NICOLAS L.

GALVEZ MEMORIAL INTEGRATED NATIONAL

HIGH SCHOOL
Senior High School Department

Exogenic Processes:
Weathering, Erosion, & Mass Movement

Grade 11 Earth & Life Science

 Geomorphic Processes
• Geomorphology - study of the landforms and
the processes that shape them.
• “Geo” – Earth / land, “morph”- form.
• Geomorphic processes – processes that shape
the landforms of the Earth.
 Geomorphic
Processes

Exogenic Process Endogenic Process

(internal origin) processes are

(external origin) processes are driven by the internal heat of the
driven by the energy in sunlight. Earth

Mountain- destroying Mountain – building

 Exogenic Processes
• Exogenic - processes are driven by the
energy in sunlight.
• Sunlight causes air to move, water to
be lifted into mountains, and ocean
waves to rise.
• These moving fluids attack the solid
surface, eroding it, carrying the
broken pieces far away, and
depositing them to fill low places in
the landscape.
• In other words, exogenic processes
are mountain-destroying processes.
 Kinds of Exogenic Processes

Weathering Erosion Mass Wasting

 Weathering
Weathering - is the breaking down or dissolving of
rocks and minerals on Earths surface.
Two kinds weathering:
1. Physical weathering
2. Chemical weathering
 Physical Weathering
- Also known as mechanical weathering, refers to the
breakdown of rocks (fractured, cracked or fragmented)
into smaller pieces.
- The chemical composition of rocks remains the same.

What Causes Physical Weathering?

1. Temperature and pressure
change
2. Wind and waves
3. Freeze and thaw
4. Organic/Biological Activity
 What Causes Physical Weathering?

1. Temperature and Pressure Change

When rocks are exposed to alternating hot and
cold temperatures many times, they crumble
and break into fragments.
High temperature Rock expands
Low temperature Rock contracts
Stones in the arid desert slowly turn into sand.
 What Causes Physical Weathering?

2. Wind and waves

Tiny grains of sand are picked up and carried off
by the wind, which are then blasted on the
surface of rocks, smoothening them. These could
wear away the rock and weather it.

On the seashore, the action of waves chips away

and cracks the rock.
 Wind and Waves

California

Twelve Apostles, Australia

Hilangagan Beach, Borongan E. Samar
Kapurpurawan Rock Formations, Ilocos Norte
• 3. Freeze and Thaw
• When water seeps into pores and cracks in a rock it
expand when it freezes. This happens particularly in
cold climates.
• The freezing creates cracks. When the ice thaws
(melts), water seeps into new cracks and causes more
cracks as it freezes. Soon the rocks break apart.
4. Organic Activity
• Cause by animals and plants
• There are animals that dig holes on the
ground and exposed rocks.
• Weeds and plant roots grow in cracks.
As the plant grows bigger, the roots
also grow bigger and tend to push open
the cracks. Eventually the rock is
fractured.
4. Organic Activity
• Anthropogenic (human-related) activities become a primary
cause of weathering.
• Give examples of human activities causes physical weathering of
rocks?
• Walking – boots and shoes may damage the path walk and wear
them away in time.
• Road building - requires leveling the surface
• Mining - digging of tunnels
• Quarrying - mountain slopes are trimmed
Chemical Weathering
Chemical Weathering
- The decomposition of rocks due to chemical
reactions occurring between the minerals
in the rocks and the environment.
- Chemical weathering transforms rocks and
minerals exposed to water and gases in the
atmosphere into new chemical compounds
forming different rocks and minerals.
 What Causes Chemical Weathering?
1. Hydration and Hydrolysis
2. Carbonation
3. Oxidation
Hydration and Hydrolysis
• Hydration – molecules of some substance in rocks
chemically combine with water molecules.
• Hydrolysis - the chemical breakdown of a substance
when combined with water.

In hydration and hydrolysis, minerals in rocks undergo

chemical reaction with rainwater.

Example: Feldspar turn into Clay

When it rains, water seeps down into the ground and comes
in contact with granite rocks. The feldspar crystals within the
granite react with the water and are chemically altered to form clay
minerals, which weaken the rock.
 Divinubo Is.,
Borongan,
Eastern Samar
Carbonation
Sometimes, carbon dioxide from the air or soil combines with water.
This produces a weak acid, called carbonic acid (an example of acid
rain), that can dissolve rock.

Carbonic acid reacts with calcium carbonate in limestone producing

calcium bicarbonate. This chemical reaction dissolves away part of the
limestone and decreases its mass.

When the carbonic acid seeps through limestone underground, it can

open up huge cracks or hollow out vast networks of caves.
 Maypangdan Cave,
Borongan, Eastern Samar
 Maypangdan Cave,
Borongan, Eastern Samar
 Carbonation also results in sinkholes
which cause the formation of stalactites and
stalagmites.

When calcium carbonate is dispersed

in water and is carried by the water as it
flows, the solution moves out of the
permeable limestone. The temperature and
pressure on the rock is reduced, while some
of the water evaporates.

The soluble calcium bicarbonate is

converted to calcium carbonate again which
then precipitates. As the solution trickles
down from the ceiling of a cave, a precipitate
is formed on the ceiling that points
downward. This is called stalactite. The
precipitate below a stalactite is called
stalagmite.
 Other sources of acid rain:

•Chemical
Produces Becomes weathering takes
Burning of sulfur Combines acid rain Falls on place more
rocks and rapidly
fossil dioxide and with (sulfuric stay on •Damage not only
fuels nitrogen rainwater acid and them on rocks but also
oxide nitric acid) in plants and
marine life
Oxidation
Oxidation – oxygen, considered an active
gas, combines with the minerals in rocks
producing compounds called oxides.

Iron, aluminum, copper, and sodium are

examples of minerals that readily react
with oxygen which then form mineral
oxides.

Rust – iron oxide

When minerals oxidize they become pudgy

and show discoloration. This weakens the
rock and makes it crumble.
Erosion
 Erosion
Erosion – involves the movement of
the weathered rock (now soil, sand or
pebbles) from their site of weathering
by wind, moving water, ice and
gravity.

Weathering does not always occur

before erosion. Erosion always follows
after the weathering.

Transport makes erosion complete

because it involves the movement of
eroded materials and sediments.
Weathering can continue during
transport.
 Erosion

Transport Transport
by Water by Wind

1. Transport by Water
• Rainwater is the most important force or agent of erosion.
• Gravity is the driving force and gives water the energy to erode
and carry away rock materials.
• Water can carry almost any size of rocks. The greater the
volume of water and the steeper the slope , the bigger and
more rocks can be transported.
2. Transport by wind
• Wind continuously blows away loose particles
of rocks and soil from place to place. This is
common in dry areas such as deserts.
• Wind transport can result in stunning
landscapes and creates sand dunes.
• The wind can create sandstorms that contain
dust particles and deposit them in wide areas.
Mass Movement
 Mass Movement (Mass Wasting)
• Mass Movement – movement of materials downslope due to the force of
gravity, also includes the sinking of the ground surface in a vertical direction.
• Mass movements on slopes and sinking mass movements are aided most of the
time by water.
• Mass wasting is a type of erosion that is capable of making big changes to a
mountain. These changes can happen rapidly or slowly.
Types of Mass Wasting

1. Land slides
2. Debris flows
3. Mud flows
4. Avalanches
5. Soil creep
6. Slump
• Land slides occur where there is moisture and water.
Therefore if you live in a moist area the land is more
susceptible to landslides. They happen when a mass of
debris/rock move down a slope. Landslides effect the land in a
different way than the debris flow and rock falls.
• Debris flow is the movement of a large amount of poorly sorted sediments
down slope. Water is not really needed as much for a debris flow to occur.
Therefore it is more likely to have a debris flow in a dry area before a
landslide would occur. Debris flows are also more common than rock falls.
Debris flows can vary from a few small rocks to lots of rocks of all different
sizes.
• Mud flows are river flows of mud which is
created by rock, earth and other debris soaked
by water.
• Avalanches are a sudden movement of lots of
snow or ice down a cliff or slope. The speed of
this movement can be as fast as 160 km/hr
(100 mph).
• Soil creep is a very slow movement of soil and regolith
downhill. This will happen because of the wetting and
drying, growth of frost needles, heating and cooling,
and trampling and burrowing.
• Slumps are a sinking in the land. When the
land sinks it makes a sort of curve like look.
 References
• Moncada, M.N.M. (2016) Earth and Life Science for Senior
High School. Quezon City: Educational Resources Corporation.
• [Link]
Retrieved August 1, 2016
• [Link]
[Link]. Retrieved August 1, 2016
• [Link]
8f08-442b-80e8-
ed89faa22c33/book/chapter_9/[Link]. Retrieved
August 3, 2016