EXOGENIC PROCESS

- These are an external process that takes place at or near the Earth’s surface.
- It includes the degradation and aggradation processes.

Types of Exogenic Process

 WEATHERING
- It is the process of disintegration (physical) and decomposition (chemical) of rocks; breaking down rocks into
smaller particles.
- Is the general term applied to the combined action of all processes that cause rock to disintegrate physically
and decompose chemically because of exposure near the Earth’s surface through the elements of “weather”
such as temperature, rainfall, frost, fog and ice.
- It may be the physical breakdown and/or chemical alteration of rocks at or near the Earth’s surface.
- It is the action of elements of weather and climate over earth material.
- Weathering describes the breaking down or dissolving of rocks and minerals on the surface of the Earth.
- It is a degradation process and does not involve movement of materials.
- Weathering can be physical, chemical, or biological
Types of Weathering
1. Physical Weathering – happens whenever rocks are broken up into smaller fragments without any chemical
change in its composition.
- The term “mechanical weathering” is also used for physical weathering.
- Breakdown would mean that the rock is fractured, cracked or fragmented into smaller pieces.
- also known as mechanical weathering, involves the physical breakdown of rocks into smaller fragments
without any change in their chemical composition.
Types of Physical Weathering
a. Frost Wedging - is the process by which water seeps into cracks in a rock, expands on freezing, and thus
enlarges the cracks
- Water seeps into cracks and crevices in rocks and freezes, expanding as it turns into ice. The expansion
exerts pressure on the surrounding rock, causing it to crack and fragment.
b. Thermal Expansion – changes in temperature can cause rocks to expand and contract, leading to stress
and eventual fracturing.
c. Abrasion - the physical process of rubbing, scouring, or scraping whereby particles of rock (usually
microscopic) are eroded away by friction.
- Occurs when rocks are broken down by forces like wind and water.
- Rocks can undergo abrasion when they rub against each other due to the movement of water, wind, or
glaciers. This mechanical action gradually breaks down the rocks into smaller pieces.
d. Exfoliation - a process in which large flat or curved sheets of rock fracture and are detached from the
outcrop due to pressure release
- is a form of mechanical weathering in which curved plates of rock are stripped from rock below.
- This results because of the intense heating of the rock’s outer layers. Since rocks are poor conductors
of heat, the inner layers remain almost un affected by heat. Due to successive expansion and
contraction, the outer layers of the rock subsequently peel off from the main mass of the rock in the
form of concentric shell.
2. Chemical Weathering - involves the breakdown of rocks through chemical reactions, leading to changes in
their mineral composition.
- A key factor in the creation of caves and caverns. It can also hollow out caves and damage cliffs.
Types of Chemical Weathering
a. Dissolution - This process occurs when water comes into contact with rocks and dissolves the minerals
that make up that rock into individual elements.
- Water, especially when acidic, can dissolve minerals within rocks, leading to their gradual
disintegration.
b. Carbonation - mixing of water with carbon dioxide to make carbonic acid.
- Process where Carbon Dioxide may bond with other substances.
- A mixture of water and carbon dioxide is called carbonic acid.
- This type of weathering is important in the formation of caves.
c. Hydrolysis - the breakdown of rock by acidic water to produce clay and soluble salts.
- The process by which water is absorbed by the minerals of the rocks. Due to the absorption of water by
the rock, its volume increases and the grains lose their shape.
 - breakdown of rock caused by its reaction with water
d. Oxidation – breakdown of rock by oxygen and water, often giving iron-rich rocks a rusty-colored
weathered surface.
- occurs when oxygen combines with another substance and creates compounds called oxides.
- Iron, aluminum, copper, and sodium are examples of minerals that readily react with oxygen which
then form mineral oxides
- Oxidation is also known as rusting.
- It is the process whereby the rock minerals lose one or more ions or atoms in the presence of oxygen.
When minerals in the rock oxidize, they become less resistant to weathering. Oxygen combines with
other substances via the oxidation process giving rise to the ion or atom lose.
For instance, iron metal rusts because its ions change from one form to another by losing one electron. It
becomes red or rust colored when oxidized. In a similar manner, iron-bearing minerals in rocks go
through such a process by losing ions that alter its structure and size from one form to another. The
wearing away of the rocks is thus sped up by oxidation/rusting as the resultant oxides are weaker than
the original materials. Change of rock color is a prime example of rock disintegration by oxidation.
- 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.
3. Biological Weathering - is the weakening and subsequent disintegration of rock by plants, microbes, and
animals.
- Activities of plants, animals, and organisms such as tree roots growing in rock crevices or burrowing animals
can accelerate the physical breakdown of rocks.
Agents of Biological Weathering
 Animals
 Plants
 Microorganisms
 Humans
a. Plants contribute to both mechanical and chemical weathering. The roots of the plants penetrate into
the joints of the rocks. They grow longer and thicker. In this manner they exert pressure on rocks and
the rock joints are thereby enlarged and break into smaller fragments.
b. Burrowing animals like earthworms, rats, rabbits, termites and ants breakdown the rocks. These
disintegrated rocks can easily be eroded or removed by wind etc. Hooves of animals break the soil and
thus assist soil erosion. The role of earthworms and termites is of special significance. According to
scientists, there is a possibility of occurrence about 150 000 earthworms in an acre and they can convert
10 to 15 tons of rock mass into good soil and bring it to the surface.
c. Human beings play a very important role in weathering of various rocks. Man breaks a large amount of
rocks in the course of his activities, like agriculture, construction of houses, and construction of roads,
among others. He quarries for mining minerals, thus helps in weathering by breaking, weakening and
loosening the rocks.

 MASS WASTING
- is the movement of rock, soil, and regolith downward due to the action of gravity.
- refers to the downslope movement of rock and soil under the influence of gravity. This is a result of Earth’s
surface not being flat but instead consisting of slopes.
- is a natural process and is considered a natural hazard. These process become natural disasters when it leads to
loss of life and property.
1. Fall - is the free-fall movement of detached individual pieces of rock.
2. Slide - occurs whenever rock materials remain fairly coherent and move along a well-defined surface.
3. Flow - happens when rock materials are saturated with water and move downslope as a viscous fluid.

FALL SLIDE FLOW

 Rock Fall - the abrupt movement  Landslide - is the movement of  Mudflow (Lahar) - is a form of
and free fall of loosened blocks rock, debris or earth down a mass wasting involving "very
of solid rock slope. rapid to extremely rapid surging
 Slump - is a form of mass flow" of debris that has become
 wasting that occurs when a partially or fully liquified by the
coherent mass of loosely addition of significant amounts
consolidated materials or rock of water to the source material.
layers moves a short distance  Debris flow is a moving mass of
down a slope. Movement is loose mud, sand, soil, rock,
characterized by sliding along a water and air that travels down a
concave-upward or planar slope under the influence of
surface. gravity.
 Earthflow - usually starts as
slump. An earthflow (earth flow)
is a downslope viscous flow of
fine- grained materials that have
been saturated with water and
moves under the pull of gravity.
It is an intermediate type of mass
wasting that is between downhill
creep and mudflow.
 Solifluction - the gradual
movement of wet soil or other
material down a slope, especially
where frozen subsoil acts as a
barrier to the percolation of
water.
 Creep - is a very slow mass
movement that goes on for years
or even centuries. You can't see
creep happening but leaning
fences and poles and broken
retaining walls show where it has
taken place. Some hills are
covered with long narrow steps
called terracettes. Terracettes
are built by soil creep.

 EROSION - is the separation and removal of weathered rocks due to different agents like water, wind, and ice
that causes transportation of the minerals to where they’re deposited.
- transforming materials (sediments) from place to place by its agents
- forces: water, wind, ice
- opposite of deposition
Agents of Erosion
 Water: primary agent of erosion
 Wind: carries dust, sand, and ash from one place to another
 Ice: mostly in the form of glacier

1. Erosion by Water
Types of Water Erosion
 Splash Rrosion - happens when the parameters, velocity, and the size of raindrops hits the soil which
cause the detachment or movement of the soil from its place
 Sheet Erosion – is the uniform removal of soil in thin layers, and it occurs when soil particles are carried
evenly over the soil surface by rainwater that does not infiltrate into the ground.
- Happens when water moves as sheets taking away thin layers of soil.
- Such type of erosion is most common along the riverbeds and areas affected by floods.
- In the long run, the soil is completely exhausted due to removal of topsoil and becomes infertile.
 Gully Erosion - Happens when water moves as a channel down the slope and it scoops out the soil and
forms gullies which gradually multiply and in the long run spread over a wide area.
- The land being dissected is called bad lands or ravines.
 - It is the removal of soil along drainage lines by surface water runoff.
 Bank Erosion - the wearing away of the banks of a stream or river.
- is the wearing away of slopes and banks along dynamic waterways like rivers and streams.
 Valley Erosion - is the process in which rushing streams and rivers wear away their banks, creating
larger and larger valleys.
 Coastal Erosion - is the loss of land along the shoreline due to the natural removal of beach and dune
material in response to changing wave and water level conditions.
- is the process by which local sea level rise, strong wave action, and coastal flooding wear down or
carry away rocks, soils, and/or sands along the coast.
 Seaside Cliff Erosion – the erosion happens when the lower part of the cliff are being worn out by the
waves where they meet meanwhile the upper part will collapse because it no longer has support below
2. Erosion by Wind
- carries dust, sand, and volcanic ash from one place to another; polishes rocks and cliffs.
- most common in desserts and beaches.
- affected by land condition
- causes sand dunes and ventifacts
- can be damaging
- 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.
- Wind can create sandstorms that contain dust particles and deposit them in wide areas.

3. Erosion by Ice
- can erode the land. In frigid areas and on some mountaintops, glaciers move slowly downhill and across the
land. As they move, they pick up everything in their path, from tiny grains of sand to huge boulders.
- glaciers cause erosion in two main ways:
 Plucking: fractured bedrocks are incorporated into the ice. It is the process by which rocks and other
sediments are picked up by a glacier. They freeze to the bottom of the glacier and are carried away by
the flowing ice
 Abrasion: happens when ice and its load of rock fragments slide over a bedrock. It is the process in
which a glacier scrapes underlying rock. The sediments and rocks frozen in the ice at the bottom and
sides of a glacier act like sandpaper. They wear away rock. They may also leave scratches and grooves
that show the direction the glacier moved. These grooves are called glacial striations.

- involves the removal and transport of bedrock or sediment

1. Quarrying or also known as plucking, involves two separate processes: the fracturing or crushing of
bedrock beneath the glacier, and the entrainment of this fractured or crushed rock. Fracturing of
bedrock takes place when a glacier flowing over bedrock creates pressure differences in the underlying
rock, causing stress fields that may be sufficient to induce rock fracture. Fluctuations in basal water
pressure may help to propagate bedrock fractures beneath a glacier. Evacuation of rock fragments or
sediment is possible where localized basal freezing occurs, where the tractive force is sufficient to
entrain individual clasts, or where debris is elevated along thrusts.
2. Abrasion is achieved by bodies of subglacial sediment sliding over bedrock or by individual clasts
contained within the ice. The progressive breakdown of material in traction provides a mechanism for
the continued replenishment of debris that can carry out erosion beneath ice-masses, even where they
flow across hard rocks of uniform lithology. Thus, glacial erosion is most efficient beneath temperate
ice. Although cold glaciers may achieve limited amounts of erosion, the release of melt water to
lubricate basal sliding beneath temperate ice is a prerequisite for widespread and efficient quarrying
and abrasion.