GEOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS

MODULE 1

EARTH’S PROCESSES

During geologic spans of time, Earth's shifting tectonic plates, atmosphere, freezing water, thawing ice,
flowing rivers, and evolving life have shaped Earth's surface features. The resulting hills, mountains, valleys, and
plains shelter ecosystems that interact with all life and provide a record of Earth’s surface processes that extend
back through Earth's history.

2 TYPES OF EARTH PROCESSES

1. EXOGENOUS PROCESS – In geology, exogenous refers to all the processes that are produced at the
surface of the Earth (and other planets).
A. WEATHERING – when nature breaks rocks and soil down into smaller particles, or changes the actual
composition of the landscape.
i. PHYSICAL WEATHERING – is caused by the effects of changing temperature on rocks, causing
the rock to break apart. The process is sometimes assisted by water.
a. FREEZE-THAW – occurs when water continually seeps into cracks, freezes, and expands,
eventually breaking the rock apart. It occurs in mountainous regions like the Alps or
Snowdonia.
b. EXFOLIATION – occurs as cracks develop parallel to the land surface due to reduced
pressure during uplift and erosion. Typically occurs in upland areas where there are
exposures of uniform coarsely crystalline igneous rocks.
ii. CHEMICAL WEATHERING - is caused by rainwater reacting with the mineral grains in rocks to
form new minerals (clays) and soluble salts. These reactions occur particularly when the water is
slightly acidic.
a. SOLUTION – Removal of rock in solution by acidic rainwater. In particular, limestone is
weathered by rainwater containing dissolved CO2, (this process is sometimes called
carbonation).
• CARBONATION – Carbon dioxide in the air dissolves in rainwater and becomes
weakly acidic.
• ACID RAIN – polluting gases, like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide dissolve in
rainwater to make stronger acids. When this rainwater falls, we get acid rain. This
acid attacks many rock types, both by solution and hydrolysis, seriously damaging
buildings and monuments.
b. HYDROLYSIS – takes place when acid rain reacts with rock-forming minerals such as
feldspar to produce clay and salts that are removed in solution.
The only common rock-forming mineral that is not affected is quartz, which is a
chemically resistant mineral. This is why quartz and clay are the two of the most common
minerals in sedimentary rocks.

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c. OXIDATION – the breakdown of rock by oxygen and water, often giving iron-rich rocks a
rusty-colored weathered surface.
• SPHEROIDAL WEATHERING – the weird shapes form as water attacks the rock
along joints and cracks, leaving rounded lumps of un-weathered rock.
The iron-rich minerals in the rock have also oxidized to a brown “rusty” color.
iii. BIOLOGICAL WEATHERING – living organisms contribute to the weathering process in many
ways.
a. PLANTS – trees put down roots through joints or cracks in the rock to find moisture. As
the tree grows, the roots gradually prize the rock apart.
b. ANIMALS – many animals, such as Piddock shells, bore into rocks for protection either by
scraping away the grains or secreting acid to dissolve the rock.
c. BACTERIA – even the tiniest bacteria, algae, and lichens produce chemicals that help
break down the rock on which they live, so they can get the nutrients they need.
B. EROSION – is the geological process in which earthen materials are worn away and transported by
natural forces such as wind or water.
Most erosion is performed by liquid water, wind, or ice (usually in the form of a glacier). If the wind
is dusty, or water or glacial ice is muddy, erosion is taking place. The brown color indicates that bits of
rock and soil are suspended in the fluid (air or water) and being transported from one place to another.
This transported material is called sediment.
i. PHYSICAL EROSION – describes the process of rocks changing their physical properties without
changing their basic chemical composition. Physical erosion often causes rocks to get smaller or
smoother. Rocks eroded through physical erosion often form clastic sediments. Clastic sediments
are composed of fragments of older rocks that have been transported from their place of origin.
ii. EROSION BY WATER – liquid water is the major agent of erosion on Earth. Rain, rivers, floods,
lakes, and the ocean carry away bits of soil and sand and slowly wash away the sediment.
iii. EROSION BY WIND – the wind is a powerful agent of erosion. Aeolian (wind-driven) processes
constantly transport dust, sand, and ash from one place to another. Wind can sometimes blow
sand into towering dunes. Some sand dunes in the Badain Jaran section of the Gobi Desert in
China, for example, reach more than 400 meters (1,300 feet) high.
iv. EROSION BY ICE – ice, usually in the form of glaciers, can erode the earth and create dramatic
landforms. In frigid areas and on some mountaintops, glaciers move slowly downhill and across
the land. As they move, they transport everything in their path, from tiny grains of sand to huge
boulders.
C. MASS WASTING – includes all processes by which soil and rock materials are dislodged and transported
downslope under the direct application of gravitational stresses.
i. ROCK FALL – rock fragments can break off relatively easily from steep bedrock slopes, most
commonly due to frost-wedging in areas where there are many freeze-thaw cycles per year. If
you’ve ever hiked along a steep mountain trail on a cool morning, you might have heard the
occasional fall of rock fragments onto a talus slope. This happens because the water between

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cracks freezes and expands overnight, and then when that same water thaws in the morning sun,
the fragments that had been pushed beyond their limit by the ice fall to the slope.
ii. ROCK SLIDE – a rock slide is the sliding motion of rock along a sloping surface. In most cases,
the movement is parallel to a fracture, bedding, or metamorphic foliation plane, and it can range
from very slow to moderately fast.
iii. ROCK AVALANCHE – if a rock slides and then starts moving quickly (m/s), the rock is likely to
break into many small pieces, and at that point it turns into a rock avalanche, in which the large
and small fragments of rock move in a fluid manner supported by a cushion of air within and
beneath the moving mass.
iv. CREEP OR SOLIFLUCTION – the very slow (mm/y to cm/y ) movement of soil or other
unconsolidated material on a slope is known as creep. Creep, which normally only affects the
upper several centimeters of loose material, is typically a type of very slow flow, but in some
cases, sliding may take place. Creep can be facilitated by freezing and thawing because particles
are lifted perpendicular to the surface by the growth of ice crystals within the soil, and then let
down vertically by gravity when the ice melts. The same effect can be produced by frequent
wetting and drying of the soil. In cold environments, solifluction is a more intense form of
freeze-thaw-triggered creep.
v. SLUMP – is a type of slide (movement as a mass) that takes place within thick unconsolidated
deposits (typically thicker than 10 m). Slumps involve movement along one or more curved failure
surfaces, with downward motion near the top and outward motion toward the bottom. They are
typically caused by an excess of water within these materials on a steep slope.
vi. MUDFLOW – when a mass of sediment becomes completely saturated with water, the mass loses
strength, to the extent that the grains are pushed apart, and it will flow, even on a gentle slope.
This can happen during rapid spring snowmelt or heavy rains and is also relatively common during
volcanic eruptions because of the rapid melting of snow and ice. If the material involved is
primarily sand-sized or smaller, it is known as a mudflow.
vii. DEBRIS FLOW – if the material involved is gravel sized or larger, it is known as a debris flow.
Because it takes more gravitational energy to move larger particles, a debris flow typically forms
in an area with steeper slopes and more water than a mudflow. In many cases, a debris flow
takes place within a steep stream channel and is triggered by the collapse of bank material into
the stream.
D. SEDIMENTATION – is the accumulation of materials such as soil, rock fragments, and soil particles
settling at the bottom.

2. ENDOGENOUS PROCESS – In geology, endogenous refers to all the processes that are produced in the
interior of the Earth (and other planets). It is commonly referred to as the process that takes place in the
mantle or the core of the planets but that can have subsequent effects on the surface of the planet.
When the ground moves, rock layers at the surface of the Earth are broken, twisted, and shaken. The
land is destroyed in many places and created in other places.

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A. FOLDING
B. FAULTING
C. MAGMATISM/VOLCANISM
D. METAMOSPHISM
E. EARTHQUAKE (SEISMIC ACTIVITY)

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