Lesson 5: Endogenous and

Exogenous Processes
Geomorphic Processes:

 Physical processes which create and modify landforms on the

surface of the earth

 Endogenous (Endogenic) vs. Exogenous (Exogamic)

Processes

 Rock Cycle 
 A. Endogenous Processes
Endogenous Processes are large-scale landform
building and transforming processes
– they create relief.

1. Igneous Processes

a. Volcanism: Volcanic eruptions  Volcanoes

b. Plutonism: Igneous intrusions

2. Tectonic Processes (Also called Diastrophism)

a. Folding: anticlines, synclines, mountains

b. Faulting: rift valleys, graben, escarpments
c. Lateral Faulting: strike-slip faults

Earthquakes  evidence of present-day tectonic activity

B. Exogenous Processes
Also called Gradational Processes, they comprise degradation
and aggradation – they modify relief

 a continuum of processes – Weathering  Mass

Wasting  Erosion  Transportation  Deposition
 these processes are carried through by Geomorphic
Agents: gravity, flowing water (rivers), moving ice (glaciers),
waves and tides (oceans and lakes), wind, plants, organisms,
animals and humans

1. Degradation Processes  Also called Denudation Processes

a. Weathering , b. Mass Wasting and c. Erosion and
Transportation
2. Aggradation Processes
a. Deposition – fluvial, eolian, glacial, coastal
Relationship:
Weathering
Mass Wasting
Erosion
and
Transportation

Together,
these processes are
responsible for
Denudation
of Earth’s surface
 WEATHERING

Weathering is disintegration and decomposition of rocks in situ – no

transportation involved  produces regolith
 More precisely, it involves the mechanical or physical
disintegration and/or chemical decomposition that fragments rock
masses into smaller components that amass on-site, before being moved
by gravity or transported by other agents
 The processes begin in microscopic spaces, cracks, joints, faults,
fractures, lava vesicles and other rock cavities

Types of Weathering: 1) Physical or Mechanical Weathering,

2) Chemical Weathering, and 3) Biological Weathering
 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 (algae and fungi living as single unit), remove

minerals and weaken rock by releasing acids

 Burrowing animals can increase weathering.

Lichens
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 Landslide, January 10, 2005
Monterey Park Debris Flow, 1980
PCH near Pacific Palisades, November 1956
EROSION and TRANSPORTATION

– Various Geomorphic Agents, associated Processes,

and resulting Erosional Features

• Flowing Water – Fluvial Morphology

Humid regions:
Perennial streams and entrenched
channels, rapids, waterfalls, plunge
pools, potholes, meandering streams,
bank erosion, oxbow lakes, etc.
• Wind – Eolian Landscapes
deflation hollows, ventifacts, yardang, etc

• Tides and Waves – Coastal Morphology

Sea cliffs, sea caves, sea arches, sea stacks,
wave-cut beaches, etc..

• Moving Ice – Glacial Morphology

glacial troughs (U-shaped valleys), hanging

valleys, glacial lakes,.
DEPOSITION
– Various geomorphic agents, associated processes and
resulting Depositional Features
• Fluvial – Humid regions: Braided streams, sand bars, floodplains
(alluvium deposits), natural
levees, distributaries, deltas
Arid regions: Alluvial fans, bajadas,
piedmont alluvial plains, playas,
playa lakes, Salinas (salt flats)

• Eolian – Sand dunes (Barchans, Parabolic, Transverse,

Longitudinal, Star), and sand sheets

• Coastal – Sea beaches and coral reefs

• Glacial – Alpine: Glacial drifts, tills, moraines (lateral, medial, end,

terminal, recessional, and ground)
Continental: Till plains, outwash plains, drumlins, eskers,
kames, erratic
 PROCESSES THAT BRING CHEMICAL
WEATHERING OF ROCKS
1. HYDRATION/ HYDROLYSIS - It is a process when
molecules of some substance in rocks chemically
combine with water molecules
2. CARBONATION - It is a process when carbon
dioxide may bond with other substances. It is also results
in sinkholes which cause the formation of stalactites and
stalagmites.
2. OXIDATION- This occurs when oxygen combines
with another substance like minerals in rocks, yielding
compounds called oxides.
 PROCESSES THAT CAN CAUSE
PHYSICAL WEATHERING
 
•Thermal and Pressure Change
•Wind and Waves
•Freeze and Thaw
•Organic Activity

Types of Slope Mass Movement

1. CREEP- A slow movement of rock and soil down a slope, usually around 1 mm to 10
m a year .
2. Slide - a more rapid movement of rock and soil down a slope.
3. Flow - a torrent of water flowing down a slope with enough force to carry rocks and
sediment down the slope.
2. Fall - usually made up of moderate to large rocks and occurs often after the edge of a
steep slope crumbles due to heavy rainfall or erosion
ENDOGENIC PROCESSES - Geological processes that occur beneath the
surface of the earth. It is associated with energy originating in the interior of the
solid earth.
MAGMA - s a mixture of molten rock, minerals & gases.
LAVA- when magma emerges on the surface of the earth
VISCOSITY (FLUIDITY) is the resistance to flow. Viscosity depends
primarily on the composition and temperature of the magma.

MAGMA ESCAPE ROUTES

INTRUSION when magma cools and hardens in the rock layer.
EXTRUSION when lava that hardens on the surface.
TEPHRA (VOLCANIC ASH)- magma when it solidifies in the air forms
volcanic rock and as it falls to earth forms a pyroclastic rock and that includes
pumice.
MAGMA CHAMBER- large pool of liquid rock beneath the surface of the
earth.
FISSURES (VENTS) - cracks or opening of a volcano, through which lava and
other materials are emitted.
CALDERA - A large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying
of a magma chamber/ reservoir in a volcanic eruption.
DIFFERENT WAYS TO GENERATE MAGMA DECOMPRESSION
MELTING - involves the upward movement of the Earth’s mantle
HOTSPOTS (HOT SPOTS) - Volcanic regions thought to be fed by
underlying mantle that is anomalously hot compared with the surrounding
mantle.
TRANSFER OF HEAT - happens at convergent boundaries, where tectonic
plates collide with each other. This process of heat transfer creates magma.
 DIFFERENT WAYS TO GENERATE MAGMA
1. FLUX MELTING - occurs when water or carbon
dioxide is added to rocks. It occurs with the oceanic plate,
magma rises and creates volcanoes.
2. FLUX - substance like salt, that produces a low
melting point mixture with a metal oxide.
3. SUBDUCTION ZONES- regions where geological
process that takes place at convergent boundaries of
tectonic plates where one plate moves under another and
is forced to sink due to high gravitational potential
energy into the mantle
 TYPES OF MAGMA
- FELSIC MAGMA Molten rock (magma) with a high
concentration of silica, sodium and potassium. It has the highest
gas content and viscosity.
- INTERMEDIATE (ANDESITIC) MAGMA - Liquefied rock
with a silica content higher than mafic magma but lower than
felsic magma.
- MAFIC MAGMA - Liquid rock containing a high level of
magnesium and iron. It has a low gas content and low viscosity,
has high average temperature which contributes to its low
viscosity.
LOW VISCOSITY means that mafic magma is the most fluid of
all magma types.
- ULTRAMAFIC MAGMA - Hottest and fastest flowing magma
 ROCK DEFORMATION
Within the Earth rocks are continually being subjected to forces
that tend to bend, twist or fracture them so they deform ( change
shape or size) or stressed.

KINDS OF STRESS THAT ROCKS EXPERIENCE

-LITHOSTATIC (GEOSTATIC ) STRESS - rock beneath the earth surface
experiences equal pressure exerted on it from all direction because the weight of
the overlying rock.
-DIFFERENTIAL STRESS: in many cases, rock may experience an
additional unequal stress due to tectonic forces.
Tensional stress (stretching) - this is when rock is stretch apart pulled apart
where crust plates diverge, rocks are pulled apart.
Compressional stress ( squeezing ) - this is when rock is pressed, squeezed or
pushed together. Where crustal plates collide, rocks are compressed or pushed.
SHEAR STRESS - which results in slippage and translation. Rock is being
pulled in opposite directions
 
ELASTIC DEFORMATION - For small differential stresses,
less than the yield strength, rock deforms like spring.
BRITTLE DEFORMATION OR FRACTURE - Near the
Earth’s surface rock behaves in its familiar brittle fashion.
DUCTILE DEFORMATION - Deeper than 10-20 kilometers the
enormous lithostatic stress makes it nearly impossible to produce
fracture but the high temperature makes rock softer, less brittle,
more malleable.
JOINTS- are fractures in rocks that show little or no movement at
all.
FAULTS- extremely long & deep break or large crack in a rock.
 
 TYPES OF FAULTS
- DIP- SLIP (NORMAL) FAULT - occurs when brittle
rocks are stretched- tectonic tensional forces are
involved and the movement of blocks of rock is mainly
in the vertical direction ( sinking and rising)
- STRIKE -SLIP FAULT - occurs when brittle rocks
are sheared ( the opposing tectonic forces are at right
angles to compression and tension directions) and the
movement of blocks of rock is chiefly in the horizontal
direction.
DUCTILE DEFORMATION - Rocks buried deep
within the Earth’s crust behave differently when
subjected to differential stress.
 KINDS OF FOLDS
- MONOCLINES-simplest types of folds occur when
the horizontal layers are bent upward so that the two
limbs of the fold are still horizontal.
- SYNCLINES- fold structures when the original rock
layers have been folded download and the two limbs of
the fold dip inward toward the hinge of the fold.
- ANTICLINES- fold structures formed when the
originally rock layers have been folded upward and the
two limbs of the fold dip away from the hinge of the
fold.