Exogenic Processes

Weathering VS Erosion

Mechanical weathering- no change in chemical composition—just disintegration into

smaller pieces

Physical break-up:

✓ pressure release
✓ water: freeze - thaw cycles
✓ crystallization of salt in cracks
✓ thermal expansion and contraction

Processes that lead to mechanical weathering:

Frost wedging- when water gets inside the joints, alternate freezing and thawing
episodes pry the rock apart.

Salt crystal growth- force exerted by salt crystal that formed as water evaporates from
pore spaces or cracks in rocks can cause the rock to fall apart

Abrasion – wearing away of rocks by constant collision of loose particles

Biological activity – plants and animals as agents of mechanical weathering

Types of Mechanical Weathering:

Temperature changes can also contribute to mechanical weathering in a process called

thermal stress. Changes in temperature cause rock to expand (with heat) and contract
(with cold). As this happens over and over again, the structure of the rock weakens. Over
time, it crumbles. Rocky desert landscapes are particularly vulnerable to thermal stress.
The outer layer of desert rocks undergo repeated stress as the temperature changes from
day to night. Eventually, outer layers flake off in thin sheets, a process called exfoliation.

A. Exfoliation -Rocks breaking loose along parallel fractures like onion layers

Examples:

B. Abrasion- wearing or grinding by small sedimentary particles carried by wind, water,

or ice.
Examples:

Wind abrasion water abrasion

C. Freeze-Thaw
D. Hydraulic Action -causes wave-cut platforms and cliff erosion on rocky shorelines

E. Honeycomb Weathering

Salt also works to weather rock in a process called haloclasty. Saltwater sometimes gets
into the cracks and pores of rock. If the saltwater evaporates, salt crystals are left behind.
As the crystals grow, they put pressure on the rock, slowly breaking it apart.

Honeycomb weathering is associated with haloclasty. As its name implies, honeycomb

weathering describes rock formations with hundreds or even thousands of pits formed by
the growth of salt crystals. Honeycomb weathering is common in coastal areas, where
sea sprays constantly force rocks to interact with salts.

Examples:

Chemical Weathering-changes the molecular structure of rocks and soil.

For instance, carbon dioxide from the air or soil sometimes combines with water in a
process called carbonation. This produces a weak acid, called carbonic acid, that can
dissolve rock. Carbonic acid is especially effective at dissolving limestone. When carbonic
acid seeps through limestone underground, it can open up huge cracks or hollow out vast
networks of caves.
Major Processes of Chemical Weathering

a. Dissolution – dissociation of molecules into ions; common example includes

dissolution of calcite and salt
• Many ionic and organic compounds dissolve in water
– Silica, K, Na, Mg, Ca, Cl, CO3, SO4

b. Oxidation- reaction between minerals and oxygen dissolved in water

type of chemical weathering works on rocks that contain iron. These rocks turn to rust in a
process called oxidation. Rust is a compound created by the interaction of oxygen and
iron in the presence of water. As rust expands, it weakens rock and helps break it apart.

C. Hydrolysis- change in the composition of minerals when they react with water

In the process of hydrolysis, a new solution (a mixture of two or more substances) is formed
as chemicals in rock interact with water. In many rocks, for example, sodium minerals
interact with water to form a saltwater solution.
Factors affecting the rate of Weathering

Climate – areas that are cold and dry tend to have slow rates of chemical weathering
and weathering is mostly physical; chemical weathering is most active in areas with high
temperature and rainfall

b. Rock type – the minerals that constitute rocks have different susceptibilities to
weathering. Those that are most stable to surface conditions will be the most resistant to
weathering. Thus, olivine for example which crystallizes at high temperature conditions will
weather first than quartz which crystallizes at lower temperature conditions.

c. Rock structure- rate of weathering is affected by the presence of joints, folds, faults,
bedding planes through which agents of weathering enter a rock mass. Highly-
jointed/fractured rocks disintegrate faster than a solid mass of rock of the same dimension

d. Topography- weathering occurs more quickly on a steep slope than on a gentle one

e. Time- length of exposure to agents of weather determines the degree of weathering

of a rock

Agents of Erosion

1. Running Water

“running water” encompasses both overland flow and stream flow. Differentiate overland
flow and streamflow.

2. Ocean or Sea Waves

Ocean waves contain energy—sometimes a great deal of energy. The energy in waves
comes from wind that blows across the water's surface. Waves are a major force of
erosion along coasts. Waves shape the coast through erosion by breaking down rock and
transporting sand and other sediment. When large waves hit the shore, their energy can
break apart rocks. Waves also erode by abrasion

3. Glaciers
A glacier is any large mass of ice that moves slowly over land. There are two kinds of
glaciers— continental glaciers and valley glaciers. A continental glacier is a glacier that
covers much of a continent or large island.

4. Wind

Wind erodes by: deflation (removal of loose, fine particles from the surface), and abrasion
(grinding action and sandblasting)

Deflation results in features such as blowout and desert pavement.

Abrasion yields ventifacts and yardangs.

Wind, just like flowing water, can carry sediments such as: (1) bed load (consists of sand
hopping and bouncing through the process of saltation), and (2) suspended load (clay
and silt-sized particles held aloft).

5. Groundwater

a. The main erosional process associated with groundwater is solution. Slow-moving

groundwater cannot erode rocks by mechanical processes, as a stream does, but it can
dissolve rocks and carry these off in solution. This process is particularly effective in areas
underlain by soluble rocks, such as limestone, which readily undergoes solution in the
presence of acidic water.

b. Rainwater reacts with carbon dioxide from atmosphere and soil to form a solution of
dilute carbonic acid. This acidic water then percolates through fractures and bedding
planes, and slowly dissolves the limestone by forming soluble calcium bicarbonate which
is carried away in solution.

6. Gravity

Mass wasting- the downslope movement of soil, rock, and regolith under the direct
influence of gravity

Factors that control mass wasting processes include:

i. As the slope angle increases, the tendency to slide down the slope becomes greater. ii.
Role of water: adds weight to the slope, has the ability to change angle of repose,
reduces friction on a sliding surface , and water pore pressure reduces shear strength of
materials
Exogenic Process: Mass Wasting
Mass wasting - the downslope movement of rock, regolith, and soil under the direct
influence of gravity (Tarbuck, et.al. 2014)

Controlling factors of mass wasting:

a. Slope Angle

i. Component of gravity perpendicular to the slope which helps hold the object in
place
ii. Component of gravity parallel to the slope which causes shear stress and helps move
objects downslope
iii. On a steep slope, the slope-parallel component increases while the slope-
perpendicular component decreases. Thus the tendency to slide down the slope
becomes greater. All forces resisting movement downslope can be grouped under
the term shear strength which is controlled by factors such as frictional resistance and
cohesion of particles in an object, pore pressure of water, anchoring effect of plant
roots. When shear stress > shear strength , downslope movement occurs

b. Role of water

i. Water has the ability to change the angle of repose (the steepest slope at which a pile
of unconsolidated grains remain stable).

ii. Addition of water from rainfall or snowmelt adds weight to the slope.

iii. Water can reduce the friction along a sliding surface

 c. Presence of troublesome earth materials

i. Expansive and hydrocompacting soils – contain a high proportion of smectite or

montmorillonite which expand when wet and shrink when they dry out,
ii. Sensitive soils – clays in some soils rearrange themselves after dissolution of salts in the
pore spaces. Clay minerals line up with one another and the pore space is reduced.
iii. Quick clays – water-saturated clays that spontaneously liquefies when disturbed

d. Weak materials and structures

i. Become slippage surfaces if weight is added or support is removed (bedding planes,

weak layers, joints and fractures, foliation planes

Mass Wasting Classification

Types of mass wasting are classified based on:

✓ Rate of movement (speed)
Wide range from < 1cm/year to >100 km/hour

✓ Type of material
Did moving mass start out as solid bedrock or as debris (unconsolidated
material at Earth’s surface)?

✓ Movement Type
Flow, slide, or fall
 A. slope failure- sudden failure of the slope resulting in transport of debris
downhill by rolling, sliding, and slumping.

i. Slump – type of slide wherein downward rotation of rock or regolith occurs along a
curved surface

ii. Rock fall and debris fall– free falling of dislodged bodies of rocks or a mixture of rock,
regolith, and soil in the case of debris fall

iii. Rock slide and debris slide- involves the rapid displacement of masses of rock or debris
along an inclined surface

b. Sediment flow - materials flow downhill mixed with water or air; Slurry and
granular flows are further subdivided based on velocity at which flow occurs

i. Slurry flow – water-saturated flow which contains 20-40% water; above 40% water
content, slurry flows grade into streams

(1) Solifluction – common wherever water cannot escape from the saturated
surface layer by infiltrating to deeper levels; creates
distinctive features: lobes and sheets of debris
(2) Debris flow – results from heavy rains causing soil and regolith to be saturated
with water; commonly have a tongue-like front; Debris flows
composed mostly of volcanic materials on the flanks of volcanoes
are called lahars. Rodolfo, K.S. (2000) in his paper “The hazard from
lahars and jokulhaups” explained the distinction between debris
flow, hyperconcentrated flow and mudflow: debris flow contains
10-25 wt% water,
ii. Granular flow – contains low amounts of water, 0-20% water; fluid-like behavior is
possible by mixing with air
(1) Creep – slowest type of mass wasting requiring several years of gradual
movement to have a pronounced effect on the slope ; evidence
often seen in bent trees, offset in roads and fences, inclined utility
poles. Creep occurs when regolith alternately expands and
contracts in response to freezing and thawing, wetting and drying, or
warming and cooling
(2) Grain flow – forms in dry or nearly dry granular sediment with air filling the pore
spaces such as sand flowing down the dune face (3) Debris
avalanche – very high velocity flows involving huge masses of falling
rocks and debris that break up and pulverize on impact; often
occurs in very steep mountain ranges. Some studies suggest that
high velocities result from air trapped under the rock mass creating a
cushion of air that reduces friction and allowing it to move as a
buoyant sheet

Factors making mass wasting likely:

✓ Steep slopes
✓ Shear forces maximized by gravity
✓ Large relief (large elevation change from top of
mountains/hills to valley floor)
✓ Thick layer(s) of loose rock, debris, soil
✓ Presence of water Lubricates moving rocks/debris/soil
✓ Lack of vegetation No roots to hold rock/soil in place
✓ Seismic (earthquake) activity
a. Springs, seeps, or saturated ground in areas that have not typically been wet before.
b. New cracks or unusual bulges in the ground, street pavements or sidewalks.
c. Soil moving away from foundations.
d. Ancillary structures such as decks and patios tilting and/or moving relative to the main
house.
e. Tilting or cracking of concrete floors and foundations.
f. Broken water lines and other underground utilities.
g. Leaning telephone poles, trees, retaining walls or fences.
h. Offset fence lines.
i. Sunken or down-dropped road beds.
j. Rapid increase in creek water levels, possibly accompanied by increased turbidity (soil
content).
k. Sudden decrease in creek water levels though rain is still falling or just recently stopped.
l. Sticking doors and windows, and visible open spaces indicating jambs and frames out of
plumb.
m. A faint rumbling sound that increases in volume is noticeable as the landslide nears. n.
Unusual sounds, such as trees cracking or boulders knocking together, might indicate
moving debris.