Geomorphic Processes

Geomorphic Processes
GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
● Definition: The endogenic and exogenic forces, which cause physical stresses and
chemical actions on Earth materials and bring about changes in the configuration of
the Earth’s surface.
● Geomorphic Agents: Natural phenomena such as running water, groundwater,
glaciers, wind, and ocean waves and currents.
● Types: On the basis of their origin, can be broadly categorized into endogenic
and exogenic forces.

Endogenic Forces
● Arises from the contraction and expansion of rocks due to thermal changes inside
the earth.
● Result in two types of movements-vertical movement and horizontal movement.
● Leads to the formation of relief features such as mountains, plains, folds, faults, etc.
● Types: On the basis of intensity, they are classified into two categories, viz. sudden
forces and movements and diastrophic forces and movements.
[Link] Forces and Movements:
● Caused by volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
● Also called constructive forces as they result in the creation of different features
on the land surface.
● E.g., volcanic eruptions result in the formation of different types of cones, lava plains
and plateaus etc.
2. Diastrophic Forces and Movements:
● Result in deformations on the earth's surface leading to the formation of continents
and oceans, mountains, folds, faults, etc.
● Includes both continental building processes and mountain building processes.
● Two Types: Epeirogenic and Orogenic

Epeirogenic Movement Orogenic Movement

It is a vertical movement. It is a horizontal movement.

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 Geomorphic Processes

It involves upliftment or It involves forces of compression and tension.

subsidence of areas.
It is responsible for It is responsible for folding, faulting and mountain building.
formation of continents

TECTONIC LANDFORMS: FOLDS AND FAULTS

Folds
Definition: Wavy undulations formed when crustal rocks are subjected to compressional
forces from the horizontal movement of tectonic plates

Parts of a Fold:
● Anticline: Up-folded
rock strata that take up
an arch’s shape.
● Syncline: Down folded
rock strata, which looks
like a trough
● Limbs: The two sides of
the fold
● Axial Plane: The plane
that bisects the angle
between two limbs
● Axis: The line of
intersection of the axial
plane with the upper or
lower surface of any
rock bed
● Dip: The inclination of the rock beds with respect to the horizontal plane
● Strike: Line formed by the intersection of a horizontal plane and an inclined bed.

Types of Folds:
Factors affecting Folds Formation:
● The nature of the rock.
● The intensity of the compressional force.
Type of Folds Details

Symmetrical The axial plane is vertical and both the limbs incline uniformly.
Fold Formed when compressive forces regularly act with moderate
intensity.

Asymmetrical The axial plane is inclined and the limbs of the anticline dip in opposite
Fold directions.
One limb is longer with moderate inclination, while the other is
shorter with steep inclination.

Overturned The axial plane is inclined and both the limbs dip in the same direction
Fold but at different angles.

Isoclinal Fold Two limbs dip at equal angles in the same direction.
Formed when compressional forces are so strong that the limbs
become parallel.

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Recumbent Characterized by a horizontal axial plane.

Fold Formed when compressive forces are so strong that the limbs
become parallel and horizontal.
Widely found in the Alps.

Chevron Sharp and angular crests and troughs.

Fan Fold Limbs of a fold are overturned to such an extent that it looks like a
fan

Open Fold Angle between two limbs is usually greater than 90 degrees but less
than 180 degrees,
The rock beds have the same thickness throughout the fold in such
folds.
Formed due to moderate compressional force.

Closed Fold Angle between two limbs is less than 90 degrees are called closed
folds.
The rock beds are thinner at the limbs and thicker at the crests and
troughs.
Formed by intensive compressional force.

Nappe Result from intense horizontal movement and high compressional

forces.
Formed from recumbent folds.
The crests of recumbent folds are weak and have cracks.
When there is further intense compressional force, one limb of the
fold slides forward and overrides the other. Such features are called
Nappes.
Widely found in the Alps mountains.

Anticlinorium Formed when there is a series of minor anticlines and synclines

within one extensive anticline.

Synclinorium Formed when there is a series of minor anticlines and synclines

within one extensive syncline.

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 Geomorphic Processes

Faults
● Definition: A fracture or cracks in the earth’s crust.
o There is displacement of rocks on both sides of the fault and parallel to it
due to both tensional and compressional forces acting horizontally or
vertically, or both together at the same point in time.

Anatomy of a Fault
● Fault Plane: plane along which the rock blocks have been displaced. It may be
vertical, inclined, or horizontal.
● Fault Dip: angle between the fault plane and the horizontal plane.
● Hade: angle between the fault plane and the vertical plane.
● Up throw side: the block of rock that lies at a relatively greater height than the
other.
● Down throw side: the block of rock that lies at a relatively lesser height than the
other.
● Hanging Wall: the block of rock resting above the fault plane.
● Footwall: the block lying below the fault plane.
● Fault Line: the intersection of the fault with the earth’s surface.
● Fault Zone: consists of various small faults.
o formed when the displacement of the rock is not related to a single fracture
but is distributed over a large area.

Types of Faults
1. Normal Faults:
● Formed due to tensional forces that tend to pull the crust apart.
● The crust on one side is raised relative to the other. This creates a steep, straight,
cliff-like feature called a fault scarp.

Horst and Graben

● Graben or Rift Valley: A trench-like feature with straight, parallel walls,
formed when a block of rock drops down between two normal faults.
● Horst: formed when a block is elevated between two normal faults. They have
a flat top but steep, straight sides.
● E.g., Horsts and Grabens are very common in the East African Rift Valley.

[Link] Fault:
● Faults where the fault plane is inclined in such a way that one side rides up over the
other.

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● Formed due to compressional forces- when both the blocks along the fracture are
moving towards each other.
[Link]-Slip Fault:
● Formed when the rock masses slip past one another parallel to the strike.
● Also called transcurrent faults.
● Are right-lateral or left lateral depending on whether the block on the opposite
side of the fault has moved to the right or left from an observer's point of view.
● Transform Faults: special kind of strike-slip fault that form plate boundaries
o E.g., the San Andreas Fault between the Pacific and American Plates.

Exogenic Processes
Destructive processes resulting in wearing down of surfaces, commonly known as
denudation.
● Source of energy: The sun
● Process: Weathering, mass movement, erosion and transportation.
● Driving Agents: running water, groundwater, glaciers, waves and currents, winds
etc.

Factors affecting Exogenic Processes:

● Climate: Temperature and precipitation are the two important climatic elements that
control various processes.
● Other Climatic Factors:
o differences in wind velocities and directions,
o amount and kind of precipitation, its intensity,
o the relation between precipitation and evaporation,

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o daily range of temperature,

o freezing and thawing frequency,
o depth of frost penetration
● The density, type and distribution of
vegetation exert influence indirectly on
exogenic geomorphic processes.
● Aspect variations and the variation in the
amount of insolation received by north and
south facing slopes as compared to east and
west facing slopes affect geomorphic
processes.
● Different types of rocks with differences
in their structure offer varying resistances to various geomorphic processes.

Weathering
Definition: The primary stage of denudation
where surface and subsurface rocks break up,
dissolve and decompose to disintegrate into
fragment materials.

Physical / Mechanical Weathering

● Definition: Physical disintegration of
minerals into fragment particles without
any change in their chemical properties.
● The transformation of rocks occurs
through mechanical methods such as
freezing, thawing, salt weathering, and thermal cracking.
Types
● Frost shattering: Water fills small
cracks in rocks, freezes, and expands,
generating cryostatic pressure that
exceeds the tensile strength of the
rock, causing it to break.
● Unloading: The release of pressure
due to the removal of overlying
material by erosion causes underlying
rock to expand elastically.
o Expansion occurs
perpendicular to the
direction of the pressure
release, leading to the
formation of horizontal fractures known as sheet fractures or
exfoliation sheets.
● Insolation Weathering: Rocks expand with heat and contract with cooling,
causing cracks and exfoliation.
o Common in dry, high-elevation areas due to daily temperature changes.
● Salt Weathering: Salt crystals form in rock pores as saline water evaporates,
causing the rock to break apart. Common in areas with large temperature ranges.

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 Geomorphic Processes

Chemical Weathering
● Definition: Decomposition of rock to create a new chemically different material-
the internal molecular structure of a mineral is altered by reaction with other
elements to form a different element.
● The prime agents involved: Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide, and other gases, along with
the water from precipitation in the form of rain and snow.

Processes:
● Oxidation: Minerals mix with oxygen to form oxides and hydroxides, causing rock
fragmentation.
o Common in minerals like manganese, sulfur, and iron.
● Reduction: Occurs in the absence of oxygen, typically below the water table,
reversing oxidation and affecting mineral stability.
● Solution: Earth materials dissolve in acid or water, forming a solution and causing
rock disintegration, often seen with minerals like nitrates, potassium, and sulfates.
● Carbonation: Carbonates and bicarbonates react with minerals, facilitated by
carbonic acid formed from CO2 and water.
o Leads to features like caves.
● Hydration: The chemical addition of water to minerals, causing them to expand
and potentially disintegrate due to repeated cycles of hydration.

Biological Weathering
● Definition: The weathering caused by living
organisms
● Showcases both physical and chemical
weathering.
● Role of Plants:
o Plant roots penetrate cracks in the
rock and slowly break the rock
mechanically.
o Also secrete certain chemicals to
extract minerals, causing chemical
weathering.
● Role of Animals:
o Animals and insects that create dens, nests, or caves in soft rocks
contribute to physical weathering.
o Anthropogenic activities are one of the most effective agents of biological
weathering.
o Driving agents include are mining, quarrying, and excavations, etc.

Mass Movements
● Definition: The transferring of mass of rock and debris down the slopes under the
direct influence of gravity.
● Not influenced by geomorphic agents like running water, glaciers, wind, waves, etc.
● Common phenomenon in areas with unconsolidated materials, thinly bedded rocks,
faults, abundant precipitation, scarcity of vegetation, etc.
● Weathering is not a prerequisite for mass movement, though it aids mass
movements.

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 Geomorphic Processes

Different Modes of mass movement

● Slide:
o The maximum motion, is
found along the base of the
moving mass.
o A clear visible layer divides
the mobile upper layer and
stable lower mass, and the
plane separating is called a
shear plane.
o Sliding may occur under dry
conditions, but the presence
of water provides a greater
speed to sliding.
● Flow:
o The material above the
shear plane reaches the
maximum speed at top,
while the rate of movement diminishes with increasing depth till it reaches
zero along the shear plane.
o Water aids the flow movement further.
● Heave: Moves particles ranging from the size of fine clay to large boulders.
o A very slow rate is maintained.

Types of mass movements

● Solifluction:
o Soil flow covers the surface with
water saturated mass.
o Completely water dependent.
o Slow process as compared to other
types of mass movement.
o The ground that experiences
solifluction is broken into gentle,
terrace-like features.
● Soil creep: Slow downslope movement of
particles that occurs on every slope covered
with loose, weathered material.

● Mudflow and Earth flow:

o mudflow occurs on a
large scale.
▪ characteristic
to valleys
▪ has very
rapid
movement.
▪ Aided by
absence of
vegetation
and heavy
rainfall
o Earth flow happens on any surface in a localized manner.

● Landslide:

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o Sudden rapid slide movements.

o Most common in areas that have steep slopes and unconsolidated soil
surfaces.
o Triggering factors: heavy rainfall and earthquakes.
o Increased risk due to anthropogenic activities like constructing railway lines
on high mountains on unconsolidated platforms, quarrying, and excavating
● Liquefaction: Water-saturated sediment temporarily loses strength and acts like
a fluid
● Avalanches: A mass of snow, rock, ice, soil, and other material slides swiftly down
a mountainside.
COMPARISON- WEATHERING, EROSION AND MASS MOVEMENT
Aspect Weathering Erosion Mass Movement
Definition Breaking up or Earth materials worn Transfer of rock and
decomposing of away and transported debris down slopes
rocks by water, air, by wind, water, etc. under gravity.
chemicals, plants,
or animals.
Material Materials are not Broken materials are Rocks and debris
Displacement displaced after displaced by natural move under gravity,
breaking up. agents. not other agents like
wind or water.
Types Physical, chemical, Soil erosion, shoreline Slow and rapid
and biological erosion, etc. movements, common
weathering. in areas with
unconsolidated
materials.
Causes Atmospheric Agents include water, Caused solely by
factors like air wind, ice, human gravity.
pressure, rainfall, activities.
frost, water, etc.

PYQ
Prelims
Q. Consider the following statements : (2024)
Statement-I : Rainfall is one of the reasons for weathering of rocks.
Statement-II: Rain water contains carbon dioxide in solution.
Statement-III: Rain water contains atmospheric oxygen.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements ?
(a) Both Statement-II and Statement-III are correct and both of them explain
Statement-I
(b) Both Statement-II and Statement-III are correct, but only one of them
explains Statement-I
(c) Only one of the Statements II and III is correct and that explains Statement-I
(d) Neither Statement-II nor Statement-III is correct
Answer: A

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