External Earth
Processes
Weathering, erosion, sedimentation, and mass
wasting are called exogenic processes since they
occur near the earth’s surface.
Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
a. describe how rocks undergo weathering;
b. explain how the products of weathering are carried away
by erosion and deposited elsewhere; and,
c. explain how rocks and soil move downslope due to
the direct action of gravity.
EXOGENIC
PROCESSES
Weathering
Erosion
Sedimentation
Mass Wasting
Weathering
The breaking down of rocks
and other materials on the
earth’s surface is called
weathering. It is a slow but
continuous process affecting all
substances exposed to the
atmosphere.
Mechanical
Weathering
Mechanical weathering occurs
when rocks break into pieces
without changing their
chemical composition.
Chemical Weathering
Chemical weathering occurs
when the chemical composition
of rocks are changed due to
action of other substances.
Mechanical weathering causes rocks to break
into smaller pieces. This type of weathering
does not change the chemical composition of
the rocks, since they are just torn apart by
physical forces.
Temperature, frost action, abrasion, and the action
of living things are some of the different agents of
mechanical weathering.
Temperature Frost Action
The repeated changes in Frost action occurs when
temperature cause the water seeps into small
surface of rocks to peel off. cracks of rock layers.
This type of breaking off is
called exfoliation.
Action of Living
Abrasion Things
This is the wearing off of Plants, animals, and even
rocks by solid particles humans can cause
carried by wind, water, mechanical weathering.
and other agents.
Chemical weathering changes the mineral
content and the chemical composition of
rocks. As chemical changes occur, minerals
may either be added or removed from the
rocks.
Water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, sulfuric acid, and
acids from plants and animals are some of the
agents of chemical weathering.
Water Oxygen
Oxygen combines with other
Water can dissolve most of
substances to form entirely
the minerals present in
new substances.
rocks.
Carbon dioxide Sulfur oxides
Carbon dioxide in air Sulfur oxides are produced
combines with rainwater to when fossil fuels are burned.
form a weak solution of
carbonic acid.
Acids and chemicals from organisms
Organisms such as plants
can also cause chemical
weathering.
Soil Formation
The weathering of rocks on earth’s surface results in soil
formation. As rocks weather, they change into smaller pieces.
These smaller pieces are further broken down into soil.
Sometimes, soil remains on top of its parent rock or
the rock from which it was formed. This is called
residual soil, which has the same composition as the
parent rock. When soil is moved to other places by
wind, water, glaciers, and waves, it results to a type
of soil called transported soil. Transported soil has a
very different composition from the rock that it
covers. The parent rock beneath the residual and
transported soils is called the bedrock.
Erosion and
Sedimentation
Soil, the product of weathering, is
carried away by erosion to other
places. Erosion is the process in
which soil and weathered rocks are
transported from one place to
another. Eroded rocks and soil are
deposited in other places through a
process called deposition or
sedimentation.
Agents of Erosion
wind waves water glaciers gravity
1. Wind
Wind is the most active agent of erosion in
deserts, open fields, and beaches.
Dunes are mounds that are built by wind
consisting of loose sand.
Loess is a deposit of fine sand and silt. It is
light in color and without a visible layer.
2. Waves
Waves constantly erode and shape shorelines. A
shoreline is where a body of water and land meet.
Beaches consist of fine sand or large pebbles that are
carried by waves to the shores of seas and lakes.
Sandbars are submerged or partly exposed ridges of
sand or coarse sediment that were built by waves
offshore from a beach.
Spits are elongated ridges of sand that stretch from
the land to the mouth of a nearby bay.
3. Running water
Running water is one of the major agents of
erosion.
Rivers, streams, and runoff are examples of
running water.
Large sediments usually settle on the riverbed
while smaller ones are deposited along
riverbanks forming oxbow lakes, alluvial fans,
deltas, flood plains, and levees.
Oxbow lake
An oxbow lake is a U-shaped body of
water that forms when a river finds
a different, shorter course.
Alluvial fan
An alluvial fan is a fan-shaped
deposit of gravel, sand, and even
smaller pieces of sediment, such as
silt, formed when the stream flow
suddenly slows down. The sediment
is called alluvium.
Delta
A delta is a landform created by the
deposition of sediments carried by a
river as the stream flows to a lake
or an ocean.
Floodplain
A floodplain is a flat area of land
close to a river or stream. It
stretches from the banks of the river
extending toward the outer edges of
a valley.
Levee
A levee is a natural wall that blocks
the flow of water. It is created by
the deposit of large particles.
4. Glaciers
Glaciers erode surfaces through
abrasion. As a glacier moves along a
valley, it carries with it rock debris,
such as large boulders and smaller
particles.
Moraine
A moraine is the accumulation of
dirt and rocks that have fallen onto
the glacier surface or have been
pushed along by the glacier as it
moves.
Drumlin
A drumlin is an elongated hill with
the shape of an inverted spoon or
half-buried egg, which is formed by
glacial ice acting on underlying
unconsolidated sediments or ground
moraine.
Meltwater deposits
Meltwater deposits are sediments
carried and deposited along the
meltwater streams, which are
formed when glaciers start to melt.
Iceberg deposits
Iceberg deposits are rocks and
sediments that are picked up from
land and deposited on the ocean
floor by melting icebergs.
Glacial lake
A glacial lake is a lake created by
melted glacier. It is formed when
glacier erodes the land, and then
melts, filling the space that it has
created with water.
5. Mass wasting
Mass wasting occurs when gravity
pulls rocks and soil down the slopes.
The rock debris settles at the base of
the slope and is called talus or
accumulated sediments.
Landslide
A landslide is an example of mass
wasting that can be caused by an
earthquake, volcanic eruption, or the
weakening of supporting rocks
caused by heavy rain.
Mudflow
A mudflow is another type of mass
wasting that usually occurs after a
heavy rain. The mud slides downhill
picking up rocks and boulders that
cause it to become thicker.
Slump
A slump is the downward slide of a
mass of rock or unconsolidated
materials along a curved surface.
Debris flow
Debris flow involves the flow of soil
containing large amount of water
along a downward slope.
Creep
A creep is a slow type of mass
wasting that involves the gradual
downhill movement of soil caused by
the alternate expansion and
contraction of the surface due to
freezing and melting, or wetting and
drying.