Earth Materials and processes:

Exogenic
processes
 These are processes that take
place at or near the Earth’s
surface, that makes the surface
wear away.
 Weathering
 Erosion
 Mass Movement
 Mechanical and chemical
hammer that breaks down and
sculpts rock.
Physical Weathering

 Mechanical weathering
 The breakdown of rocks without
a change in its composition.
Breakdown would mean that the
rock is fractured, cracked or
fragmented into small pieces.
 Chemical
Weathering
 Decomposition of rocks due to
chemical reactions occurring
between the minerals in rocks and
the environment.
Transforms rocks and minerals
exposed to water and gases in the
atmosphere into new chemical
compounds thus, forming different
rocks and minerals.
 1. THERMAL AND PRESSURE CHANGE

 Rocks crumble and break into

fragments because they are
subjected to alternating hot and
cold temperatures many times.
 When a rock gets hot, it expands,
while at night, the rock gets cold
causing contraction.
 Temperature weakens the
rock and in the process,
mineral grains are
loosened from the rocks
and eventually the rocks
break down into pieces.
Best examples are the
stone in the arid desert
that slowly turn to sand.
 The rates of expansion and contraction of the
outer and inner parts of the rock differ. The outer
part expands and contracts much more than the
inner part because it is directly exposed to the
heat of the sun.
 2. WIND AND WAVES

 Wind and waves can all cause

physical weathering. Tiny grains
of sand are picked up and carried
off by the wind, which are then
blasted on the surface of rocks,
smoothening them.
 3. FROST WEATHERING

 You know that if you put a glass

in the freezer it will soon break.
This is because water expands
when it freezes. Similarly, when
water collects in the rock pores
and slits, it expands when it
freezes.
 3. ORGANIC ACTIVITY

 Animals and plants also take a

heavy toll on rocks and cause
them to wear away.
 For example, there are animals
that dig holes on the ground and
exposed rocks.
 1. HYDRATION/HYDROLYSIS

 Process where molecules of some

substance in rocks chemically
combine with water molecules.
 2. CARBONATION

 Process where carbon dioxide

may bond with other substances.
 A mixture of water and carbon
dioxide is called carbonic acid.
Two examples of carbonation
weathering the limestone pavement
and the stalactites.
 3. OXIDATION

 Iron, aluminum, copper, and sodium are

examples of minerals that readily react
with oxygen which then form mineral
oxides.
 In nature, physical and chemical weathering
typically occur together, affecting the rocks.
When the latter is destroyed, valuable products
are created.
 Involves the movement of the
weathered rock (snow, soil, sand,
and pebbles) from their site of
weathering by the agents of erosion
such as wind, moving water, ice
and gravity.
 Weathering do not always occur
before erosion. Erosion always
follows after the weathering.
 Transport makes erosion complete. It
complete the movement of the eroded
materials and sediments. Weathering
can continue during transport.
 Transport by the water
 Rainwater is the most force or agent of
erosion. When there is a heavy rain, rock
pieces are carries downstream to a suited
depositional environment with the action of
gravity.
 Gravity is the driving force and it gives
water the energy to erode and carry away
rock materials.
 Physical weathering dominates at higher
elevation while chemical weathering takes
on a more active role at lower elevation.
 Transport by the water
 Water can carry almost any size of
rocks. The greater the volume of water
and the steeper the slope, the bigger and
more rocks can be transported.
 Serious problems in the Philippines are
soil erosion and mudslide.
 Rock materials are loosened by heavy
rains and strong winds and they can
come speeding down slopes, sweeping
everything in its path.
 Transport by the wind
 Wind continuously blows away loose
particles of rocks and soil from place to
place.
 This is common in dry areas such as deserts.
 Wind transport can result in stunning
landscapes as sand is blown away and
creates sand dunes.
 Wind can create sandstorms that contain
dust particles and deposit them in wind
areas.
 Slope movement
 Bulk movements of soil, sand, and rock
debris downslopes in response to the
force of gravity or the rapid or gradual
sinking of the Earth’s ground surface in
a vertical direction.
 The term mass wasting was limited only to the
variety of processes by which large masses of
crustal materials are moved by the action of
gravity from one place to another.
 Recently the term mass wasting has
been substituted to include mass
wasting processes and the sinking of
the Earth’s ground.
 Mass wasting is a type of erosion
that is capable of making big
chances to a mountain.