EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE

Chapter IV

Earth Materials and Processes: Exogenic Processes

The Earth’s crust is constantly altered physically. At least that is what we observe. However, there
are more intriguing facts about these changes. There are changes that occur suddenly but most changes
take thousands of years to happen.

Weathering
The outer surface of a rock is different from the inner surface. The outside surface which is the
exposed part has discoloration and is softer than the inside part. It is the exterior of the rock that breaks
with the pressure. Rocks when exposed to the environment tend to break down. It is said that rocks
experience weathering.
Weathering is the mechanical and chemical hammer that breaks down and sculpts rock. There are
two kinds of weathering:
1. Physical Weathering – also known as mechanical weathering refers to the breakdown of rocks
without a change in its composition. Breakdown would mean that the rock is fractured, cracked or
fragmented into smaller pieces.
2. Chemical Weathering – is the decomposition of rocks due to chemical reactions occurring
between the minerals in rocks and the environment. Chemical weathering transforms rocks and
minerals exposed to water and gases in the atmosphere into new chemical compound thus,
forming different rocks and minerals.
Some types of rocks are easily weathered by chemicals. For example, limestone is made of a
mineral called calcium carbonate (CaCO3). When acidic rain enters its crevices, a chemical reaction takes
place dissolving the calcium carbonate and produces a new soluble substance called calcium bicarbonate.
These are washed away and the rock is weathered. Some other types of rocks are not easily weathered by
chemicals. For example, granite which is a hard rock is weathered slowly. But still some of its minerals
do react with the acid rain to form a new substance that crumbles and falls apart.
Chemical weathering is a key factor in the creation of caves and caverns. It can also hollow out
caves and damage cliffs.

Processes That Can Cause Physical Weathering

1. Thermal and Pressure Change
Rocks crumble and break into fragments because they are subjected to alternating hot and cold
temperatures many times. During the day, the sun heats the rocks. When a rock gets hot, it expands (an
increase in volume), while at night, the rock gets cold causing contraction (a decrease in volume).
Repeated swings in temperature weaken the rock and in the process, mineral grains are loosened
from the rocks and eventually the rocks break down into pieces. Best examples are the stones in the arid
desert that slowly turn to sand.
The rates of expansion and contraction of the outer and inner parts of the rock differ. The outer
part expands and contracts more than the inner part because it is directly exposed to the heat of the Sun.
This unequal change in volume between the inner and outer part of the rock causes rock to crack which
starts with the peeling off of the outside surface of the rock.

2. Wind and Waves

Wind and waves can all cause physical weathering. 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 away
the rock and weather it. On the seashore, the action of waves chips away and cracks the rocks.

3. Freeze and Thaw

You know that if you put a glass in the freezer it will soon break. This is because water expands
when it freezes. Similarly, when water collects in the rock pores and slits, it expands when it freezes. This
happens particularly in cold climates. The freezing creates cracks. When the ice thaws, the water seeps
into new cracks and causes more cracks as it freezes. Soon the rocks break apart.

4. Organic Activity
Animals and plants also take a heavy toll on rocks and cause them to wear away. For example,
there are animals that dig holes on the ground and exposed rocks. It could also be an animal like a rabbit
that burrows into a crack in the rock as it constantly burrows and makes the cracks bigger, and it ends up
ripping the rocks apart.

Moreover, anthropogenic activities become the primary cause of weathering like road
construction, mining or even a simple walking. In walking, boots and shoes may damage the path walk
and wear them away in time. Road building often requires leveling the surface; hence, rocks need to be
broken. Mining entails digging, tunneling and results into break down of rocks as well. In quarrying,
mountain slopes and hills are trimmed in order to collect gravel and sand.
Essentially, weeds and plant roots can grow in cracks. Bushes or trees growing from cracks in
rocks when grow bigger, the roots also grow bigger and tend to push open the cracks, making them wider
and deeper. Eventually, the rock is fractured. Decaying roots also add organic acids to the joints, speeding
up the weathering process.

Processes That Bring about Chemical Weathering

1. Hydration/Hydrolysis
Water is nature’s versatile tool that can bring about chemical weathering. There other chemical
compounds in the water that become the main agents of chemical weathering. Molecules of some
substance in rocks chemically combine with water molecules. This process is called hydration.
When water decomposes into H+ and OH- ions, the elements can react with ions of the minerals.
This happens when feldspar, one of the most abundant rock-forming minerals, chemically reacts with
water. We say that feldspar is hydrated. The product of hydration yields a less dense and less cohesive
rock that disintegrates fast.

2. Carbonation
Carbon dioxide may bond with other substances in a process known as carbonation. Rain water is
naturally acidic because CO2 gas from the atmosphere chemically reacts with it and produces carbonic
acid, a weak acid that reacts slowly with carbonate minerals in rocks. Carbonic acid when synthesized
with the calcium carbonate in limestone, forms calcium bicarbonate. This chemical reaction dissolves
away part of the limestone and decreases its mass.
Because of the power plants that burn fossil fuels like coal and oil which produce more CO 2 in the
atmosphere, rainwater becomes more acidic and forms an acid concoction called “acid rain”. When acid
rain falls on rocks and stay on them, chemical weathering takes place more rapidly.
Carbonation also results in sinkholes which cause the formation of stalactites and stalagmites.
When calcium bicarbonate 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 if formed on the ceiling
that points downward. This is called stalactite. The precipitate directly below a stalactite is called
stalagmite. Oftentimes, a stalactite would have a corresponding stalagmite. They grow towards each other
and connect. The connection is then called a “column”.

3. Oxidation
Oxidation is another kind of chemical weathering process. This occurs when oxygen, considered
as an active gas, combines with another substance like minerals in rocks, yielding compounds called
oxides. Iron, aluminum, copper and sodium are examples of minerals that readily react with oxygen
which then form mineral oxides. Rust, for example, is iron oxide. When rocks particularly those
containing iron are exposed to air and water, the iron undergoes oxidation. Once a mineral is oxidized, it
becomes pudgy and shows discoloration. This weakens the rock and makes it crumble.
 In nature, physical weathering and chemical weathering typically occur together, affecting the
rocks. When the latter is destroyed, valuable products are created.

Erosion
Erosion involves the movement of the weathered rock (now soil, sand, or pebbles) from their site
of weathering by the agents of erosion such as 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 the eroded materials and sediments. Weathering can
continue during transport.

1. Transport by Water
Rainwater is the most important force or agent of erosion. Every day, millions of tons of eroded
materials are moved along the river, coasts and deep oceans. When there is heavy rain, rock pieces are
carried downstream to a suited depositional environment with the action of gravity.
Gravity is the driving force and it gives water the energy to erode and carry away rock materials.
The movement of water is always from a higher level to a lower one in response to gravitational force.
Physical weathering dominates at higher elevation while chemical weathering takes on a more active role
at lower elevation. Soil is formed when rocks continuously weather.
Rock materials are loosened by heavy rains and strong winds and they can come speeding down
slopes, sweeping everything in its path. Although erosion is a natural process, abusive land use practice
such as deforestation and overgrazing can expedite erosion.
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 as sand is blown
away and creates sand dunes. The wind can create sandstorms that contains dust particles and deposit
them in wide areas.

Mass Movement (Mas wasting)

Mass wasting typically known as mass movement or slope movement is defined as a bulk
movements of soil, sand, and rock debris downslopes in response to the force of gravity or the rapid or
gradual sinking of the Earth’s ground surface in a vertical direction. Formerly, the term “mass wasting”
was limited only to the variety of processes by which large masses of crustal materials are moved by the
action of gravity from one place to another. But more recently, the term “mass movement” has been
substituted to include mass wasting processes and the sinking of the Earth’s ground.
Mass wasting is a type of erosion that is capable of making big changes to a mountain. These
changes can happen suddenly, as in a minute the rock is there and the next it is gone.it also happens
slowly over time.

Factors that are responsible for the origin of variety of downslope mass movement:
a. Weathering and erosion
b. Character and structure of rocks
c. The removal of the vegetation cover – which reduce the slopes stability
d. Earthquake tremors – which affect the slope’s equilibrium
e. Flowing ground water

Types of mass movement caused by the above mentioned factors:

a. Rocks Falls – The abrupt movement and free fall of loosened solid block of rocks.
b. Creep – The almost imperceptible downslope movement of soil particles and rocks debris.
c. Bulging – The subsurface creep of rock material.
d. Landslide – The multiplicity of downslope movements of bedrocks and other debris caused by the
separation of a slope section along a plane of least resistance or slip surface.
e. Slump – The separation of a mass moving down a curved slip and collecting at the slope’s foot.
f. Earthflow – The saturation of debris and weathered materials by rainfall in the upper section of a
slope or valley causing a slow downslope movement.
g. Mudslides – A rapidly moving earthflow containing a higher water content.
h. Avalanche – A fast moving earthflow in a mountainous region.
i. Subsidence – Sinking mass movement that occurs in a relatively rapid fashion. It involves the roof
collapse or breakdown of a subsurface cavity forming a cave. There is also subsidence in the form
of sinkholes caused by underground drainage.
j. Settlement – A gradual mass movement.