CHAPTER‐4

SURFACE PROCESSES
• Weathering, Soil formation, Erosion
What is weathering?
• Weathering is the process of alteration and break
down of rocks at or near the earth’s surface by
physical or chemical and biological effects and
leads to a number of changes in rocks.
• Due to weathering Rocks become more porous,
individual mineral grains are lost
• Weathering changes the index properties of rock.
The rock material become weaker and more
deformable
• The engineering properties of intact rock and rock
masses changed.
 weathering of rocks
• physical disintegration,
• chemical decomposition and
• biological activity.
These processes weakens the rock fabric and
exaggerates any structural weaknesses, all of which
further aid the breakdown processes.
• Weathering also is controlled by the presence of
discontinuities in that they provide access into a rock
mass for the agents of weathering.
• Depth Of Weathering depends on
- the timescale,
- rock type and
- climate
Physical weathering (disintegration)
• applied to a variety of weathering processes that

result in
- the particle size reduction of rock materials with
- no change in composition.
The common physical weathering are:
• Unloading joints: stress relief fractures due to
overburden removal.

• Thermal expansion: fracturing due to daily

temperature changes. e.g. exfoliation

• Frost shatter: fracturing as fissure water or pore

water freezes and expands.
• Wetting and drying: movement due to loss or
gain of water in clays.

• Root action: tree root expansion in fissures, and

root growth in pores.

• Crystallization: growth of salt crystals where

groundwater evaporates.
Engineering classification of weathered rocks
Chemical weathering
• Chemical weathering processes include,
- Oxidation :A chemical reaction in which substances combine with oxygen.
- Solution: A chemical weathering process in which a material is dissolved.
- hydrolysis: A chemical reaction involving water that results in the
breakdown of mineral material.

Chemical weathering also aids rock disintegration by

weakening the rock fabric and by emphasizing any structural
weaknesses,
Agents of Chemical weathering
• water
• free oxygen
• carbon dioxide
• organic acids and
• nitrogen acids.
•Chemical weathering of limestone

Limestones are composed of calcium carbonate.

Aqueous dissolution of calcium carbonate
introduces the carbonate ion into water, that is, CO 3
combines with H to form the stable bicarbonate,
CaCO3 + H2CO3 ---------- Ca(HCO3)2
Rainwater and soil water weather the limestone
surface, and also dissolve away the rock where
they seep down fractures and bedding planes
thereby creating wide fissures and caves.

This result in potential subsidence, irregular bed

rock surface and leakage problem
The rock forming and cementing
carbonate minerals calcite and
dolomite dissolve completely in
water that contains dissolved carbon
dioxide.

Karst topography characterizes

areas underlain by limestone and to
a lesser degree dolomite.
Surface weathering of limestone
• Weathering of the silicate minerals is primarily a
process of hydrolysis. Much of the silica that is
released by weathering forms silica acid.

• When minerals like feldspars or orthoclase

subjected to chemical weathering, decompose to
form clay minerals,

2KAlSi3O6 + 6H2O + CO2 ------- Al2Si2O5(OH)4 + 4H2SiO4 + K2CO3

(orthoclase) (kaolinite)
Soil Formation
Tropical Soils
• In humid tropical regions, weathering of rock is
more intense and extends to greater depths than in
other parts of the world.
Residual soils develop in place as a consequence of
weathering, primarily chemical weathering.
Face responsible for the development of the soil
profile are:
• Climate (temperature and rainfall)
• parent rock
• water movement (drainage and topography)
• age, and
• vegetation
• Ferruginous and aluminous clay soils are frequent
products of weathering in tropical areas.

• They are characterized by the presence of iron

and aluminium oxides and hydroxides.

• These compounds, especially those of iron, are

responsible for the red, brown and yellow colors of
the soils.
• Black clays typically are developed on poorly
drained plains in regions with well-defined wet and
dry seasons, where the annual rainfall is not less
than 1250 mm.
•Black clay undergo appreciable volume changes on wetting
and drying due to the montmorillonite content.
Arid Soils

• Most arid deposits consist of the products of physical

weathering of bedrock formations.
• Many of the deposits within alluvial plains and
covering hillsides are poorly consolidated.
• Minerals that are precipitated from groundwater in
arid deposits also have high solution rates, so that
flowing groundwater may lead to the development of
solution features.
• Problems such as increased permeability, reduced
density and settlement are liable to be associated with
engineering works
Erosion

• Erosion is the name given to the processes that

remove newly formed sediment from bedrock.

• This is followed generally by transportation and

finally, when energy is exhausted, by deposition.

• Erosion can be caused by four agents:

- gravity,
- wind
- running water, and
- glacial action