Weathering

 Weathering is the breaking down or dissolving of rocks and minerals on Earths surface. Once a
rock has been broken down, a process called erosion transports the bits of rock and minerals
away. Water, acids, salt, plants, animals, and changes in temperature are all agents of
weathering and erosion.
 Physical Weathering - also known as “Mechanical Weathering”, disintegrates rocks, breaking
smaller fragments from larger block or outcrop of rock.
 Unloading - overlying materials are removed. The underlying rocks, released from overlying
pressure, can then expand. As the rock surface expands, it becomes vulnerable to fracturing in a
process called sheeting. This type of weathering takes place when the cracks develop parallel to
the land surface. As a result, a consequence of the reduction in pressure takes place during uplift
and erosion. In exfoliation, rock breaks apart in layers that are parallel to the Earth’s surface.
Exfoliation is common in plutonic igneous rocks since they are exposed to great pressure.
 Freeze-Thaw Weathering or Frost Wedging - Frost Wedging occurs when water seeps into
cracks of the rocks, freezes and expands, gradually breaking the rock apart into pieces. This
expansion leads to the cracking of the rocks from inside and eventually breaks them apart. The
freeze-thaw cycle happens repeatedly and finally breaks the rock, and hence it is called Freeze-
thaw weathering.
 Thermal Expansion - Heating and cooling of rocks repeatedly result in the expansion and
contraction of the rock. When rock is exposed to high temperatures, it expands and as the
temperatures cool, it contracts. This continual expansion and contraction cause the rocks to
weaken and eventually break into pieces. Thermal expansion weathering is similar to Freeze-
Thaw weathering.
 Abrasion Weathering - When a rock collides with one another, grinding of rock fragments takes
place, and the rock is broken into pieces. Abrasion cuts them into smaller particles. Gravity
causes abrasion when the rocks tumble down a mountainside and hit another rock, and break
into the fragment. Moving water causes abrasion as particles in the water collide and bump
against one another. High-speed winds which carry pieces of sand have the capacity to break the
rock when they sandblast on the surface of the rock. Abrasion makes rocks with sharp or jagged
edges round-shaped and smooth.

 Salt Weathering or Haloclasty (Salt Crystal Growth) - Salt Weathering or Haloclasty is the
process by which saline solutions enter the cracks in a rock and evaporate, leaving behind salt
crystals. When the temperatures rise, the accumulated salt crystals get heated and start to
expand and release pressure on the rock, causing it to break.
 Hydration - it is where water molecules attach to the crystalline structure of a mineral without
causing a permanent change in that mineral’s composition.
 Chemical Weathering - ions from a rock are either released into water or recombine with other
substances to form new materials, such as clay minerals. The most important catalysts and
reactive agents of chemical weathering are: water, oxygen, and carbon dioxide.
 Oxidation - the chemical union of oxygen atoms with another substance to create new product.
 Solution - a chemical reaction causes mineral-forming ions to dissociate and the separated ions
are carried away in the water.
 Carbonation - involves carbon dioxide and water molecules reacting with, and thereby
decomposing, rock material.
 Hydrolysis - water molecules alone, rather than oxygen and carbon dioxide, react with chemical
components of rock-forming minerals to create new compounds.
 Biological weathering - occurs when plants or animals or any living organisms break rocks.

Variability in Weathering
1. Climate Factors - easily breaks down rocks; hot and cold.
2. Size of Rock- affects how fast it weathers, smaller rocks dissolves faster.
3. Exposure - rate where rock is exposed greater to the rain, sun, and temperature.
4. Mineral Composition - the presence of acid rain makes the rock dissolves, but depends on the
minerals present in the rock.
Mass Wasting
The downslope movement of material moved by the pull of gravity is known as mass
wasting. Surface processes and tectonic activity can make Earth’s slopes unstable. Mass
wasting can be rapid or imperceptibly slow. Does not require transporting medium (water,
ice, wind)
 Landslides - are the downward and outward movement of slopes composed of natural
rock, soils, artificial fills, or combinations thereof.
 Rockfalls - are the fastest type of landslide and occur most frequently in mountains or
other steep areas during early spring when there is abundant moisture and repeated
freezing and thawing.
Factors that Influences Mass Wasting
 Mass wasting is driven primarily by gravity.
 Steepness of slope
Generally speaking, the steeper the slope, the less stable it is. Therefore, steep slopes
are more likely to experience mass wasting than gentle ones.
 Water content of slope material
Large quantities of water from melting snow or heavy storms greatly increase the
likelihood of slope failure. The additional weight that water adds to a slope can be
enough to cause mass movement. Furthermore, water percolating through a slope's
material helps to decrease friction between grains, contributing to a loss of cohesion.
For example, slopes composed of dry clay are usually quite stable, but when wet, they
can quickly lose cohesiveness and internal friction and become an unstable slurry.
 Amount of vegetation on the slope
By absorbing the water from a rainstorm, vegetation decreases water saturation of a
slope's material and the resultant loss of shear strength that frequently leads to mass
wasting. In addition, the root system of vegetation helps to stabilize a slope by binding
soil particles together and holding the soil to bedrock.
 Natural or artificial controls of slope stability
 Cohesion
• A rock’s resistance to sliding
 Oversteepening
 Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Other
Triggering Mechanisms
Three Mass Wasting Mechanisms
 Fall -when material is detached from precipitous slopes and free-falls to the ground.
Generally characterized by rapid or extremely rapid rate of movement with the descent
of material characterized by a freefall period. Falls are commonly triggered by
earthquakes or erosion processes.
 Slide - when material moves as coherent mass on well-defined basal surface.
A rock or block glide occurs when rocks move downslope along a more or less
planar surface. Most rock glides occur because the local slopes and rock layers dip in the
same direction, although they can also occur along fractures parallel to a slope.
A slump involves the downward movement of material along a curved surface of
rupture and is characterized by the backward rotation of the slump block. Slumps occur
most commonly in unconsolidated or weakly consolidated material and range in size from a
small individual sets, such as occur along stream banks, to massive, multiple sets that affect
large areas and cause considerable damage.

 Flow - when materials move downslope like viscous fluids

 Plate tectonics are responsible for uplift and mountain building that creates and
maintains slopes.
 Mass wasting is most common in tectonically active regions.
 Plate movement causes earthquakes that can trigger landslides and cause sediment to
lose its strength through liquefaction.
 Plate boundaries are often associated with volcanoes.
 Eruptions can produce mudflows, lahars, and landslides.

Tectonic Forces
 Stresses. Three kinds of stress can be applied to rocks: tensional, compressive, and
shear. Tensional stress occurs when a rock is subjected to forces that tend to elongate
it or pull it apart; a rock that has experienced tensional stress tends to be narrower and
longer than its original shape, like a piece of gum or taffy that has been pulled. A
compressive stress on a rock is applied from opposite sides and has a tendency to
shorten (compress) the rock between the opposing stresses, which may also stretch it
parallel to the stress‐free direction. A shear stress results when forces from opposite
directions create a shear plane in an area in which the forces run parallel to one
another. The scale of shear stress can vary from a few centimeters to hundreds of
meters.

 Strains. When subjected to stress, a rock can undergo one of three kinds of
deformation (strain): elastic, brittle, or plastic. Deformation is called elastic strain if the
body of rock returns to its previous shape after the stress has been removed. A good
example is the slow rebound of the North American crust after having been
downwarped by the great weight of the Pleistocene glaciers. Brittle strain occurs when
the stress is great enough to break (fracture) the rock. Plastic strain results in a
permanent change in the shape of the rock. A ductile rock is one that “flows plastically”
in response to stress. Whether the strain is plastic or brittle depends on both the
magnitude of the stress and how quickly the stress is applied. A great stress that is
slowly applied often folds rocks into tight, convoluted patterns without breaking them.

 Tectonic forces, which not only move lithospheric plates, but also cause of bending,
wrapping, folding, tilting and fracturing of Earth's crust at various scale.
 Diastrophism - the process of movement and deformation of the earth's crust that
gives rise to large-scale features such as continents, ocean basins, and mountains.
 Sedimentary rocks are particularly useful for identifying tectonic deformation because
most are originally horizontal
 STRIKE - is the compass direction of the line that forms at the intersection of tilted rock
layer and a horizontal plane.
 DIP is always measured at right angles to the strike and in degrees of angle from the
horizontal.
 Compressional Tectonic Forces * Push crustal rocks together
 Tensional Tectonic Forces * Pull parts of the crust away from each other.
 Shearing Tectonic Forces * Slide part of Earth's crust past each other.
 Arch or anticline - the upward folding of rock (characterized by beds that dip down away from a
central acid or ridge. The beds at the core are considered oldest and the outmost part are the
youngest.
 Trough or syncline - downward fold that exhibits beds that dip toward the central acid. Oldest
beds found at the flanks of the eroded synclines.
Types of Folds according to orientation of the limbs:
1. Symmetrical - the angle of inclination of both limbs are the same
2. Asymmetrical - the angle of inclination of one limb is greater than the other
3. Overturned - tipped in one direction so that of the limbs is overturned
4. Recumbent - lying on its side

Faulting - is the slippage or displacement of rocks along a fracture surface.

a. Reverse fault - the steep, high-angle fault resulting from compressional force
b. Thrust fault - low angle fault overrides rocks on the other side of the fault.

 Graben - (down dropped fault) block the slid downward between two nowmal faults, or that
remained in place while blocks on either side slip upward along fault.
 Horst - ( upthrown fault) a fault block that moved relatively upward between two normal faults -
that is actually moved up or it remained in place while adjacent blocks slid downward.
 Rift valleys- which are long but relatively narrow zones of crust down dropped between normal
faults.
 Dip-slip fault - movement of up or down along the dip of the fault plane extending into
Earth
 Strike-slip fault - the direction of slippage is parallel to the surface trace or strike, of the
fault

Rock Structures
1. Deformation of Earth’s crust is well documented in historical times by earthquakes along faults, by
raised beach terraces, and by deformed rock bodies.
2. Rocks deform when applied stress exceeds their strength. They may deform by ductile flow or
brittle fracture. Extensional stress causes rocks to stretch and thin. Contractional stress causes rocks
to shorten and thicken.
3. Joints are fractures in rocks along which there is no horizontal or vertical displacement.
4. Faults are fractures, along which slippage or displacement has occurred. The three basic types are
(a) reverse faults - Faults in which the hanging wall has moved up and over the footwall are reverse
faults
(b) thrust faults - are low-angle reverse faults and dip at angles less than 45°. Movement on a thrust
fault is predominantly horizontal, and displacement can be more than 50 km. Thrust faults result from
horizontal compression with the maximum stress perpendicular to the trend of the fault
(c) strike-slip faults - Strike-slip faults are high-angle fractures in which slip is horizontal, parallel to
the strike of the fault plane. Ideally, there is little or no vertical movement, so high cliffs do not usually
form along strike-slip faults.
5. Folds in rock strata range in size from microscopic wrinkles to large structures hundreds of
kilometers long. The major types of folds are (a) domes and basins
6. Domes (upwarded) and Basins (downwarded). In contrast to fold belts at convergent margins, the
sedimentary rocks covering much of the continental interiors have been only gently warped into
broad domes and basins many kilometers in diameter.
7. Fold Belts. Where contraction is intense (typically in orogenic belts at convergent plate
boundaries), the rock layers are deformed into a series of tight folds in a long linear belt. The internal
geometry of many fold belts is not exceedingly complex. In many ways, the folds resemble the
wrinkles in a rug.
8. An anticline, in its simplest form, is up-arched strata, with the two limbs (sides) of the fold dipping
away from the crest. Rocks in an eroded anticline are progressively older toward the interior of the
fold
9. Synclines, in their simplest form, are downfolds, or troughs, with the limbs dipping toward the
center. Rocks in an eroded syncline are progressively younger toward the center of the fold.
10. Monoclines are folds that have only one limb; horizontal or gently dipping beds are modified by
simple steplike bends.
Earthquakes
 Earthquakes are earth motions that occur when tectonic stress builds up and is released by the
abrupt movement of rocks along a fault. An earthquake is a sudden movement of rock materials
beneath the earth's surface that causes the ground to shake violently or weakly.
 The subsurface location where rock displacement and the resulting earthquake originate is the
earthquake focus, which maybe located anywhere from near the surface to a depth of 700
kilometers (435 mi). The earthquake epicenter is the point on Erarh’s surface lies directly above
the focus, and it is where the strongest shock normally felt.
 Earthquake magnitude is a numeric scale developed by Charles F. Richer in 1935
 Its goal is to show the magnitude of earthquakes
as measured by sensitive sensors called seismographs,
which measure ground tremor.
 Remember that magnitude is expressed in whole numbers
decimal fractions

 Earthquake intensity expresses the damage caused by an earthquake and the degree of its
impact on people and their property. And is described by the modified Mercalli Scale. ; Effects on
people, human buildings, and the environment are used to determine intensity.

 Convergent Plate Boundary - Lithospheric plate boundary that are convergent are those where
the plates are moving in the same direction. These regions' plate clashes have the potential to
cause earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and crustal deformation. Including here also the Mariana
Trench.
 Divergent Plate Boundary - when two tectonic plates move away from each other, divergent
boundary occur. An example is the Mid Atlantic Ridge
 The transform fault, a third type of plate boundary, allows plates to flow past one another
without creating or destroying crust.  Due to the lack of crust formation or destruction during
plate collision, these limits are conservative. The horizontal direction along the fault surface
must correspond with the direction of plate motion since the only movement along these faults
is the sliding past each other of plates.


Plate Tectonics
 Plate Tectonics - a theory explaining the structure of the earth's crust and many associated
phenomena as resulting from the interaction of rigid lithospheric plates which move slowly over
the underlying mantle.
 Catasthrophism - crust splits or open violently and creates land forms from those violent
movement.
 Uniformitarianism - an idea that the Earth has always changed in uniform ways.
 Continental Drift Theory - proposed by Alfred Wegener ( German climatologist ), it is the idea
that continents and other landmasses have shifted their positions during Earth history.
 Pangaea - single supercontinent
 Gondwana/ Gonwanaland - the southern hemisphere which consists of South America, Africa,
Australia, Antarctica, and India.
 Laurasia - the northern hemisphere which consists of North America, Europe, and Asia.
 1’’ to 6” - growth of continents per year
 Paleomagnetism - iron bearing minerals in rock recorded the magnetic field of Earth as it existed
when the rock solidified.
 Seafloor spreading - new oceanic crust forms along the mid-oceanic ridges, where basaltic rocks
are youngest, and that the oceanic crust moves slowly in opposite directions away from the axis
of the ridge.
 Polarity reversals - when the north and south magnetic poles switch location.
 Subduction - When tectonic plates converge, one plate slides beneath the other plate, or
subducts, descending into the Earth's mantle.
 The theory of Tectonic Plates - is the modern theory that explains seafloor spreading,
subduction, and the movement of lithospheric plates.
 Plate Divergence / Divergent Plate - This is where two plates move away from each other. This
is the pulling apart of plates, as occurs with the seafloor spreading.
 Plate Convergence / Convergent Plate - this occurs when plates move towards each other and
collide. The types are ocean-ocean, ocean-continent, and continent-continent.
1) At an oceanic-oceanic convergent boundary, one of the plates (oceanic crust and lithospheric
mantle) is pushed, or subducted, under the other.
2) At an oceanic-continental convergent boundary, the denser oceanic plate is pushed under the
less dense continental plate in the same manner as at an ocean-ocean boundary.
3) A continental-continental collision occurs when a continent or large island that has been moved
along with subducting oceanic crust collides with another continent

 Transform Movement / Transform Plate - the tectonic plates slide horizontally past each other.

***clues when answering:

 If tinanong ka kung anong tectonic plate movement, the answers should be: Plate
Divergence, Plate Convergence, and Transform Movement.

 If tinanong ka naman kung anong type of tectonic plate boundary, the answers should be:
Divergent Plate boundary, Convergent Plate boundary, and Transform Plate Boundary

Continental Growth
 Fossils offer some of the most reliable evidence about movement of continents.
 Pangaea - Scientific evidence shows that all continents were once united in a super continent.
 Pangaea broke into two landmasses namely the Laurasia in the North and the Gondwana in the
South.
 Paleogeography - the study of past geographic environments
 Continental Growth - Continental growth curves depict how the volume of continental crust
has changed with time. They therefore reflect the balance between the generation and
destruction of crust at different times in Earth's history.
 accretion- adding numerous chunks of crust to the main continent by collision. It is normally
caused by the subduction of oceanic plates beneath a continental plate, on which arcs are
generated with forearc accretionary complexes.
 Sources of growth material are:
1. deep-sea sediments - A thick layer of sediments accumulates on the bottom of the
planetary ocean. It consist of dead organisms, debris carried from the surface of the
continents by major rivers, or loose material carried by air currents from continents (dust
particles, volcanic ashes, etc.)
2. igneous rocks - Volcanoes bring to the surface huge amounts of new material which is
deposited on the continents.
3. river sediments - All rivers carry debris that is eroded along their course. This material is
deposited along the banks, if the slope of the terrain is very small or horizontal. Some
rivers form a delta at their mouth. A good example is Mississippi River, which builds new
land rapidly, filling the Gulf of Mexico.
4. Terranes - A terrane is a large block of a lithosphere plate that has been moved, often
over distances of thousands of kilometers and attached to the edge of a continent.
***Terranes are
-bounded on all sides by major faults
-the rocks and fossils do not match with the neighboring land masses
- All these show that a terrane formed elsewhere and was attached to another land mass
- They play a key role in mountain building as they collide with continental margins

Issues and Ways of Conserving Minerals

 A mineral is a natural substance with distinctive chemical and physical properties, composition,
and atomic structure.
 The definition of an economic mineral is broader, and includes minerals, metals, rocks and
hydrocarbons (solid and liquid) that are extracted from the earth by mining, quarrying and
pumping. Economic minerals are used in a wide range of applications related to construction,
manufacturing, agriculture and energy supply.

Economic minerals include:

 Energy minerals used to produce electricity, fuel for transportation, heating for homes and
offices and in the manufacture of plastics. Energy minerals include coal, oil, natural gas and
uranium.
 Metals such as iron (as steel) is used in cars or for frames of buildings, copper is used in electrical
wiring, lithium in rechargeable batteries, and aluminium in aircraft and to make drink cans.
Precious metals are used in jewellery and mobile phones.
 Construction minerals including sand and gravel, brick clay and crushed rock aggregates used to
manufacture concrete, bricks and pipes and in building houses and roads.
 Industrial minerals, otherwise known as non–metallic minerals, used in a range of industrial
applications including the manufacture of chemicals, glass, fertilisers and fillers in
pharmaceuticals, plastics and paper. Industrial minerals include salt, clays, graphite, limestone,
silica sand, phosphate rock, talc and mica.

 Mining - extracts useful materials from the earth. Although mining provides many valuable
minerals, it can also harm people and the environment.

There are four main mining methods: underground, open surface (pit), placer, and in-situ mining.

1. Underground mines are more expensive and are often used to reach deeper deposits.
2. Surface mines (open pit/open cast) are typically used for more shallow and less valuable
deposits.
3. Shaft mining - more costly because it’s more capital intensive. Coal companies, for example have
to drill more expensive and complicate machines.
***The method used depends on the type of mineral resource that is mined, its location at or
beneath the surface, and whether the resource is worth enough money to justify extracting it. Each
mining method also has varying degrees of impact on the surrounding landscape and environment.

 Issues of Minerals
Acid Mine Drainage
Acid mine drainage forms when the mineral pyrite reacts with air and water to form sulfuric acid.
Problems associated with mine drainage include contaminated drinking water, disrupted growth and
reproduction of aquatic plants and animals, and the corroding effects of the acid on parts of
infrastructure such as bridges.

Arsenic Groundwater Contamination

Arsenic can contaminate groundwater when arsenic-laden minerals dissolve over time, releasing their
arsenic into groundwater, but arsenic contamination is more often caused by industrial runoff waste
containing arsenic. Arsenic is tasteless and odorless, making it undetectable unless ground and well
water is specifically tested for arsenic. "Science Daily" reports that more than 100 million people
worldwide are exposed to toxic levels of arsenic in their drinking water, which can cause diabetes and
several forms of cancer even in low concentrations.

Asbestos Contamination
Asbestos fibers occur naturally in certain rock formations, and these fibers can easily be inhaled,
causing health probelms that include lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis, a condition that
scars lung tissue, making it difficult for oxygen to enter the bloodstream. The U.S. Consumer Product
Safety Commission's regulations in the mid-1970s began phasing asbestos out of most building
materials and consumer products, but the mineral still remains in older buildings and some job sites.
Plumbers, electricians, and firefighters are at increased risk of asbestos exposure compared to
workers in other occupations because of asbestos's former prevalence in plumbing, electrical
components, and building materials.

Coal Burning
The Union of Concerned Scientists reports that in one year a typical coal-burning power plant
generates 500 tons of particulate matter that can exacerbate asthma and cause bronchitis, 720 tons
of carbon monoxide, and 3.7 million tons of carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas primarily responsible
for global warming. Coal-burning plants also contribute to environmental hazards, including smog and
acid rain. "Discovery News" indicates that thousands of underground coal fires worldwide blaze in a
perpetual conflagration. These fires start near the surface, then burn unchecked throughout mines
and even though these infernos rage underground, they still release carbon dioxide and mercury into
the atmosphere.

Soil Erosion - Has led to increased pollution and sedimentation in streams and rivers, clogging these
waterways and causing declines in fish and other species.

Richness or Grade of the Ore - the abundance or otherwise the absence of minerals determines in a
large measure their commercial exploitation

Boost in royalties, taxes and charges paid by companies to government - These revenues are then
returned to local people in the form of services such as school and hospitals, infrastructure, and
policing.

Stage of Industrial Development - It is the general index of the exploitation of mineral wealth.
 Minerals can be conserved in the following ways:
 Reduce wastage in the process of mining.
 Recycling of metals using scrap metals.
 Use of alternative renewable substitutes.
 Use of mineral resources in a planned and sustainable manner.
 Use of improved technologies to allow the use of low-grade ores at low costs.