LESSON 4

EXOGENIC
PROCESS AND
ENDOGENIC
PROCESS
 Learning Objectives
Demonstrate an understanding of the
geologic process that occur on the
surface of Earth.
Differentiate Exogenic and Endogenic
Processes
Explain how the movement of plates
leads to the formation of folds and
faults.
EXOGENIC
PROCESS
 EXOGENIC PROCESSES
Caused by exogenic factors, or
agents supplying energy for
activities that are located at or
near the Earth’s surface.
Usually driven by gravitational
and/or atmospheric forces.
Causes of Exogenic process:

Weathering
Erosion
Mass wasting
Denudation
 1.Weathering
Process of degradation or breaking down
of rocks into smaller fragments known as
sediments.
It occurs when mechanical force is
applied on rocks or through chemical
reactions happening on the surface or
within the rocks.
Two types: Physical Weathering and
Chemical Weathering
 1. Physical Weathering
Also called mechanical weathering and it is
caused by the breaking apart of rocks without
changing their chemical composition.
Examples:
a. Frost heaving and wedging
b. Plant roots
c. Burrowing animals
d. Abrasion
e. Temperature changes
a. Frost heaving and wedging

Occurs when water seeps into the rocks

or occupies spaces in between rocks
and freezes, acting like wedges.
 b. Plant roots
Huge trees that
produce large
roots anchor
themselves on
rocks and forces
their way into
them.
 c. Burrowing animals
Some animals create their homes by
making holes on the rocks.
 d. Abrasion
Rocks in the rivers, seas, valleys,
mountains, or deserts, degrade or
disintegrate due to friction or repeated
collisions or impacts.
 e. Temperature changes
Sudden changes in temperature
weaken the integral structure of rocks,
resulting to weathering.
 2. Chemical Weathering
Involves the chemical decomposition
or rocks due to the chemical reaction of
minerals within rocks and the
environment.
Some agents of chemical weathering:
a. Water
b. Oxygen
c. Living organisms
d. Acids
 a. Water

Dissolves the soluble

minerals present in
rocks
 b. Oxygen
Facilitates the
oxidation process in
the presence of water
in some metallic
minerals, such as
pyrite.
 c. Living organisms
Organisms, such as lichens, produce
weak acids that slowly corrode the
rocks.
 d. Acids
Carbon acid(H2CO3) is formed
when carbon dioxide(CO2)
present in the atmosphere
reacts with water.
Easily decomposes limestones
and marbles
 2. Erosion
Happens when
fragments of rocks
move from one
place to another.
Rock fragments
are moved by
various agents,
such air, water and
 3. Mass Wasting
Movement of large fragment of rocks
down the slope due to gravity

Examples:
a. Landslide
b. Mudslide
c. Slumps
d. Debris
Landslide Slumps

Mudslide Debris
3. Denudation
 Endogenic Process
Caused by endogenic factors, or
agents supplying energy for
activities that are located within the
Earth or below the Earth’s surface.
Refers to the movement of the
Earth’s lithosphere resulting to
formation of various landforms.
 Magmatism
Explains the movement of magma to form
igneous rocks.
Process responsible for mountain
formation.
 Plutonism
Also known as volcanism, explains
that the rocks are formed in fire by
volcanic activity.
 What causes the
Deformation of the
Earth’s Crust?
 Plate Tectonic
History
As formulated during in the 1960s,
the Plate Tectonic Theory
explains that the lithosphere was so
brittle that it was divided into major
plates considered to be floating over
the hot liquid of asthenosphere.
 Continental Drift Theory

Gliding slowly over the weak

asthenosphere at rates ranging
from one to about 18 cm a year.
They bump and grind together
at their boundaries, leading to
the formation of various
landforms.
Alfred Wegener
Created a map of the
earth by fitting the
continents into one.
Hypothesized that the
continents were joined
together into one
supercontinent known
as Pangaea about 225
mya
Wegener’s Theory Evidences
Continents look like jigsaw
Fossils of a dinosaur known as Mesosaurus
that had been found in South America and
Africa, but nowhere else in the world.
Another fossil evidence found in Antarctica,
Africa, Australia, South America and India
supported the claim of Wegener.
Rock types and structures that match across
continents.
 Folds
Bent rock layer or series of layer that
are originally horizontal and
subsequently deformed.
Two most common types of folds:
 Anticlines – fold in the sedimentary
strata, resembling an arch
 Synclines – linear down fold in the
sedimentary strata
 Faults
Fractures in the crust along
which appreciable
displacement has occurred on
a scale from centimeters to
kilometers.
Example of Folding:
Himalayas
Example of Faulting:
Tapi and Narmada river