Questions and Answers
Which of the following is a human activity that contributes to physical weathering?
What is hydrolysis in the context of chemical weathering?
Which process involves oxygen reacting with minerals to cause weathering?
What role does running water play in erosion?
Signup and view all the answers
Which of the following can result from carbonation weathering?
Signup and view all the answers
Which animals are known to cause physical weathering by burrowing?
Signup and view all the answers
What is the primary agent of erosion among the listed options?
Signup and view all the answers
What is a result of the process of erosion?
Signup and view all the answers
What is the primary difference between physical weathering and chemical weathering?
Signup and view all the answers
Which of the following is NOT a factor that causes physical weathering?
Signup and view all the answers
How does frost wedging contribute to physical weathering?
Signup and view all the answers
What role does organic activity play in physical weathering?
Signup and view all the answers
Which statement best describes the process of abrasion in the context of physical weathering?
Signup and view all the answers
What effect does thermal and pressure change have on rocks?
Signup and view all the answers
What is the main result of the agents of weathering, erosion, and deposition?
Signup and view all the answers
How does temperature variation contribute to physical weathering?
Signup and view all the answers
What is the primary force that causes mass movement in slope areas?
Signup and view all the answers
Which type of mass wasting involves the slow downhill flow of soil?
Signup and view all the answers
What distinguishes debris flow from other types of mass wasting?
Signup and view all the answers
Which type of mass wasting is characterized by rapid sliding of coherent materials along a curved surface?
Signup and view all the answers
What process is involved in the erosion caused by glaciers?
Signup and view all the answers
In which scenario would a mudflow likely occur?
Signup and view all the answers
What is the defining characteristic of soil creep?
Signup and view all the answers
Which type of erosion is described as carrying dust, sand, and volcanic ash from one location to another?
Signup and view all the answers
Study Notes
Exogenic Processes
- Exogenic processes modify the Earth's surface, causing degradation and sculpting the landscape.
- Key types include weathering, erosion, mass movement (mass wasting), deposition, and sedimentation.
Weathering
- Weathering involves the disintegration (physical) and decomposition (chemical) of rocks.
- Types of weathering are classified into physical and chemical categories.
Physical Weathering
- Rocks break into smaller pieces without changing composition through physical weathering.
-
Factors causing physical weathering:
- Thermal and Pressure Change: Rock expands when heated and contracts when cooled, leading to crumbling.
- Temperature: High temperatures cause expansion, while freezing can also fracture rocks.
- Frost Wedging: Water enters cracks in rocks, freezes, and expands, causing further breakage.
- Abrasion: Friction and impact from moving particles like sand and silt shape rocks by wearing down sharp edges.
- Organic Activity: Plant roots can penetrate cracks and expand, leading to rock breakage.
- Human Activities: Actions such as digging, quarrying, and deforestation contribute to physical changes in rocks.
- Burrowing Animals: Animals like rats and rabbits excavate ground, altering soil and rock structures.
Chemical Weathering
- Causes decomposition of rocks through chemical reactions altering rock-forming minerals.
-
Factors causing chemical weathering:
- Dissolution: Rock minerals dissolve in water, altering structure.
- Hydrolysis: Acidic water breaks down minerals into clay and soluble salts.
- Carbonation: Carbon dioxide combines with water to form carbonic acid, leading to weathering of limestone and formation of stalactites.
- Oxidation: Oxygen and water react with minerals (e.g., iron-rich rocks), causing rusting and surface decomposition.
Erosion
- Involves the movement of rock particles by agents such as wind, water, ice, and gravity.
- Agents of erosion: Water, wind, ice, and gravity significantly impact landscape alteration.
- Running Water: The most powerful erosive force, reshaping landscapes by transporting sediments during heavy rains and floods.
- Wind: Carries sand and dust, particularly in arid regions, forming dunes and landscapes via erosion.
- Ice: Glaciers erode landscapes by picking up and transporting materials as they move.
Mass Movement
- Involves the downhill movement of soil and rock debris influenced by gravity.
- Types of mass wasting processes include slump, solifluction, earthflow, mudflow, debris slide, debris flow, rock flow, and soil creep.
- Slump: Sliding of cohesive materials along a curved surface.
- Solifluction: Slow downhill flow of saturated soil.
- Earthflow: Viscous flow of fine-grained materials saturated with water.
- Mudflow: Rapid movement of mud down slopes.
- Debris Slide: Chaotic movement of mixed materials down slopes.
- Debris Flow: Loose materials traveling downhill under gravity.
- Rock Fall: Detachment of rocks from steep cliffs.
- Soil Creep: Gradual, slow movement of soil over time.
Studying That Suits You
Use AI to generate personalized quizzes and flashcards to suit your learning preferences.
Description
This quiz covers the concepts of weathering, erosion, and deposition as exogenic processes. You will learn how these processes occur and identify the agents responsible for them. Test your understanding of how these forces shape and transform Earth's crust.
