EXOGENIC PROCESSES

 Physical or Mechanical Weathering

® Disintegration and decay of rocks via weather elements: high
temperatures, extreme cold and freeze-thaw cycles
® No change in chemical composition of rocks
• Exfoliation – due to thermal expansion/contraction and/or release of
pressure when buried rocks are uplifted and exposed
e.g., Exfoliation Dome (Stone Mountain, GA) and Exfoliation Sheets (Sierra Nevada)
• Frost Wedging

• Salt Wedging
 Chemical Weathering
 decomposes rocks through a chemical change in its minerals

Oxidation – important in iron-rich

rocks – reddish coloration like rust

Hydrolysis – igneous rocks have

much silica which readily combines
with water

Carbonation and Solution –

carbon dioxide dissolved in water
reacts with carbonate rocks to
create a soluble product (calcium
bicarbonate)
 Biological Weathering
– plants and animals contribute to weathering.

 Roots physically break or wedge rock

Lichens
 Lichens (algae and fungi living as single unit),
remove minerals and weaken rock by releasing acids

 Burrowing animals can increase weathering.

Lichens
MASS WASTING
Process whereby weathered material is moved downslope
under the immediate influence of gravity.
However, gravity being a passive force needs a triggering factor to create
instability and initiate mass wasting – groundwater, meltwater, rain water and
vibrations produced by earthquakes, explosions, heavy trucks and trains, and amount and type
of vegetation cover are all potential triggers

Slope Angle and Angle of Repose (the steepest angle that can be assumed by
loose fragments on a slope without downslope movement) are strongly related to rates
of mass wasting
Classification of Mass Wasting
Based on
• Speed of Movement
• Kind of Earth Material Involved
• Kind of Motion Involved

Soil Creep 
Classification of Mass Wasting
Based on

Moisture Content
and
Speed of Movement
Talus Cones in the Canadian Rockies
Talus – pieces of rock at bottom of a rock fall
Landslides
Can cause much destruction
A massive 300-ton boulder blocks a road in Southern
California
La Conchita Debris Flow/Earthflow, January 10, 2005
Monterey Park Debris Flow, 1980
Landslide/Earthflow on PCH near Pacific Palisades
November 1956
Slump in Coastal California near San Clemente
January 7, 2011
Massive Slump, PCH, San Pedro, CA, November 20, 2011
Massive Slump, PCH, San Pedro, CA, November 20, 2011
GET READY FOR SHORT
ASSESSMENT!

PREPARE ¼ SHEET
1.The breakdown of rock material in its
current location. This is a definition of...
A. Erosion
B. Weathering
C. Transportation
D. Deposition
E. Freeze Thaw
2. Which of the followings are exogenic
geomorphic processes? 1. Weathering 2. Mass
wasting 3. Deposition 4. Erosion
A. 1,2,3,4
B. 1,3,4,5
C. 1,2,4,5
D. 2,3,4,5
3. Which one of these things is not an agent of
weathering?
 A. Glacier

 B. Wind

 C. Precipitation

 D. Soil

 E. River
4. Which type of weathering involves the outer
layers of rock peeling off due to the rock
expanding as it is heated and contracting as it
cools?
 A. Hydration

 B. Insolation Weathering

 C. Oxidation

 D. Tree Root Action

 5.
Which one of these processes is not a
chemical weathering process

A. Carbonation
B. Hydration
C. Oxidation
D. Chelation
E. Frost Shattering
11. Which one of these terms is another name for
onion skin weathering?
A. Frost shattering
B. Hydrolosis
C. Oxidation
D. Tree root action
E. Insolation weathering
12. What is the name given to the group of weathering
processes associated with the action of organisms?
 A. Tree root action

 B. The action of burrowing animals

 C. Chemical Weathering

 D. Biological Weathering

 E. Physical Weathering