Learning Competency 11: Describe how rocks undergo weathering Streams- flowing water will lift and carry
l lift and carry small sediments such as silt and
Learning Competency 12: Explain how the products of weathering are
carried away by erosion and deposited elsewhere
Continental Drift Theory - proposed by Alfred Wegener
- the Earth was once a giant landmass called Pangaea
Weathering- the process of breaking down rocks into smaller pieces called
sediments
Types of Weathering
1. Mechanical weathering - a process wherein rocks are broken down
into smaller pieces without changing its chemical composition due
to different temperatures and water
- Example: rocks in the highway develop cracks and small fractures
because of too much exposure to heat
2. Chemical weathering - a process wherein rock materials are changed
into other substances that have different physical and chemical
compositions
- some agents of chemical weathering include water, strong acids,
and oxygen
- water hydrates and breaks the minerals in the rocks through the
process of hydrolysis
- oxygen combines with metals to produce oxides while acids from
vents and volcanoes increase the speed of weathering process
- Example: when rainwater hydrolyzed the feldspar minerals to
form clay minerals
3. Biological weathering- a process when living things, such as insects and
roots of the trees, contribute to the disintegration of rock materials
- Example: mosses and fungi that grow on rocks produce weak
acids that can destroy or dissolve the rocks
Erosion- the transportation of weathered rocks
- agents like running water or rivers, wind, gravity, groundwater, wave
currents, and glaciers contribute to erosion
Types of Erosion
1. Water erosion - a type of erosion where the water carries the
sediments to different parts of the bodies of water such as rivers
sand
Stream Erosion and Deposition
Where water moves more swiftly there will be more erosion.
Where the water slows down, sediments will be deposited.
Ocean Dynamics - tidal action and waves carry away weathered materials
Types of Erosion
2. Wind erosion - happens when light materials, such as small rocks and
pebbles, are carried by wind to different places
Wind Transport of Sediments
Wind will carry fine, dry sediments over long distances.
Wind Transport of Dust
Transport by Gravity
When sediments are weathered they may be transported downward by
gravity. The general term for this is mass wasting. When sediments are
weathered they may be transported downward by gravity as a slump.
Loose sediments transported by gravity are called scree.
3. Glacial erosion- happens when the ice moves downhill and plucks out
chunks of rocks and causes scraping between the ice and the rock
- plucking and scraping can lead to the development of other landforms if,
for example, the glaciers hit a mountain and erode it
Glaciers
Glacial ice drags rocky material that scours the surface it flows over . The
glacier deposits debris as it melts.
Glaciers are large ice fields that slowly flow downhill over time.
4. Soil erosion
- happens when the top soil is removed and leaves the soil infertile
- this is caused by wind or flood in an area
Deposition
- the laying down of sediments to its depositional environment or final
Destination
- the depositional environment can be continental, coastal, or marine
• continental includes streams, swamps, caves, and deserts
• coastal includes lagoons, estuaries, and deltas
• marine includes slopes and bottom of the ocean or abyssal zone
Deposition Formation- transported sediments are deposited in layers and
generate strata like those found in the Grand Canyon