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ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE.LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL. CHRISTIAN VALUES

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Earth Science

Module 3
Lesson 2

TOPIC: Exogenic Processes (Erosion and Deposition)

INTRODUCTION:

Key Terms:
a. Erosion
b. Deposition
c. Abrasion
d. Alluvial fans
e. Oxbow lake
f. Glacier
g. Arete
h. Drumlin
i. Dune
j. Deflation
k. Ventifacts
l. Barrier island
m. Spit

INSTRUCTION:

 Weathering- the disintegration and decomposition of rock at or near the Earth surface.
 Erosion- the incorporation and transportation of material by a mobile agent such as water, wind, or ice.

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.
Point out that 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.

AGENTS OF EROSION

1. Running Water
 Running water encompass both overland flow and stream flow. Differentiate overland flow and
streamflow. Briefly describe how streamflow begins as moving sheet wash. (splash erosion-
>overland flow->rills->gulleys->stream)
 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
 How various properties of stream channel change from its headwaters to its mouth.
 From headwaters to mouth: Channel slope ↓, Channel roughness ↓, Discharge ↑, Channel
size↑, Flow velocity↓
 How streams erode their channels, transport, and deposit sediments.
 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)
 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.

2. Ocean or sea waves

 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)
 Factors that influence the height, length, and period of 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.
 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

 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

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
a. Valley (alpine) glaciers are bounded by valleys and tend to be long and narrow.
b. Ice sheets (continental glaciers) cover large areas of the land surface and unconfined
by topography. Modern ice sheets cover Antarctica and Greenland.
c. Ice shelves are sheets of ice floating on water and attached to the land. They usually
occupy coastal embayments
 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.
 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.

 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.
 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.
(Teacher may demonstrate glacial erosion by sticking double-sided tape on one side of a board
eraser, press down and push the eraser with tape side down along the length of a paper
sprinkled with a mixture of fine and coarse-grained sand. The particles are picked up and
pushed to a different location. This left indentations and parallel grooves on the paper)
 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
  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.
 Moraines are ridges of till and classified according to their position relative to the glacier:
lateral moraine (edge of valley glaciers), end moraine (front or head 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.
 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.

4. Wind
 Processes associated with erosion and transportation by wind:
 Wind erodes by: deflation (removal of loose, fine particles from the surface), and abrasion
(grinding action and sandblasting)
 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) suspended load (clay and silt-
sized particles held aloft).
 Features associated with Aeolian (wind –related) erosion and deposition:
 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
 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.

5. Groundwater

 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. This process is particularly effective in areas underlain by soluble
rocks, such as limestone, which readily undergoes solution in the presence of acidic water.
 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.

 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.
 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
 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;

6. Gravity
 Mass wasting is the downslope movement of soil, rock, and regolith under the direct influence of
gravity.
 Factors that control mass wasting processes include:
a. Slope angle – as slope angle increases, the tendency to slide down the slope becomes
greater
b. 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
c. Presence of clays that expand when wet and shrink when dry
d. Weak materials and structures that can become slippage surfaces if weight is added or
support is removed

EVALUATION:

 Have each student formulate three review questions that cover the content of the lesson. Break the class
into pairs and instruct the students that they will quiz their partners with the questions they have
prepared and discuss between them the answers. Each pair should submit their questions and
corresponding answers.

REFERENCES:

 http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teaching_materials/energy_and_processes/activity_2.html
 http://serc.carleton.edu/files/nagt/jge/abstracts/Lillquest_v50n5p583.pdf
 http://www.csuchico.edu/~abykerk-kauffman/courses/ nsci342/1101packet/S11%20NSCI
%20342%20Packet%20Part%20B.pdf
 https://www.gvsu.edu/cms4/asset/DE36066F-E528- CF94-8F079306A8293D59/take_a_tumble.pdf
 http://web.crc.losrios.edu/~jacksoh/lectures/rivers.html
 http://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/eens1110/index.html#Lecture %20Notes
 http://www.geographynotes.com/geomorphology/the-fluviallandforms-and-cycle-of-erosion/757
 http://ijolite.geology.uiuc.edu/07FallClass/geo101/101%20Lectures/ 101_L37_GlaF07.html
 https://geogondotnet.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/lessonmv.pptx