Internal and External Geological Processes
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ScribdTranslationsInternal and External Geological Processes
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ScribdTranslationsINTERNAL GEOLOGICAL PHENOMENA:
Internal or endogenous processes are those that occur beneath the surface.
terrestrial, but tend to model it, among these we have magmatic chambers
(volcanic formations) plate tectonics (forms mountain ranges and trenches), etc.
a) The Orogenic Movements: They are the horizontal movements of the
Earth's crust (like earthquakes). Orogeny generates folded and faulted relief.
they can consider three moments that correspond to three phases of violence of the
orogeny: the folding, in which soft materials fold; the faulting, in the
that the hard materials and the folds break; and the overthrust, in which the
materials shift from their original position. Thus, folds and faults are created.
b) The Epirogenic Movements: They are continent-forming and are characterized by
because the preferred displacement occurs in the vertical plane.
They are given, for example, by the erosion of a mountain. The loss of materials produces
a decrease in weight, resulting in a movement of the rocks upwards.
It is actually about small vertical adjustments that cause minor changes in the
altitude of certain mountain ranges or more or less extensive continental areas.
c) The Seismic Movements: It is a vibratory movement produced by the loss of
stability of crust masses. When the movement reaches the surface and propagates
we call this an earthquake.
The seismic movement propagates concentrically and in three dimensions from
from a point in the Deep Crust or Superficial Mantle (generally, in the Lithosphere) in the
the balance of masses is lost. This point is called the hypocenter.
d) Volcanoes or igneous activity: They are a more or less violent emission on the surface
terrestrial materials coming from the interior of the globe, whose matter, largely
organic, comes from hydrocarbon deposits relatively close to the
surface, terrestrial eruptions are due to volcanoes. They are the cause of an increase in
temperature in the magma found inside the mantle.
This causes a volcanic eruption in which boiling lava is expelled that
found in the magma. It can generate landslides, floods, etc.
eruptions are also characterized by other factors: temperature of the lava, its
content of occluded gases, state of the volcanic conduit (free chimney or blocked by
solid materials, lava lake that opposes its thrust to the exit of the magma from the bottom, etc.).
e) Metamorphic Activity: Refers to any alteration suffered by rocks
metamorphic. The agents that produce metamorphism are heat, pressure, and
solution. The predominant process is recrystallization.
EXTERNAL GEOLOGICAL PHENOMENA:
The external or exogenous geological processes are those whose action and effect have
place in the external and superficial zone of the Earth's crust, at the interface with the
atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. They make up the phenomena of external Geodynamics.
whose result is the modeling of the earth's relief, this affects our planet in two
destructive and constructive aspects.
a) Denudation: The denudation of the relief is the Weathering or alteration of the
materials, fundamentally due to atmospheric action. Erosion or physical removal of
rocky fragments by different mechanisms. Transport of the resulting debris
toward the lower areas of the crust. They thus constitute the destructive aspect of the
External geodynamics.
b) Sedimentation: It is the formation of sedimentary rocks (exogenous lithogenesis or
sedimentary) from the sediments. Along with the above, it constitutes the aspect
constructive of external Geodynamics.
The energy sources for carrying out these processes are two:
The solar radiation, which originates atmospheric phenomena and their derivatives (wave,
etc.)
The Earth's gravity, which drives all materials to the lower zones of the crust.
Overall, external processes tend to even out the topography of the land,
destroying the elevated areas and filling the depressed ones. They act continuously in
time and in space.