THE EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH´S RELIEF UNIT 10

2 PLATE DYNAMICS AND

GEOLOGICAL PROCESSES
• The theory of plate tectonics explains how
geological processes are caused by the
dynamics of the plates.
• The lithosphere suffers changes as a result of
interaction beetween plates.
• The interaction between plates has three
main effects on the lithosphere: forces,
changes in temperature and changes to the
geological environment.
 FORCES push the CHANGES IN
plates until they TEMPERATURE can melt
deform the rocks, rocks in some areas,
move them or change solidification in others,
their texture. changes in minerals,…

CHA NGES TO THE

GEOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT
as a mountain range rising up
or a rift flooding.
• Geological processes can be classified into
endogenous and exogenous processes.
– Endogenous geological processes. Originate
inside the Earth. They are the result of the forces
or changes in temperature created by the
dynamics of the lithosphere. Magmatism,
metamorphism, rock deformation.
– Exogenous geological processes. Originate in the
surface of the lithosphere as a result of interaction
between rocks and the atmosphere, hydrosphere
and biosphere.
 3 ENDOGENOUS PROCESSES:
MAGMATISM
• Magmatism is a set of endogenous geological processes
which involve magma, rock masses that melt inside the
Earth and then solidify and form igneous rocks.
• It is formed in regions of the lithosphere or upper mantle
where rocks melt by an increase in temperature, a
reduction in pressure or the presence of water in rocks.
• Magma rises because it is less dense than the rocks
around it. As it rises through other rocks, the magma
evolves and its minerals change creating different types of
magma with different compositions that turn into
different types of igneous rocks.
 At divergent At hot spot, plumes At convergent
boundaries cracks rising from deep within boundaries. Friction
appear between the the mantle increase between plates increases
plates, the pressure is the temperature the temperature and the
reduced, rocks from the melting rocks. Alkaline water in the rocks of the
upper mantle melt and basalts. subducting plate is
rise up. Toleitic basalts. expelled,rising up to the
rocks in the mantle above.
Water and an increase in T
melt these rocks. Andesite.
MAGMA PROCESSES
 Volcanic eruptions
• Magma accumulates under the surface in a magma
chamber under pressure.
• When a crack appears in the crust the pressure in the
chamber is reduced and gases released.
• As magma rises up a volcanic pipe with a crater at
the top is created.
• The release of gases and magma is called volcanic
eruption and can be more or less explosive
depending on the composition of the magma and
how easily it solidifies.
• Solidified lava creates a volcanic edific.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-geology/chapter/outcome-volcano-types/
 Hawaiian eruption
Fluid basaltic lava. High
temperature. Flows are very
fluid, they can travel a lot
from their source before
they cool and harden.
Strombolian eruption
More acid. Basalt and
andesite lava. Regular or
irregular explosions. More
explosive.
 Vulcanian eruption
It is a short, violent, relatively
small explosion of viscous
magma (usually andesite, dacite
and rhyolite). Viscous lava that
cools inside the volcano forming
a dome.Pyroclastic density
currents. Clouds of hot ash.
Plinian eruption
The largest and most violent of
all the types of volcanic
eruptions are Plinian eruptions.
They are caused by the
fragmentation of gassy
magma, and are usually
associated with very viscous
magmas (dacite and rhyolite).
Ash clouds.
 4 ENDOGENOUS PROCESSES:
METAMORPHISM
• Metamorphism is a endogenous processes
where pressure, temperature and fluids
transform existing rocks into different ones.
Rocks never melt.
• The action of metamorphic factors on the
rocks in the Earth´s crust produces
transformations in them that include changes
in shape, new minerals and the way the
minerals are arranged.
 At convergent At ridges. The At transform
boundaries. The magma generated boundaries.
pressure and temperature under the rift Friction between the
increase while a plate is increases the T of plates causes the P
sinking. the rocks. and T in the rocks to
increase.

In areas inside the plates, metamorphism is produced in rocks that are

in contact with hotspots and in areas where thick sediment accumulates,
the enormous weight of which increases pressure on the rocks
underneath.
6 EXOGENOUS PROCESSES: MODELLING
AND SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
• Rocks on the surface of the lithosphere are exposed to the
effects of interaction with the atmosphere, the hidrosphere
and the biosphere.
• The exogenous processes are landform modelling and
formation of sedimentary rocks.
• Landform modelling are changes produced in the rocks on
the surface of the lithosphere by modelling agents: wind,
changes in temperature, water, gravity, water flow, ice,
marine currents, living things,...
• Modelling agents carry out geological action on rocks:
weathering, erosion, transportation and sedimentation.
 Weathering: The atmosphere is responsible of weathering. This
process weaken rocks and make them more vulnerable to erosion.
They are physical and chemical alterations. It is a static process.

Physical weathering Chemical weathering

It is the breaking of rocks without the
modification of their composition. It
takes place in extreme climatic zones
because of sudden changes in
temperature.
It is a series of chemical reactions
between the rocks and atmospheric
components. Humit and hot climate.
When living beings break rocks is
called biological weathering.
Erosion is a dynamaic process that involves the movement of particles.
These particles hit rocks modelling them.

Transportation is the movement of fragments of eroded rock from the

higher parts of a landform to the lower parts. It is carried out by water,
wind, glaciers or gravity.

Sedimentation is the deposition and accumulation of transported

materials in depressed zones of continents or seas.
6.1 FROM SEDIMENT TO ROCK
• Two phases: accumulation of sedimentary layers (sediments) and
diagenesis.
• The accumulation of sedimentary layers.
– Sediments are accumulated at the bottom of flooded depressions
known as sedimentary basins.
– Sediments can be rock fragments that have been eroded and
transported there by modelling agents.
– Sediments can be mineral salts dissolved in the water of the basin
which can precipitate and settle on the bottom.
– Sediments are accumulated in basins in horizontal layers called strata.
• Diagenesis
– Diagenesis refers to the processes that transforms sediment into
sedimentary rocks. Two stages: compaction and cementation.

Compaction is produced in the

deepest strata in the basin. The
sediment is compressed reducing
the space between the particles
and expels any water and air.

Cementation is the precipitacion of

substances called cements that were
dissolved in the expelled water. The
cements precipitate between the
particles of sediment, filling in the
gaps, binding the particles together
6.2 WHERE SEDIMENTARY ROCK IS FORMED
pg 183
 7 THE EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH´S
RELIEF. A GLOBAL VISION
7.1 HOW LANDFORMS EVOLVE
• At the same time folds and mountain ranges are being
produced by tectonic processes (orogenesis), and exogenous
processes are acting on the rocks, wearing them down little by
little.
• The relief is transformed continually.
• Geomorphology is the part of geology that studies the
configuration, origin and evolution of landforms in the relief as a
consequence of the combined action of geological processes.
• The relief does not evolve in the same way in all areas of the
lithosphere: there are different conditions that determine which
geological processes are predominant and how they act on the
landforms.
 DETERMING FACTORS

• Lithological composition of the land, climate, tectonic

structure of the land, presence of the sea, human activity.
THE LITHOLOGICAL COMPOSITION OF THE LAND
• The type of rock.
• The shape that the masses of rock take on during their
formation.
• The individual properties of a rock has:
– Cohesion of minerals. Minerals in contact: rock are
compact; permeable rocks are more resistant to erosion;
chemical alterability.
CLIMATE
• Weather conditions in an area. Some modelling agents have a
more intensive effect on rocks than others. Ex: arid climates
the wind is the main agent; in cold climates will be ice.
THE TECTONIC STRUCTURE OF THE LAND
• How rocks are arranged (their structure)due to the tectonic
forces in the region. Ex: a slope erodes easily if the strata are
inclined in the direction of the slope.
THE PRESENCE OF THE SEA
• Coastal relief. Landforms exclusive to this environment.
HUMAN ACTIVITY
• Construction of dams, can alter the way in which external
geological agents act on land and how they affect relief
indirectly.
 8 THE EARTH´S LANDFORMS
• Factors gives each landform a characteristic
appearance.
• Landforms related to lithology are those that have a
shape that is principally due to the type of rocks in
the area.
• Some of the landforms are the result of the original
arrangement of the rocks (original shape) and others
that are the result of exogenous processes on them
(derived shape).
 VOLCANIC LANDFORM

• They are modelled by the volcanic activity in a

region.
• Their original shape is the result of an accumulation
of the material expelled by volcanoes.
• The landforms are created when the process of
erosion removes the less dense material, such as ash
and pyroclasts, and leaves the denser material, such
as rocks inside the volcanic pipes. This leads to the
formation of calderas, lava fields and volcanic plugs
or necks
Shield volcano
Stratovolcano
 Ring of fire Pacific
ocean

AA lava flow
 GRANITE LANDFORM
• These rocks appear on the surface when the
processes of erosion removed the materials covering
them.
• These landforms depend on the original shape of the
plutons and on any weathering (hydrolysis and
thermal stress) of the rock, especially where there
are joints.
• Weathering breaks the rocks into large round blocks
called domes or piles of smaller rocks, boulder fields,
and to create a rock platform.
• Loose material, granite sand, is deposited at the foot
of these rock formations.
Dome
 KARST LANDFORMS
• Almost exclusively in limestone. Gypsum
• They are the result of the geological action of water
infiltrating the surface of the rock to form
groundwater.
• The water carries dissolved CO2 that reacts with the
calcium carbonate in the limestone (insoluble) and
transforms it into calcium bicarbonate (soluble):
chemical weathering called carbonation.
• This infiltration of water alters and dissolves the
limestone, making the cracks in the rock larger
creating lapiaz, dolines or poljes, potholes,galleries
and caverns.

• In the cavities, the dissolved calcium bicarbonate can

be transformed back into insoluble carbonate and
precipitate, creating stalactites and stalagmites.
Groove - lapiés
 Lapiés forming corridors

lapiés

Polje
Doline
 column

Outside waterground
forms natural spring
 CLIMATE-REALETED LANDFORMS

• Shapes depends on the climate of the region.

• Climate determines which modelling agentes will
predominate.
• Planet divided into morphoclimatic zones: cold-zone
landforms, hot-zone landforms, temperate-zone
landforms.
 COLD-ZONE LANDFORMS

• Polar and sub-polar regions, high mountains.

• Low temperatures, main agent: ice.
• Frost weathering, which breaks up rock to
create fragments that accumulate on the
slopes as scree.
• Freezing and thawing (melting) cycles, which
peridodically freeze and melt the ground
leading to irregular changes in volume that
cause a series of heave mounds.
• The action of glaciers: cirques, U-shaped
valleys, seracs, creavasses, moraines, horn,
tongue.
Seracs and crevasses
 HOT-ZONE LANDFORMS
• Landforms in hyper-humid zones. Close the
Equator, high temperatures, abundant annual
rainfall, humidity of close to 90%, chemical
weathering. Landforms: alluvial deposits and
round mounds or sugar loaves.
• Tropical desert landforms. Arid, temperature
fluctuate between day and night. Barely
vegetation, without rainfall for more than a
year. Agentes: thermal stress and wind. Wind
drags sand that hits rocks modelling into
mushroom shapes or arches and depositing
sand forming dunes.
 TEMPERATE-ZONE LANDFORMS

• Gravitational processes (landslide) and water

currents.
• Dry temperate zones. Irregular and torrential
precipitation, the water currents are violent
and they tend to run across land with little
vegetation. Very sensitive to gravitational
processes. Badlands form with gullies and
alluvial fans.
Badlands
Gully

In clay soil
 • In humid temperate zones. Constant
precipitation and abundant vegetation. Agent:
river. Landforms: valleys, flood plains,
terraces, meanders and deltas or estuaries.
A flat raised area
 STRUCTURAL LANDFORMS
• They are those which are principally modelled
by the tectonic deformation of rocks.
• Landforms in horizontal areas. Horizontal
layers of sedimentary rock. Forms: plateaus
and moors. As the process of erosion
advances, the plain is worn down leaving
some flat-topped hills or knolls where there
were layers of harder rock.
buttes

knoll
• Landforms in folded areas. Strata
(sedimentary rocks) with different levels of
resistance to erosion that have folded to
create sloped layers. The differential erosion
of these layers form landforms with slopes
and crests (harder rocks).
• Landforms in fractured areas. Areas affected
by groups of faults, forming elevated areas
(horsts) and sunken ones (graben).
 COASTAL LANDFORM
• Coastal landforms develop in areas where the
land is in direct contact with the sea and they
are almost exclusively formed by the
geological action of the sea itself.
• Agents: tides and currents, that erod the rocks
on the coast