PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY 10E

Chapter 15: Weathering and Mass Wasting

WEATHERING AND MASS WASTING
Pressure release and expansion have caused an outer
shell of this granite outcrop to break parallel to the main
mass and then into smaller pieces (J Petersen).
INTRODUCTION

 Exogenic processes:
 Break down rocks
 erode rock materials
 Transport them from high energy locations to
low energy locations

 Relocation of rock by:

 Gravity
 Geomorphic Agents
 Flowing water, wind
 moving ice, waves
NATURE OF EXOGENIC PROCESSES
 Weathering
 breakdown of rock
materials at and near
Earth’s surface
 Other exogenic processes
 Erosion
 Transportation

 Deposition

 Often occurs with

assistance from geomorphic Why are some exposed
agent (water, ice, wind, and parts of the boulder
waves) darker than others?
NATURE OF EXOGENIC PROCESSES
 Mass wasting
 Gravity-induced
downslope movement of
rock material that occurs
without a geomorphic
agent
 Rock falling
 High energy locations to
low energy
NATURE OF EXOGENIC PROCESSES

 Endogenic processes compared with exogenic

processes
NATURE OF EXOGENIC PROCESSES
 Weathering, mass wasting, and geomorphic agents
usually do not work alone

How does the cross-sectional profile of the

valley change at each phase?
NATURE OF EXOGENIC PROCESSES
 Can
you identify evidence of the three phases
shown in the figure below (Figure 15.3) in Idaho?
WEATHERING
 Two types of
weathering
 Physical weathering
 Disintegrates rocks
breaking smaller
fragments from a large
block or outcrop of rock
 Chemical weathering
 Decomposes rock through
chemical reactions that
remove ions from the
original rock
WEATHERING
 Physical weathering
 Unloading
 Thermal expansion and
Contraction
 Freeze-thaw
 Salt crystal growth
 Hydration

How might an animal

cause physical weathering?
 WEATHERING
 Unloading
 High elevation helps drive
this process
 Erosional stripping of
overlying rocks, and
ultimate removal of
overlying weight
 Upper granite is exposed
where it experiences lower
atmospheric pressure as
compared to the rock at
depth
WEATHERING
 Unloading
 As outer sheet continues to
weather, segments of it may
slide off
 Exfoliation
 Successful removal of these
outer rock
 Exfoliation sheet
 Exfoliation dome
 Stone Mountain, Georgia

 Half Dome (Yosemite)

Why is granite so
 Sugar Loaf Mountain, Rio de
susceptible to unloading
Janeiro, Brazil
and exfoliation?
 Enchanted Rock, Texas
WEATHERING
 Thermalexpansion
and contraction
 Granular
disintegration
 Differential thermal
expansion and
contraction of
individual mineral
grains in coarse What other evidence exists on
crystalline rocks the boulder to suggest that it
has been subjected to
considerable weathering?
WEATHERING
 Freeze-thaw
weathering
 Also called frost
weathering or ice
wedging
 Water freezes and
expands 9% causing
large pressure
differences in the
crack, widening it,
How important if
leading to rock
breaking off freeze-thaw weathering
where you live?
WEATHERING
 Freeze-thaw
weathering
 Pipes bursting
 Not significant at
lower latitudes
except high
elevations
 Especially noticeable
in mountainous
regions near tree line Why are these rocks angular
in shape rather than rounded?
WEATHERING
 Salt crystal growth
 Water with dissolved salt
accumulates in these
spaces and then
evaporates, and growing
salt crystals wedge rocks
apart
 Hydration
 Water molecules
attach to the crystalline
structure of a mineral
 A mineral expands
when hydrated and
shrink when Once a small hollow is formed,
dehydrated how might it affect further
 Clay minerals
weathering at this site?
WEATHERING
 Chemical weathering
 Ions from a rock are
released into water or
combine with other
substances to form new
materials (clay minerals)
 Most important catalysts
and reactive agents:
 Water
 Oxygen

 Carbon dioxide
WEATHERING
Chemical weathering
 Three types of chemical
weathering:
 Oxidation
 Chemical union of oxygen
atoms with another
substance to create a
new product
 Solution and carbonation

 Hydrolysis
What is a likely chemical
formula for the reddish-
orange substance?
WEATHERING
 Chemical weathering
 Solution and carbonation Why does the rock near the
 Carbonation bottom of the outcrop seem
 Carbon dioxide and to be more weathered than
water molecules that at the top?
reacting with, and
decomposing rocks
 Most effective on

carbonate rocks
(limestone)
 Hydrolysis How does the fact that
lichens retain moisture also
 Water alone reacts with
contribute to weathering?
rocks
VARIABILITY IN WEATHERING
 Effectiveness of
Weathering
 Climate
 Type of rock
 Nature and amount
of fractures
VARIABILITY IN WEATHERING
 Climate
 Chemical weathering
dominates humid
regions
 Slopes in wetter
climates have a
rounded appearance

What kind of chemical

weathering has impacted
the iron fence?
VARIABILITY IN WEATHERING
 Rock type
 Differential weathering
and erosion
 Strong rock may be
easily eroded in a
different environment
 Structural weakness
 Joints and fractures
 Exposed rock, collect
salts, accumulation of
water, and plants
VARIABILITY IN WEATHERING
 Structural weakness
 Joint set
 Two joint sets will cross
each other at an angle
 Spheroidal weathering

With north at the top of

this photo (top right),
what directions do the
two most apparent joint
sets trend?
VARIABILITY IN WEATHERING
 Differential weathering and erosion
 Grand Canyon
VARIABILITY IN WEATHERING
 Differential
weathering and
erosion
 Appalachian ridge and
valley region
 Resistant rocks form
ridges and weaker
rocks form valleys
MASS WASTING
 Mass movement
 Downslope transport of
material due to gravity

What other kinds of

problems on roads are
related to mass
wasting?
MASS WASTING
 Mass movement
 Slope angle
 Gravity is the principal
force
 Water is also a
contributing factor

How might vegetative cover or

moisture content affect the
potential for downslope
movement of soil?
MASS WASTING
 Materials and motion
 Types of Earth material
 Involves almost all kinds of
surface materials
 Rock, snow, ice, soil, earth,
debris, and mud
 Soil – thin, and
unconsolidated
 Earth – thicker soil
 Debris – wide range of
grain sizes
 Mud – saturated sediment
 Speed of motion
 Slow mass wasting
 Fast mass wasting
MASS WASTING
 Slow mass wasting
 Creep
 slow migration, but most
persistent
 Heaving process

Are there places near

where you live that
show evidence of soil
creep?
MASS WASTING
 Slow mass wasting
 Creep

What other
constructed features
might be changed by
creep?
MASS WASTING
 Slow mass wasting
 Solifluction
 Most common in high
latitudes or high
elevation tundra regions
 Permafrost

 Active layer

 Summer thaw

 Tundra landscapes

How does solifluction differ

from soil creep?
MASS WASTING
 Fast mass wasting
 Four major types:
Falls

Avalanches

Slides

Flows

 Effects more dramatic than slow mass wasting

MASS WASTING
 Falls
 Rockfalls
 Due to:
 Weathering weakens the
bonds between clasts
and cliff
 Large rock masses that

fall from a cliff face or an

overhanging ledge
What weathering
processes might be acting
on the sandstone cliff at
the base of the ledge
when it becomes wet?
MASS WASTING
 Falls
 Talus slope
 Talus cone
 Angle of repose

How would the angle of

repose of rounded
particles differ from that
of angular particles of the
same size?
MASS WASTING
 Falls
 Yosemite Valley, California
 Serious hazard
MASS WASTING
 Avalanches
 Material is pulverized
(broken down into
small powdery
fragments) and then
flows rapidly
 Snow
 Rock
 debris
MASS WASTING
 Slides
 Water plays biggest role
 Rockslides
 Threaten lives and property
MASS WASTING
 Slides
 Rockslides
 Debris slide
 Mudslide
 Slumps
 Landslide
 Earthquake lake
rockslide
 Southwestern Montana
Why can earthquakes
(1959)
trigger landslides?
 killed 28 people
MASS WASTING
 Slides
 Mudslide (California)
 Landslides
 May contain more than
category of motion or
material
MASS WASTING
 Slides
 Slumps – common when it is wet

How does the earthflow component differ from the

slump component?
MASS WASTING
 Flows
 Earthflow
 Slump-earthflow
 Debris flows
 Mudflows
 Flow levees

What evidence is there

to indicate this is a sit
of repeated debris
flows?
MASS WASTING
 Flows
 Debris flow in La
Conchita, CA.
 Lahars

Why might a specific site

experience repeated slope
failures over time?
MASS WASTING
 Flows
 Lahars

Why might a specific

site experience
repeated slope
failures over time?
WEATHERING, MASS WASTING, AND THE LANDSCAPE
 Weathering and mass wasting typically determined by the
properties of the rocks and the local climate factors
 Slow weathering of resistant rocks leaves steeps slopes
 Rapid weathering of weak rocks produces gentle slopes
 Weathering proceeds rapidly in warm, humid climates
 Rocks in arid and cold climates weather slower