EXOGENIC PROCESSES
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. Describe how rocks undergo weathering.
2. Explain how the products of weathering are carried by
erosion and deposited elsewhere.
3. Explain how roccks and soil move downslope due to the
direct action of gravity.
EXOGENIC PROCESSES
Are external processes that occur at or near the surface of the Earth. They
are responsible for transforming rocks into sediments.
It is interconnected with the different subsystems and includes the
process of weathering, erosion, transportation, and deposition. Its
primary source is the energy coming from the sun which drives the
weather.
WEATHERING
It is the on-site breakdown of rock and its eventual transformation
into sediments.
There are two types of weathering:
Mechanical Weathering
Chemical Weathering
MECHANICAL WEATHERING
Is the physical breakdown of a rock into
unconnected grains or chunks without changing its
composition.
EXFOLIATION
the process of peeling off
of the outer layer of rocks
FROST WEDGING
Causes the joints to expand and grow, causing pieces of rocks to detach.
Joints expand when plants
growing on its surface pry it to
open in a process called
ROOT WEDGING
SALT WEDGING
When the salt crystallizes,
it pushes apart the
surrounding grains and
weakens the rock causing
it to disintigrate when
exposed to wind or rain
THERMAL EXPANSION
occurs when a rock is exposed to
high temperature such as a forest
fire; its outer layer expands due
to baking
When it cools, the outer layer
contracts causing the surface to
break-off into sheets.
CHEMICAL WEATHERING
Occurs when there are chemical changes in at
least some of the composition of the rock. it is
not influenced by high temperature or pressure,
DISSOLUTION
Happens in certain
minerals which are
dissolved in water.
HYDROLYSIS
occurs when water reacts
with minerals and breaks
them down.
OXIDATION
the reaction of oxygen
with minerals in the rock,
forms oxides.
HYDRATION
occurs when water is
absorbed into the crystal
structure of the mineral
causing it to expand
BIOLOGICAL WEATHERING
occur in roots of plants,
when fungi and lichens
secrete organic acids that
dissolve minerals and the
nutrients are take in by
these organisms.
EROSION AND
TRANSPORTATION
Erosion is the separation and removal of weathered and
unweathered rocks and soil from its substrate due to gravity
or transporting agents like wind, ice, or water.
Transport is the process by which sediments are moved along
from the source where they are deposited.
WIND EROSION
Commonly occurs in flat,
bare areas or dry, sandy,
and loose soils. It
detaches soil particles
and transports them by
wind.
GLACIER
Is a permanent body of
ice, which consists largely
of recrystallized snow and
shows evidence of
movement due to gravity.
WATER
Is the most common agent
of erosion. Millions of
tons of sedimentss are
picked-up and
transported everyday
along rivers, coasts, and
in deep oceans around the
world.
SEDIMENTS MOVE ALONG IN FOUR WAYS:
Solution - movement of soluble minerals (salt)
Suspension - movement of fine particles like silt and clay
Traction - rolling or dragging of large grains aided by the push
of smaller grains
Saltation - bouncing of sand grains as they are picked -up,
carried along, and dropped repeatedly
SEDIMENTS MOVE ALONG IN FOUR WAYS:
MASS WASTING/
MASS MOVEMENT
The downslope movement of rock, soil, and ice due to
gravity. It is also a natural hazard that can cause damage
to life and property.
MASS WASTING/
MASS MOVEMENT
Can be classified in a number of ways such as type of
material, type of motion, and speed of movement.
Predominantly coarse soil materials are called debris
while predominantly fine materials are labeled as earth.
GENERAL TYPES OF MOTION:
Fall includes the free fall movement, bouncing, and
rolling of materials on a slope.
Topple is the forward motion out of the slope of a soil or
rock mass.
Slide is the downslope movement of coherent materials
along a well-defined surface of rupture called sliding
surface.
GENERAL TYPES OF MOTION:
Spread is the lateral extension and fracturing of a
coherent mass due to the plastic flow of its underlying
material
Flow happens when the materials are saturated and move
downslope as a viscous fluid
Complex or the combinations of several types of
movement
GENERAL TYPES OF MOTION:
DEPOSITION
It is the process in which sediments settle out of the
transporting medium.
The layer formed when the materials are laid down is called bed.
The distribution of grain size in a layer is called sorting.
In a mixture with various grain sizes, the larger sediments are
called clasts and the surrounding fine-grained sediments are
referred to as matrix.