Exogenic Processes are
geological processes
occurring at the Earth’s
surface
Weathering is a process by which
rocks are broken into smaller
fragments. This process is due to
rocks’ exposure to varying
temperature, pressure, substances
and biological actions.
What are the processes that can cause Physical Weathering?
Thermal and Pressure Change
Changes in temperature
contribute to expansion and
contraction of the rocks. When
the temperature of the rock
rises, the rocks expands and
when the temperature of the
rocks decreases, the rock
contracts.
What are the processes that can cause Physical Weathering?
Freeze and Thaw
When water enters the rocks
through the pores and cracks,
it freezes. Once the frozen
water is within the rocks, it
expands by about 10% thus
opening the cracks a bit
wider.
What are the processes that can cause Physical Weathering?
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.
This could wear a rock and
weather it.
What are the processes that can cause Physical Weathering?
Organic activity
Trees and other plants can wear away rocks
when their roots penetrate into the cracks
in the rocks. As the roots get bigger, they
exert pressure on rocks and make the
cracks wider and deeper, eventually
breaking the rocks apart.
Burrowing animals such as moles, squirrels
and rabbits loosen and disintegrate the
rocks in the soil.
Hydration/Hydrolysis
It is the chemical reactions caused by water.
Water reacts with the rock and alters the size
and chemical compositions of the minerals,
lessening their resistance to weathering.
Whenever minerals are hydrolyzed, crystal
rocks and clay minerals such as calcium,
potassium, and sodium ions are produced.
Carbonation
Carbonation is the mixing of water with
carbon dioxide to make carbonic acid.
Carbonation takes place when the rock
minerals react with weak carbonic acid
formed when water combines with carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere.
Oxidation
It is also known as rusting. It is the process
whereby the rock minerals lose one or more ions
or atoms in the presence of oxygen. When
minerals in the rock oxidize, they become less
resistant to weathering. Oxygen combines with
other substances via the oxidation process
giving rise to the ion or atom lose.
Mechanical and chemical weathering work
together to produce fine, loose rock particles
called sediments. Sand, silt and clay are terms
used to describe the size of sediment. Gradually,
sediments turn into soil, a highly valuable
resource. Soil is composed of weathered rock
particles, organic matter, mineral fragments,
water and air.
Climate. Chemical weathering is more effective
and rapid in regions with high temperature and
rainfall. Temperature has a significant effect in
hastening chemical reactions happening in
rocks. Water plays an important role in
mechanical weathering as well as in carrying-
out most reactions in chemical weathering.
Rock type. Some rocks have different
degree of resistance to mechanical and
chemical weathering. Quartzite, a hard but
brittle rock, is highly resistant to chemical
weathering but less resistant to mechanical
weathering.
Rock structure. Weathering agents may
enter a rock mass through its joints,
faults, folds, and bedding planes. High
number of these entry points makes
rocks less resistant to both mechanical
and chemical weathering.
Slope. Weathering is faster in steeper
slopes than in less steep slopes.
Duration of exposure. Rocks that are
exposed to weathering agents for a longer
period of time is more likely to weather
easily.
Weathering makes rocks smaller and
lighter, thus easier to be moved and
transported. When rock particles are
moved from one place to another, the
process is called erosion.
As agents of erosion carry the rock particles,
they lose energy until such point that they can
no longer hold them. Rock sediments are then
dropped to certain locations, usually of lower
elevation. Deposition is the process by which
sediments are dropped off by agents of
erosion.
Rainwater that does not soak
or evaporate runs over the
ground, carrying with it rock
particles. This surface runoff
eventually enters a body of
water such as streams, lakes and
oceans.
As water continues to move
along, it picks up sediments.
Lightweight sediments become
suspended in water and are carried
away by water while heavier
particles roll along the bottom. Large
ocean waves pound along edges of
land, wearing down rocks in it.
Loose rock and soil particles
are carried away by wind and
are deposited at other places.
Wind is capable of transporting
light particles over large areas
thousands of kilometers away.
Glacier is a large mass of ice
and snow that forms in colder
parts of the world. As glaciers
move across land, they erode
solid rocks and deposit eroded
materials somewhere.
When ice at the base of a glacier
melts, water penetrates the pores
and cracks of the rock beneath it. As
water refreezes, rock fragments are
plucked by the ice and are dragged
along to different locations. Glacial
erosion scars rock surface forming
grooves and striations.
Gravity is a major force that
drives erosion and deposition.
Soil and weathered materials
in high elevations like hills and
mountain are pulled down
by gravity.
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