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GEOMORPHOLOGY GRADE11

The document discusses the formation of various landscape features in the Karoo region, including mesas, buttes, conical hills, and the process of scarp retreat. It also explores how these landscapes are utilized by humans for agriculture and other purposes, highlighting the significance and limitations of different terrains. Additionally, it covers the characteristics and processes associated with homoclinal landscapes and igneous rock formations.

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boipelobeukes34
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2 views40 pages

GEOMORPHOLOGY GRADE11

The document discusses the formation of various landscape features in the Karoo region, including mesas, buttes, conical hills, and the process of scarp retreat. It also explores how these landscapes are utilized by humans for agriculture and other purposes, highlighting the significance and limitations of different terrains. Additionally, it covers the characteristics and processes associated with homoclinal landscapes and igneous rock formations.

Uploaded by

boipelobeukes34
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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HOW FEATURES OF A KAROO LANDSCAPE FORM:

1. MESA’S
 Mesa means table, they formed
by weathering & erosion of
horizontally layered rock that
have been uplifted by tectonic
activity
 When a more resistant rock
strata overlies a less resistant
strata, erosion cuts back the less
resistant rock, the more resistant
rock cant support itself and falls
 This creates steep cliffs, at the
more resistant cap, and a
pediplain lower down.
BUTTES
 Butte is French for “small hill”
 Further erosion of the mesa occurs
creating buttes
CONICAL HILLS
• Conical hills are formed as a result of
further erosion of a butte
• The resistant rock cap is fully
removed by erosion, leaving only the
softer layers underneath.
ACTIVITY 1.1 PAGE 75
SCARP RETREAT / BACK WASTING
WHAT IS SCARP RETREAT
• Scarp retreat is how slopes erode and change over time
• With scarp retreat, slopes remain the same angle through the erosion stages.
 Erosion starts as uplift occurs, slopes erode uniformly when there is uniformly
tectonic uplift
 Erosion and deposition take place on landforms such as mesa’s or buttes, the
land forms get narrower but slopes remain the same angle.
 For this development to occur the erosion at the base of the slope must at the
same rate as the removal of material from the scarp slope.
 Only the pediment will become larger over time creating a large flat valley
floor.
 Features become narrower, but will only become shorter when the cap rock is
removed
 This is the process of scarp retreat or back wasting
ACTIVITY 2.1 PAGE 77
HOW PEOPLE USE THESE LANDSCAPES
1. HILLY LANDSCAPES
• Hilly, round landscapes are fertile
agricultural areas with high rainfall
and warmer weather.
• Although the soil may be thin the use
of contour ploughing allows people
to farm.
2.BASALTIC PLATEAUS

• Weathered lava plateaus


produce very fertile soil, as well
as sufficient water
• This allows for humans to use
this land for agriculture
• The Deccan plateau in India is
used for large scale
commercial cotton farming
3. CANYON LANDSCAPES

• Canyon landscapes offer historical


relevance for early human settlement
• However act as barriers to infrastructure
and transport routes
• Too dry and rivers to deep for farming
• Attract tourists (Grand canyon)
• Badlands off no real value to humans
as the slopes are too steep and erosion
lowers the value of the land further.
ACTIVITY 3.1 PAGE 79
4. KAROO LANDSCAPES
• Due to the arid areas Karoo
landscapes are found in, they offer no
significance to humans.
• Erosion is high, and soil is thin and
infertile
UNIT 4: TOPOGRAPHY ASSOCIATED WITH INCLINED/TILTED ROCK STRATA
KEY TERMS:
Homoclinal ridge – ridge formed from inclined strata
Scarp slope – steep slope of a homoclinal ridge
Dip slope – less steep slope of a homoclinal ridge
Mass wasting – movement of eroded material down a slope due to
gravity
Undercutting – erosion of rock at the base of a slope with subsequent
collapse of the overhang
Homoclinal shifting – movement of a homoclinal ridge towards the
dip slope
CHARACTERISTICS & PROCESSES ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF
HOMOCLINAL LANDSCAPES

• Homoclinal ridges are asymmetrical ridges which have a


steeper slope on one 1 side and a gentler slope on the other.
• These form from alternating sedimentary rock strata of varying
resistances that have been uplifted and tilted by warping,
folding and faulting.

• Homoclinal landscapes refer to a landscape formed of inclined


strata that are tilted by the same degree of dip in the same
direction.
1. DIP AND SCARP SLOPES
 Surface erosion exposes the inclined strata.
 This results in ridges having a scarp slope and a dip slope.
 Erosionis less on the dip slope as it has a more resistant rock
than the scarp slope
 The
scarp slope is eroded through sheet wash and mass
wasting
 Scarprecession occurs as undercutting and collapse cause
the scarp slope to erode in the direction of the dip slope.
(homoclinal shifting)
CUESTAS AND HOGSBACKS
 Depending on the angle of the resistant strata, we differentiate
between a cuesta and a hogsback

1. Cuesta the dipping strata lie at an angle of 10 – 25 degrees


2. Hogsback the dipping strata lie at an angle of more than 45 degrees
ACTIVITY 6 PAGE 138
CUESTA BASINS & CUESTA DOMES
FORMATION OF CUESTA BASINS & DOMES
• As a result of folding, strata are raised into a dome shape or
bend downwards into a basin shape.
• Erosion of overlying material leads to a circular shape called
cuesta domes or cuesta basins
UTILISATION OF LANDSCAPE ASSOCIATED WITH INCLINED STRATA

• The dip slope of cuesta is rocky with thin soil, this is used for forestry
• The scarp of a cuesta slope is to steep to be used by people
• Homoclinal ridges are areas used to build dam walls
• Cuesta domes may contain oil or gas
• Cuesta basins may hold (artesian wells) if a layer of permeable rock
lies between 2 layers of impermeable rock.
TOPOGRAPHY ASSOCIATED WITH MASSIVE IGNEOUS ROCKS
INTRUSIVE IGNEOUS ACTIVITY & FEATURES
• The Earth’s mantle is made of magma (molten rock),
magma is less dense than rock and works its way through
cracks and joints to the earths crust.
• When magma cools it forms igneous intrusions.
• We classify these igneous intrusions according to their
shape, size and depth.

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