GROUND – SNOW FALL – COVERED BY ANOTHER
EXOGENIC PROCESS LAYER - ANOTHER LAYER – SNOW COMPRESSES/
BECOME COMPACTED - DENSED GLACIAL ICE (1ST
-external processes that happen near the LAYER; ICE SHEETS)
surface of the Earth
-part of the rock cycle
-responsible for transforming rocks into
sediments
-includes degradation (lessen) and
aggradation (adding up)
-Degradation (weathering, mass wasting,
erosion, transportation)
-Aggradation (deposition)
A) Weathering
o Glacial Erosion
-physical breakdown and/or chemical
alteration of rocks at/near the Earth’s
surface
-a degradation process that does not involve
movement of materials
-mechanical weathering and chemical
weathering
i. Mechanical Weathering
o Types of Glaciers
-disintegration
-breaking up of large rocks into smaller
fragments without changing the rock’s
mineral composition
a. Frost Wedging
-never seen in the Philippines
-frost weathering
-occurs in regions where temperature
fluctuates above and below freezing point, 1. Cirques
resulting in a freeze-thaw cycle -a bowl-shaped depression on the side of or near
-water solidifies (when it becomes solid, it mountains
expands)
-all glaciers started from a rock/ground 2. Alpine
-mountain itself
-mountain hills
-begin high up in the mountains in bowl-shaped
hollows called cirques
3. Glaciated Peaks
4. Debris-covered glacier
5. Glacier Front o Glacial Drift Types
o Landforms
1. Glacial trough
-u-shaped valley
-if the ice recedes and left standing, it forms a
hanging valley
2. Glacial valley
-formed in the modification of a previously
occupied stream
-v-shaped valley
3. Truncated Spurs (*) 1. Glacial till
-connected to the valley -deposited as glacial ice melts and drops its load
-ends in an inverted-V face and was produced by of rock debris
the erosional truncation of the spur by the
action of either streams, waves, or glaciers 2. Moraine
-ridge that descends towards a valley -layers or ridges of till, common only to mountain
valleys and other areas such as ice sheets or
4. Aretes valley
-thin, crest of rock left after two adjacent glaciers glaciers
have worn a steep ridge into the rock -lateral
-mountain ranges -medial
-shard edged ridges -end moraine
5. Horn 3. Outwash Plains
-tip -end and near moraine
-results when glaciers erode three or more aretes, -people can live here
usually forming a sharp-edged peak -most of the bed load is dropped that is usually
-sharp pyramid like edges associated with ice sheet
-if it is confined to a mountain valley, it is known
6. Fiords as Valley Trains
-under glacial type-cave -forms after end moraines
-deep sided inlets of the sea
4. Kettle
7. Cirques -found on the end moraines, outwash plains, and
-found at the head of the glacial valley valley trains
-irregularities in the mountainside, bowl-shaped -synonymous to cirques
depressions enlarged by frost wedging and -bottom crevices
plucking
-top crevices 5. Drumlin
-asymmetrical hills
o Glacial Deposits -synonymous to kames
6. Kames
-steep sided hills
-sand and gravel
-synonymous to fiords
7. Eskers
-entry point a. Dissolution
-formed by deposits from streams flowing in
tunnels beneath the ice -happens in certain minerals which are dissolved in
water
b. Insolation Weathering -Halite dissolves rapidly in water
-Calcite dissolves in acidic water or rainwater
b. Hydrolysis
-Water is the most important agent of chemical
weathering. It affects silicate.
c. Oxidation
-Oxygen dissolved in water will oxidize some
materials
-reddish-brown rust will appear on the surface of
iron-rich minerals which easily crumbles and
-also known as Thermal Stress
weakens the rock
-results from the expansion and contraction of rocks
caused by temperature changes.
d. Carbonation and Solution
-the process of “peeling off” is called exfoliation
-Carbon Dioxide dissolves in water to form carbonic
c. Unloading
acid (H2CO3) and reacts with carbonate rocks
(CaCo3) to form a soluble product calcium
bicarbonate Ca(HCO3)2(aq)
e. Hydration
-occurs when water is absorbed into the crystal
structure of the mineral, causing it to expand
-Clay expand through addition of water
f. Biological Activity
-some plants and animals may create chemical
-also known as Pressure Release weathering by releasing chelating and audifying
-occurs when the overlying rock is eroded away. compounds that react with some minerals in rocks
causing the outer rock layer to expand more than -decaying remains of dead plants in soil may form
the layers underneath organic acids and, when dissolved in water, may
-evident in intrusive igneous rocks cause chemical weathering.
-continued wreathing causes sheets of rocks to
break away ✓ Rates of Weathering
-the exfoliation is due to the pressure released often
referred to as sheeting -two factors that affects the rate of weathering
1) Rock Characteristics
ii. Chemical Weathering -mineral composition and solubility
-physical structures such as joints
-decomposed rocks through chemical change
-processes involved in chemical weathering are 2) Climate
dissolution, hydrolysis, oxidation, carbonation, -temperature and moisture
hydration, and biological weathering -high temperature and high moistures
B) Erosion and Transport ii. Transport
i. Erosion -involves processes by which sediments are moved
along from the source to where they are deposited
-separation and removal of weathered and
unweathered rocks and soil from its substrate due
to gravity or transporting agents like wind, ice, or
water
-involves the process of abrasion, plucking, scouring,
and dissolution
o Types of Erosion
1. Wind Erosion
-commonly occurs in flat bare areas or dry, sandy,
loose soils
-sandstorms are common phenomenon in deserts
that transports sediments
-results to soil loss, dryness, and deterioration of C) Mass Wasting
soil structure, soil nutrient, and productivity
losses and air pollution -downslope movement of rock, soil, and ice due to
gravity
2. Water Erosion -factors of mass wasting:
-most common erosion agent
-rivers, coasts, and deep oceans around the world 1) Relief difference in elevation between two place
pick up sediments and transports it somewhere creates slopes; gravity pulls materials higher
else elevation to lower elevations
-sediments are transported in different ways:
2) Slope Stability the balance between the
2.1 Traction downslope force caused by gravity and the
-rolling or dragging of large grain resistance force due to friction; slope failure occurs
aided by the push of smaller grains when the downslope force is greater
2.2 Saltation
-bouncing of sand grains as they are picked 3) Fragmentation and Weathering intact rock is held
up, carried along, and dropped together by chemical bonds within minerals, by
2.3 Suspension mineral cement, and by the interlocking of grains,
-movement of fine particles like silt and clay while a fragmented rock is held only by friction
2.4 Solution between fracture planes or by weak electrical
-movement of soluble minerals (salt) charges between grains
o Classification of Mass Wasting through Motion
1. Fail includes free fall movement, bouncing, and
rolling of materials on a slope.
2. Topple forward rotation out of the slope of a soil
or rock mass
3. Slide is the downslope movement of coherent
materials along a well-defined surface of rupture
called sliding surface. A slide could form planar or
curve sliding surface
4. Spread lateral extension and fracturing of a
coherent mass due to the plastic flow of its
underlying material
5. Flow happened when the materials are saturated 3. Block slide
and move downslope as a viscous fluid
6. Complex combination of several types of If sliding is on a
movement predominantly planar slip
surface then the slide is
called a block slide.
4. Rockfall
These are usually
influenced by gravity
after large rocks or
boulders are detached
from their parent rock.
They usually fall along
steep slopes or cliffs.
5. Topple
o Types of Mass Wasting The earth mass rotates
forward about a pivot.
1. Glacial Environment The result is usually a tilt
2. Mountain Stream Environment without collapse. It is
3. Desert Environment usually cause by cracks or
4. Lake (Lacustrine) Environment fracture in the bedrocks.
5. River Environment
6. Delta Environment
7. Beach Environment
8. Shallow Marine Environment 6. Debris Flow
9. Shallow Water Carbonate Environment
10. Deep Marine Environment It involves the rapid
downhill movement of
loose earth material
o Types of Landslides usually with water.
1. Rotational Landslide
7. Debris Avalanche
The movement of the
earth material is It is similar to Debris Flow
rotational in nature. It but has a more rapid flow.
is also known as Slump
2. Translational Landslide 8. Earthflow
The earth mass is The earth material is finer
largely in place after it and is washed away
slides downhill on a leaving a depression bowl
plane preface at the head. It occurs in
moderate to steep slopes
where the topsoil or
overburden seasonally becomes saturated by -wind (sorted, layered, and rounded)
heavy rains. -gravity (unsorted, unlayered, and unrounded)
-glaciers (unsorted, unlayered, unrounded)
9. Creep
It is slower in nature and
can be evident when
electric poles and roads
bend slightly.
10. Lateral Spread
It is defined as an
extension of a cohesive
soil or rock mass
combined with a general
subsidence of the
fractured mass of
cohesive material into
softer underlying
material.
D) Deposition
-process by which sediments are released, settled
from, or dropped from an erosional system
-sediments are placed in locations where they may
form beds, or layers of sedimentary rocks
-most final deposition occurs in large bodies of water
-occur when the velocity or speed of the stream,
wind, or other erosional system decreases or stops
-the time it takes for sediments to be deposited is
called the rate of deposition; this depends on the
velocity of the agent of erosion and the
characteristics of the sediments
-6 sizes:
1) Boulders
2) Cobbles
3) Pebbles
4) Sand
5) Silt
6) Clay
-larger sized sediments are deposited at a faster rate
compared to smaller sized sediments
-rounder sediments settle faster than flat sediments
-denser sediments settle faster than less dense
sediments
-water (sorted, layered, and rounded)