Weathering, Erosion, and Mass-Wasting Processes
Weathering, Erosion, and Mass-Wasting Processes
Weathering, Erosion, and Mass-Wasting Processes
and Mass-Wasting
Photo courtesy of SCGS
Photo courtesy of SCGS
Processes
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Definitions
Weathering, erosion, mass-wasting, and depositional processes occur at or near the
Earth’s surface and produce changes to the landscape that influence surface and
subsurface topography and landform development.
These processes are all very important to the rock cycle because over geologic
time weathering, erosion, and mass wasting transform solid rock into
sediments and soil that result in the redeposition of material forming new
Group Activity
II. Chemical weathering decomposes, dissolves, alters, or weakens the rock through
chemical processes to form residual materials.
Examples: carbonation, hydrolosis, oxidation, and solution
III. Biological weathering is the disintegration or decay of rocks and minerals caused
by chemical or physical agents of organisms.
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Examples: organic activity from lichen and algae, rock disintegration by plant or
root growth, burrowing and tunneling organisms, and acid secretion
I. Mechanical Weathering
Mechanical weathering is the physical disintegration and reduction in
the size of the rocks without changing their chemical composition.
Mechanical weathering processes disintegrate
Exfoliation metamorphic rocks in South Carolina’s
Piedmont Region.
Frost Wedging
Salt Wedging
Temperature Changes
Abrasion
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result of extreme
fluctuations in day and night
temperature changes.
Mechanical Weathering: Salt Wedging
Salt wedging occurs when salts crystallize out of solution as water evaporates. As the
salt crystals grow, they apply pressure to the surrounding rock weakening it, until it
eventually cracks and breaks down, enabling the salt crystal to continue growing.
Salt wedging is most common in drier climates, such as deserts.
Copyright © Larry Fellows, Arizona Geological Survey Copyright © Bruce Molina, USGS
Biological Weathering
• Secretion of acids
Lichen, Algae, and Decaying Plants
Organisms such as lichen and algae often live on bare rock and extract minerals from the rock by ion-
exchange mechanisms.
This bio-chemical weathering process leaches minerals from the rock causing it to weaken and
breakdown.
The decaying of plant materials can also produce acidic compounds which dissolve the exposed rock.
The presence of organisms growing, expanding, or moving across the surface of the rock also exerts a
small amount of abrasion and pressure that gradually cause the mechanical weathering of the rock as
the organisms extract various minerals. This is an example of biological
weathering that is caused by mosses
and lichen growing on
the face of a rock.
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Photo: SCGS
Plant Roots
The most common form of biological weathering is when plant roots penetrate into cracks and
crevices of rocks and cause the rock to split or break into smaller particles through mechanical
weathering.
Although, this process is gradual, it can be fairly effective at breaking apart rocks that may already have
a pre-existing weaknesses such as fractures, faults, or joints.
weathering.
Hawaii.
Differential Weathering
Weathering rates will not only vary depending on the type
of weathering process, whether it is mechanical,
chemical, or biological, but they will also vary depending
on the rock material that is being weathered.
Some rocks are harder than other rocks, and will weather
slower than softer rocks.
The differences in rates of weathering due to different
types of rocks, textures, or other characteristics is
referred to as differential weathering.
Differential weathering processes contribute to the unique
formation of many landforms, including pedestals,
waterfalls, and monadnocks.
Climate can also produce differential weathering
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particles.
Sheet erosion is a process where particles loosened buy rain-splash erosion are
ground
Abrasion is the process that occurs when wind-transported particles sculpt
rainfall or snow melt-water event that Fragments are breaking off from this rock
facilitates the movement of the rock exposure and collecting down-slope from
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Landslides are a natural hazard that can cause serious damage to people and
other obstacles in their path. Many earth scientists study landslides in order to
predict their occurrence and prevent negative impacts to humans and
infrastructure.
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Debris and Mud Flows
Debris and mudflows are mass-wasting
events that form when heavy rainfalls
produce large amounts of runoff that
transport eroded soils, sediments, and
plant debris down slope where the flows
eventually spreads out across valley
bottoms.
Sometimes the debris and mudflows
follow existing drainage paths and other
times they carve out new paths as they
flow downhill This debris flow flooded and
destroyed several homes as it
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infrastructure.
Creep
Creep is the slowest mass-wasting process and involves a very gradual downhill movement of
soil, bedrock, and weathered rock fragments.
Usually, the entire slope is slowly creeping downhill as a complete unit.
Creep processes occur to some degree on nearly every hillslope because of gravity.
Creep is evident by bent or extended tree trunks that are adjusting to the slow movement of the
soil, regolith, and weathered material they are rooted into.
Freeze-thaw cycles and saturated conditions may accelerate creep processes but usually only for
a short time-period
Solifluction is a certain form of creep where frozen tundra soils thaw out and gently ‘flow’ or sag
downslope
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