard to these hazards, the role of engineering geologists is

to understand earth’s process and to alert, warn and predict
locations of these geological hazards to reduce loss of life and
property.
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 a) Mass movement/Land Slide
 Landslides represent the rapid downward and outward movement of
slope-forming materials.

 It can damage any engineering structures those constructed on the moving

mass and/or those constructed on the path of moving mass.

 Therefore, when we construct engineering structures on the hills or at the

foot of the hill we must conduct investigation to determine the stability
condition of the slope.

When Does Landslide Occur?

 Landslide is occur only when the driving force (shear stress) overcome the
resisting force (shear strength) of the slope material

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 How to determine stability of slope?

 To determine the stability condition of the slope material we must

calculate its safety factor (Fs)

What are resistive force?

 Resistive force are force due to friction resistance of soil grains and
cohesion.
What are driving forces?
 Driving forces are forces that are applied to slope material due to
additional loading on the slope and pore water pressure.

 If factor of safety is less than 1, slope failure will occur while slope will
remain stable if factor safety is greater than 1.
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 What are causes of Slope movement?

 There are two causes of slope movements

1) Conditioning or passive Factors

 These are internal factors which are due to intrinsic nature of the slope
such as slope geometry and low shear strength capacity of slope forming
materials

2) Triggering or active factors

 These are external factors such as rainfall which provoke or trigger
instability and are responsible in general for the size and speed of the
movements

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 Classification of mass wasting
Mass movements are classified based on the type of materials involved,
the type of movement, and the rate of movement.

Based on type of material

Slope materials can be divided into bedrock ("rock"), or unconsolidated
materials/soil ("debris", "mud", "earth").

Based on type of movement

 Fall
 Flow
 Sliding
 Toppling and
 Lateral spreading
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 Classification of Mass Movement based on types of
movement
1. Falls
 It can occur in either soil or rock masses on extremely steep slopes.

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 2. Slides
• These can occur over much more shallow /gentle slopes than falls.

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 3. Flows
 Flows occur when material moves down slope as a viscous fluid.

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 4. Lateral Spreads
 The dominant mode of movement is lateral or horizontal,
accompanied by shear and/or tensile fractures when tensile and
shear stress is dominated.

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 5. Toppling
 A topple is a forward rotation out of the slope material
about a point below the center of gravity.
 Toppling failure is generally associated with steep
slopes in which the jointing is near vertical.

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 Type of movement Type of material
Bed rock Engineering soils
pred. coarse Pred. fine
1) Falls Rock fall Debris fall Earth fall
2) Topples Rock topples Debris topple Earth topple

3) Slide Rot . Few units Rock slump Debris slump Earth slump

Trans Many Rock block slide Debris block slide Earth block slide
units
Rock slide Debris slide Earth slide

4) Lateral spreads Rock spread Debris spread Earth spread

5) Flows Rock flow (deep Debris flow Earth flow

creep (soil creep) (soil creep)

*Complex* Combination of two or more types of movement

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 Landslide Mitigation Methods
The landslide stabilizing measures include
 Modifying the slope geometry
 Providing drainage
 Increasing ground strength by inserting resistant structural
elements
 Constructing walls or other retaining elements
Modifying the slope geometry is often done by:
 Reducing the slope angle
 Reducing the weight at the head of the slope
 Increasing weight at the toe (“heels” or rip-rap).
 Constructing benches and berms (stepping).
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 B) Earthquake Hazards
 An earthquake is defined as a natural vibration of the ground or the Earths
crust produced by forces, called earthquake forces or seismic forces.

Earthquake terminologies
 Seismograph- instrument
 Hypocenter (focus)- source place
of earthquake
 Epicenter- point on the surface
 Focal depth- vertical distance
from epicenter to focus
 Earthquake magnitude- amount of
energy released during shaking
 Earthquake intensity- amount of
damages caused by the earthquake.
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 Classification of Earthquake
 Based on depth of focus
 Shallow <60km
 Medium 60-300km
 Deep >300km
 Based on causing factors
 Tectonic - due to internal causes (i.e. due to plate
tectonics). They are more destructive.
 Non tectonic- generally due to external or surface causes. They
are more frequent but less destructive. They mostly occur due to:
 Tsunamis
 Man made explosions
 Collapse of caves, tunnels etc.
 Dams and reservoirs.

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 Measuring Earthquakes
1) Intensity measurement

 Intensity is based on the observed effects of ground shaking on people,

buildings, and natural features.
Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) Scale of EQ

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 2) Magnitude measurement

 Magnitude (M) of an Earthquake: is a measure of the size of an

earthquake based on the total amount of the energy released by an
earthquake, when the over-strained rocks suddenly rebound to cause
the given earthquake.
 Magnitude is related to the amount of seismic energy released at the
hypocenter of the earthquake.
 It is based on the amplitude of the earthquake waves recorded on
instruments.

 Magnitude is thus represented by a single, instrumentally determined

value. It is a value that tells a reader the amount of seismic energy
released by it.
 The scale which is used to measure magnitude of an earthquake is
called Richter magnitude scale.
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 Earthquake hazards in Ethiopia
 In Ethiopian, earthquakes mainly occur along Main Ethiopian Rift (MER).
 In general, based on occurrence of earthquake Ethiopia is divided into four
distinct zones as shown in figure below.
Zone 4 3 2 1
Bedrock acceleration (g) 0.1 0.07 0.05 0.03

Seismic hazard map of Ethiopia for 100 years return period (EBCS, 1995). 48
 Earthquake hazard mitigation methods

 You can't stop an earthquake. But you can reduce the effects of that
earthquake.

There are four common mitigation methods:

 Structural- by designing seismic absorbing structures/less
susceptible to seismic effects.
 Locational- selecting less susceptible area using hazard zonation
map
 Operational- making awareness of a communities
 Risk Transfer- preparing for insurance

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 C) Volcanic hazards

What type of hazards can you think of associated with a

volcanic eruption?

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Geological hazards due to volcanic
eruptions occurs due to:
 Lava flows
 Pyroclastic eruptions
 Poisonous gas emissions
 Collapse/ subsidence

Mitigation Measures
 Create awareness
 Relocate settlement and
infrastructures to safer locations

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 D) Ground Subsidence and Collapse
Ground Subsidence and Collapse
occur due to:

 Groundwater depletion
 Aquifer compaction
 Underground oil extraction
 Underground mining
 Development of underground
cavity by soluble materials

Mitigation Measures:

 Proper groundwater and oil

management.
 Filling underground cavities
formed due to Mining and
soluble minerals 52
 E) Flooding and tsunamis

What are floods?  What do you mean by tsunami?

 Floods are the most frequent  Tsunamis are ocean waves

type of natural disaster triggered by: Large
and occur when an overflow earthquakes that occur near
of water submerges land or under the ocean, due to
that is usually dry. volcanic eruptions,
submarine landslides,
 Floods are often caused by onshore landslides in which
heavy rainfall, rapid large volumes of debris fall
snowmelt or a storm surge into the water.
from a tropical cyclone or
tsunami in coastal areas.
 How are tsunamis and floods related?

 A tsunami's long wavelength provides more momentum for

inundation (flooding), so tsunamis often travel much further
inland than normal waves and are more destructive. A large
tsunami can flood low-lying coastal areas more than a mile
inland.
Mitigating against the effects of tsunamis can be achieved
through:
(1) Public awareness;
(2) Installation of an early warning system;
(3) An evacuation plan for communities located within
inundation areas;
(4) Construct protective structures to reduce the impact
on nearshore buildings (like ditches, slopes, or
berms).
(5) Avoid Inundation Areas: Site Buildings or
infrastructure away from hazard area or locate on a
high point.
 My Last Message
I do Love and Respect you all my Dear Brothers and Sisters. And I wish you all the Best
in your future career.

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the
blind can see". So, be kind in all your ways” !!!