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Exogenous Process

Lorie Mae N. Viduya-Viloria, RN, LPT, MEd

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 B. Exogenous Processes
• External process that occurs at or near the earth’s
surface and are responsible for transforming rock into
sediments

 a continuum of processes – Weathering  Mass

Wasting  Erosion  Transportation  Deposition

 these processes are carried through by Geomorphic

Agents: gravity, flowing water (rivers), moving ice
(glaciers), waves and tides (oceans and lakes),
wind, plants, organisms, animals and humans

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 Types of Exogenous Processes

1. Degradation Processes
 Also called Denudation Processes
a. Weathering ,
b. Mass Wasting
c. Erosion
d. Transportation

2. Aggradation Processes
a. Deposition

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 Earth’s External Processes

• Weathering – the disintegration and decomposition of material at or

near the surface

• Mass wasting – the transfer of rock material downslope under the

influence of gravity

• Erosion – the incorporation and transportation of material by a

mobile agent, usually water, wind, or ice

• Transportation: eroded materials are carried away to another

place.

• Deposition: it’s the laying down of the transported rock materials.

The resulting materials are called sediment.

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 is the process of physical breakdown/chemical aleration of
rocks at or near the earth’s surface

It is a static process: it does not involve movement.

Where does it take place?
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 WEATHERING
- the physical breakdown & chemical
decomposition of rocks
- part of the rock cycle
- considered as a preparation for
erosion
- rocks are damaged physically and/or
chemically

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 AGENTS OF WEATHERING:
• change of the environment

• Water

• air/wind

• human activities

• chemical substances

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 Weathering

Kinds of weathering
– Mechanical weathering
• Breaking of rocks into smaller pieces

– Chemical weathering
• Chemical transformation of rock into one or more new
compounds

Biological Weathering
- Bio or with life are the main cause of breaking apart of rocks

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 3 PROCESSES OF MECHANICAL
WEATHERING
a. Frost Wedging- caused by the freezing and thawing
of water that seeps into cracks of rocks

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 b. Abrasion- caused by the rubbing and/or bouncing of
rocks with each other

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 c. Exfoliation/Unloading- peeling away of large sheets
of loosened materials in the rock because of release of
pressure

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  Biological Weathering

– plants and animals contribute to weathering.

 Roots physically break or wedge rock

 Lichens (algae and fungi living as single unit), remove

minerals and weaken rock by releasing acids

 Burrowing animals can increase weathering.

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 CHEMICAL WEATHERING
- rock is broken down by chemical
action resulting in the change of the
composition of the rock
AGENTS:
1.Oxygen 3. carbon dioxide
2.Rainwater 4. acids produced
by decaying
organisms
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 2 PROCESSES OF CHEMICAL WEATHERING
a.Oxidation- mineral is interacted
chemically by oxygen
b.Hydrolysis- mineral is interacted
chemically by water
c.Carbonation- mineral is interacted
chemically by carbon dioxide or
carbonic acid

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 BAUXITE- COMBINATION OF OXYGEN,
HYDROGEN & ALUMINUM

HEMATITE FORMED BY OXIDATION

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 Carbonic acid is very common in nature. It is
produced when carbon dioxide combines
with water.

When this weak carbonic acid trickles

into cracks in limestone, it dissolves the
rock and eats “holes” in it.

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 The mildly acidic rain
water flows into
cracks in the ground.

Sometimes it eats
huge holes in the
rock--caves.

http://www.esi.utexas.edu
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 When the acid water dissolved the rock
evaporates, crystals of calcite are left behind.

When the water from many, many drips at the

top of a cave evaporates, a stalactite forms. (the
one on the ceiling stuck tight ...stalactite)

Drips that fall on the cave floor cause stalagmites

to grow. (The stalagmites might have stuck to the
ceiling but they didn’t.)
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 stalactites

stalagmites

This is a picture of a cave with stalactites

and stalagmites.
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 SOIL EROSION
- physical removal of the material
- transporting of the rock from one
place to another
AGENTS:
1.Wind
2.Water
3.Ice

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 • Wind erosion- caused by wind and only very
significant during windy days or during a drought

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 Water Erosion
“ It is the detachment, transportation &
deposition of soil particles by the force of
water from one place to another.”

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 Forms of water erosion

A). Rain Splash Erosion:

• Rain splash erosion is caused by the
impact of water striking the surface of soil.
• Raindrops cause tiny particles of soil to be
detached and move out

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 Rain splash erosion caused a dimpled like
appearance.

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 B) Sheet Erosion.
• Sheet erosion- soil is removed by thin sheets of
water
• surface runoff forms when the rainfall intensity of
a storm exceeds the infiltration capacity of soil

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 c. VALLEY EROSION:
CONTINOUS WATER FLOW ALONGSIDE
LAND AND MOVE DOWNWARD WHICH DEEPENS A
VALLEY

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 d. BANK EROSION
• CONTINUES FLOW OF WATER THAT WEARS
OUT STORES ALONG THE BANK OF STREAMS
AND RIVERS

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 e. COASTAL EROSION
• The force of the sea changes the coastal landscape.
Waves get their energy from the wind.

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 La Conchita Landslide, January 10, 2005
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Monterey Park Debris Flow, 1980
 MASS WASTING

-The downslope movement of rock,

regolith( rock & mineral fragments
from weathering) and soil under the
direct influence of gravity

-Gravity is the driving

force/controlling force
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 The speed and nature of mass
movements is influenced by …

• Angle of slope – the steeper the slope the faster

the movement
• Rainfall – a lot of water will lubricate the cliff,
especially if it is clay – and lead to mud flows
• Vegetation cover – with no vegetation there is
nothing to impede the movement of debris. But if
vegetation is preit will absorb some of the water
and the roots will bind the soil making it more
stable.
3
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8
 Angle of Repose Dependent upon the internal
coherence of the material.
Softer, looser material has
lower angle of repose. Rock
and compressed sediments
can have very high angles of
respose.

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 Mass Wasting Processes

• Generally each type is defined by

– The material involved – debris, mud, earth, or rock,
snow

– The movement of the material

• Fall (free-fall of pieces)
• Slide (material moves along a well-defined surface)
• Flow (material moves as a viscous fluid)
• Slump
– The rate of the movement

• Fast
• Slow

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 MOTION TYPES OF MASS WASTING

1. Fall- slopes which are too steep

(ex. Rockfall)
2. Slides- materials remain fairly &
coherent & moves along a well
defined surface (ex. Landslide)
3. Flow- moves downslope as a vicious
FLUID (ex. Mudflow)
4. Slump- downward sliding of a mass
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 A
V
A
L
A
N
C ROCK FALL
H
E L
A
N
D
S
L
I
D
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 Movement of sediments/regolith
• H20 is the main factor

1. Landslide: Involves movement of rock and soil

 Their movement is characterized by a sharply shear place
( surface that breaks off)

2. Earthflow: Movement of water logged down a slope\

Common in areas with rich alluvium soil and hill sides
– Typically occur on hillsides in humid regions
– Liquefaction – a special type of earthflow sometimes associated
with earthquakes

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 Mass Wasting Forms

• Slump
– Rapid movement along a curved surface
– Occur along oversteepened slopes

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 Mass Wasting

Process whereby weathered material is moved

downslope under the immediate influence of
gravity.

Angle of Repose - the steepest angle that can be

assumed by loose fragments on a slope without
downslope movement.
Talus or scree slope - pieces of rock at bottom of a
rock fall.

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 Angle of Repose Dependent upon the internal
coherence of the material.
Softer, looser material has
lower angle of repose. Rock
and compressed sediments
can have very high angles of
respose.

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Rockfall
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Pacific Palisades, November 1956
 Pacific Palisades Slide, 1956
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 Monterey Park Debris Flow, 1980
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 La Conchita Landslide, January 10, 1995
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• Triggered by powerful
winter storms.
• Killed 10 people;
destroyed 18 homes.
• Previous landslide in
1995 destroyed 9 homes
but killed no one.
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The rock slide at Frank, Alberta, Canada (1903) moved 33 million
cubic meters of rock from Turtle Mountain over the town of Frank
in less than two minutes killing 70 people.
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Yosemite Rockfall, 1996
78,000 cubic yards of
granite fall from Glacier
Point, destroying Happy
Valley Nature Center and
killing one.

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