Exogenic Processes

(Erosion and Deposition)

30 August 2018 1
Review

•What are the mass

wasting processes?
30 August 2018 2
 •Slope Failures
•Sediment Flow
30 August 2018 3
• a. Weathering- the disintegration and
decomposition of rock at or near the
Earth surface
• b. Erosion- the incorporation and
transportation of material by a mobile
agent such as water, wind, or ice
30 August 2018 4
30 August 2018 5
30 August 2018 6
30 August 2018 7
30 August 2018 8
30 August 2018 9
• • Weathering occurs in situ, that is,
particles stay put and no movement
is involved. As soon as the
weathering product starts moving
(due to fluid flow) we call the
process erosion.
30 August 2018 10
• weathering, erosion/transportation,
deposition are exogenic processes that
act in concert but in differing relative
degrees to bring about changes in the
configuration of the Earth’s surface.

30 August 2018 11
30 August 2018 12
Agents of Erosion.
• 1. Running Water
• a. running water encompass both overland flow and
stream flow.
• overland flow and streamflow.
• how streamflow begins as moving sheet wash.
(splash erosion->overland flow->rills->gulleys-
>stream)
30 August 2018 13
30 August 2018 14
30 August 2018 15
30 August 2018 16
30 August 2018 17
30 August 2018 18
30 August 2018 19
 Factors that affect stream erosion and
deposition
• • Velocity – dictates the ability of stream to erode and
transport; controlled by gradient, channel size and
shape, channel roughness, and the amount of water
flowing in the channel
• • Discharge- volume of water passing through a cross-
section of a stream during a given time; as the discharge
increases, the width of the channel, the depth of flow, or
flow velocity increase individually or simultaneously
30 August 2018 20
• • Styles of erosion: Vertical erosion
(downcutting), lateral erosion, headward erosion
• • Streamflow erosion occurs by : Hydraulic
action, abrasion, solution
• • Streams transport their sediment load in three
ways: in solution (dissolved load), in suspension
(suspended load), sliding and rolling along the
bottom (bed load)
30 August 2018 21
• A stream’s ability to transport solid
particles is described by: Competence
(size of the largest particle that can be
transported by the stream) and
Capacity (maximum load a stream
can transport under given conditions)
30 August 2018 22
30 August 2018 23
•The Hjulström curve, named
after Filip Hjulström, is a graph
used by hydrologists and
geologists to determine whether
a river will erode, transport, or
deposit sediment.
30 August 2018 24
•- Hjulstrom curve is used to
determine whether a river will
erode, transport or deposit sediment.
•- Describe the x and y axes. Why do
you think the graph uses logarithmic
scale?
30 August 2018 25
•(x-axis shows particle size(mm), y-
axis represents mean flow velocity
(cm/sec). Both the x and y axes are
logarithmic in scale to accommodate
a wide range of data in one graph.)

30 August 2018 26
•Describe the upper and lower
curves.

30 August 2018 27
• (Upper curve shows the mean or critical erosion
velocity, which is the minimum velocity needed to
• erode particles of varying sizes from the streambed.
The region above the curve indicates erosion. Lower
curve shows the mean fall or settling velocity which is
the maximum velocity in which particles of different
sizes are deposited. The region below this curve
indicates deposition. Beyond this curve BUT below the
minimum erosion velocity, particles are transported
(the region between the two curves= transport)
30 August 2018 28
•Describe the general trend
of each curve

30 August 2018 29
30 August 2018 30
• (Upper curve: In general, the mean velocity to
erode a particle increases with particle size.
However, for the small end of grain size (~0.001-
0.03 mm), the velocity required for erosion
actually increases. Clay particles tend to have
planar structures and contain charged ions. Hence,
they stick together making them harder to erode.
Lower curve: As particle size increases, the
maximum velocity at which the river drops its
load increases).
30 August 2018 31
•What does the area between
the two curves represent?

30 August 2018 32
• Small particles are transported as
suspended load while larger
particles are transported as bed
load.

30 August 2018 33
What does the diagram
show about the settling
velocity for clays?

30 August 2018 34
• The diagram illustrates that within
the given range of stream
velocities, clays will remain
suspended. Clay deposition occurs
very slowly. The river should be
almost stationary (~0 cm/sec)
before clay settles down from
suspension.
30 August 2018 35
30 August 2018 36
30 August 2018 37
What do you think are the
weaknesses of the Hjulstrom
curve?

30 August 2018 38
• Some problems with Hjulstrom curve: a. depends
on average values. Velocity varies within the
channel, b. velocity is not the physically correct
variable for calculating whether a particle will
move—shear stress, which takes into account
depth and slope, is more important, c. does not
take into account the density and shape of the
grains, d. does not take into account turbulent
flows which are important for sediment movement
30 August 2018 39
• • Base level is the limit to how low the stream
can erode. In general, lowering the base level
leads to downward erosion. Raising it results
to deposition.
• • Deposition occurs when river loses energy
and can no longer transport such a large load.
With decrease in velocity and competence,
sediments start to settle out. River deposits are
sorted by particle size.
30 August 2018 40
30 August 2018 41
30 August 2018 42
 Erosional and depositional
landforms created by a stream
• • Erosional landforms: River valleys, Waterfalls,
Potholes, Terraces, Gulley/ rills, Meanders (exhibit both
erosional and depositional features), Oxbow lake,
Peneplane
• • Depositional landforms: Alluvial fans/cones, Natural
levees, Deltas
30 August 2018 43
•2. Ocean or sea waves
• a. Define wave. Identify the parameters by which a
wave is described.
• • Crest and Trough, Wave length (L), wave height
(H), steepness (H/L), period (T), velocity (C=L/T)
• • Waves are classified by the generation force:
wind-generated waves, tsunami, tides, seiches
(We’ll focus on wind-generated waves)
30 August 2018 44
30 August 2018 45
30 August 2018 46
Factors that influence the height, length, and period
of a wave and the motion of water within a wave.

• • Wind speed, Wind duration, Fetch (the distance the

wind has travelled across water)
• • Orbital motion of water in waves. In deep water, there
is little or no orbital motion at depths greater than half
the wavelength. As wave moves into shallower water, it
starts to ‘feel the bottom’ at a depth equal to the wave
base (D=L/2). C (velocity)↓, L ↓, H↑, T does not
change as wave moves into shallow water.
30 August 2018 47
How waves erode and move sediment along the
shore

• Shoreline erosion processes: Hydraulic

action, abrasion, corrosion
• • Transport by waves and currents:
Longshore current, beach drift

30 August 2018 48
30 August 2018 49
features created by wave erosion and
deposition

• • Erosional features: wave-cut cliff,

wave-cut platform, marine terrace,
headland, stacks and sea arches
• • Depositional features: beach, spit,
baymouth bar, tombolo, barrier island
30 August 2018 50
3. Glaciers
• • Glacier is defined as a moving body of ice on land
that moves downslope or outward from an area of
accumulation (Monroe et. al., 2007)
• • Types of glaciers:
• 1. Valley (alpine) glaciers are bounded by valleys and
tend to be long and narrow.

30 August 2018 51
30 August 2018 52
30 August 2018 53
3. Glaciers
• 2. Ice sheets (continental glaciers) cover large areas of
the land surface and unconfined by topography. Modern
ice sheets cover Antarctica and Greenland.
• 3. Ice shelves are sheets of ice floating on water and
attached to the
• land. They usually occupy coastal embayments.

30 August 2018 54
How glaciers are formed
• • Glaciers are formed in regions where
more snow falls than melts. Snow
accumulates then goes through
compaction and recrystallization to form
firm and eventually transforms into
glacial ice.
30 August 2018 55
• • Glaciers move to lower elevations by plastic
flow due to great stress on the ice at depth,
and basal slip facilitated by meltwater which
acts as lubricant between the glacier and the
surface over which it moves.
• • The velocity of a glacier is lowest next to the
base and where it is in contact with valley
walls; the velocity increases toward the top
center of the glacier.
30 August 2018 56
The processes and the features created from
glacial erosion.

•• Ice cannot erode the bedrock on its

own. Glaciers pick up rock
fragments and use them to abrade the
surfaces over which they pass.
30 August 2018 57
• • Processes responsible for glacial
erosion: Plucking (lifting pieces of
bedrock beneath the glacier) and
abrasion (grinding and scraping by
sediments already in the ice). Plucking is
responsible for creating roche
moutonnee. Abrasion yields glacial
polish and glacial striations
30 August 2018 58
• • Landforms created by valley glacier
erosion: cirque, tarn, arête, horn, hanging
valley, u-shaped valley, pater noster
lakes, fjord
• • Landforms created by continental
glaciers: roche moutonnee
30 August 2018 59
30 August 2018 60
30 August 2018 61
 Two types of deposits by glaciers
• • All glacial deposits are called glacial drift and
comprised of two types: (1) till, deposited directly
by ice, unsorted, and composed of many different
particle sizes; (2) stratified drift, deposited by the
glacial meltwater and thus has experienced the
sorting action of water. As its name suggests,
deposits are layered and exhibit some degree of
sorting.
30 August 2018 62
• • Moraines are ridges of till and classified
according to their position relative to the glacier:
lateral moraine (edge of valley glaciers), end
moraine (front orhead of glacier), ground moraine
(base of glacier), and medial moraine (middle).
Medial moraines form when lateral moraines join
as tributary glaciers come together. Other till
features are erratics and drumlins.
30 August 2018 63
•• Features associated with glacial
drift: kames(steep-sided hill of
stratified drift), eskers(deposited in
meltwater tunnels), kettle lakes
(depression formed from melting of
buried ice blocks), outwash plain.
30 August 2018 64
• • Deflation results to features such as blowout
and desert pavement. Abrasion yields
ventifacts and yardangs.
• • Wind, just like flowing water, can carry
sediments as: (1) bed load which consists of
sand hopping and bouncing through the process
of saltation, and (2)
30 August 2018 65
b. Identify features associated
with Aeolian (wind –related)
erosion and deposition.
Describe their characteristics
and the processes by which
they are formed.
30 August 2018 66
• • Features created by wind erosion: blowout
and desert pavement created by deflation,
ventifacts and yardangs resulting from abrasion
• • Two types of wind deposits: (1) dunes which
are hills or ridges of wind-blown sand, and (2)
loess which are extensive blankets of silt that
were once carried in suspension
30 August 2018 67
• • The size, shape, and arrangement of dunes are
controlled by factors such as sand supply, direction and
velocity of prevailing wind, and amount of vegetation.
There are six major kinds of dunes: barchan dunes,
transverse dunes, barchanoid dunes, longitudinal dunes,
parabolic dunes, star dunes.
• • Primary sources of sediments contributing to loess
deposits are deserts and glacial deposits.
30 August 2018 68
• 5. Groundwater
• a. Describe how groundwater erodes rock material.
• • The main erosional process associated with
groundwater is solution. Slowmoving groundwater
cannot erode rocks by mechanical processes, as a stream
does, but it can dissolve rocks and carry these off in
solution. Thisprocess is particularly effective in areas
underlain by soluble rocks, such as
• limestone, which readily undergoes solution in the
presence of acidic water.
30 August 2018 69
• • Rainwater reacts with carbon dioxide from
atmosphere and soil to form a
• solution of dilute carbonic acid. This acidic
water then percolates through
• fractures and bedding planes and slowly
dissolves the limestone by forming
• soluble calcium bicarbonate which is carried
away in solution.
30 August 2018 70
• b. Describe karst topography and its associated
landforms.
• • Karst topography is a distinctive type of
landscape which develops as a consequence of
subsurface solution. It consists an assemblage
of landforms that is most common in carbonate
rocks but also associated with soluble
• evaporate deposits.
30 August 2018 71
• Cave/Cavern – forms when circulating groundwater
at or below the water table dissolves carbonate rock
along interconnected fractures and bedding planes.
A common feature found in caverns is dripstone
which is deposited by the dripping of water
containing calcium carbonate.
• Dripstone features are collectively called
speleothems and include stalactites, stalagmites,
and columns
30 August 2018 72
• - Sinkholes (Dolines) – circular depressions which form
through dissolution of underlying soluble rocks or
collapse of a cave’s roof
• - Solution valleys – closed depressions which form from
coalescing sinkholes
• - Disappearing streams – surface streams that flows and
“disappears” into solution cavities and at other places
may re-emerge as a spring
• - Tower karst – tall, steep-sided hills created in highly
eroded karst regions;
30 August 2018 73
• 6. Gravity
• a. Define mass wasting and summarize the
factors that control mass wasting processes.
• • Mass wasting is the downslope movement of
soil, rock, and regolith under the direct
influence of gravity

30 August 2018 74
• • Factors that control mass wasting processes include:
• - Slope angle – as slope angle increases, the tendency to slide
down the slope becomes greater
• - Role of water: adds weight to the slope, has the ability to
change angle of repose, water pore pressure reduces shear
strength of materials, reduces friction on a sliding surface
• - Presence of clays that expand when wet and shrink when dry
• - Weak materials and structures that can become slippage
surfaces if weight is added or support is removed

30 August 2018 75
• Building a Model of the river system

30 August 2018 76
30 August 2018 77
30 August 2018 78