 When you think of
"geological processes," maybe the first thing that comes to mind is the Grand
Canyon, pictured at the right. You know that the Grand Canyon got the way it is mostly
because of erosion -- the wearing away of the land by water. But of
course there are several kinds of erosion, and other processes than erosion alter the
geological landscape, so let's take a nice view of the Grand Canyon, take a deep breath,
and jump -- into the world of geological processes:A RAINBOW OF PROCESSES
Here's something from my notebook from back when I took a college
course in geomorphology:
AN OUTLINE OF
GEOLOGICAL PROCESSES
AFFECTING ROCKS
- Caused by events at the Earth's
surface
- Processes that bring things down to
a common level
- Weathering (disintegration of rock
in place)
- Physical
- Expanding because of heating
- Crystal growth
- Removal of heavy weight above
- Activity of plants & animals
- Chemical
- Hydration
- Hydrolysis
- Oxidation
- Carbonation
- Solution
- Mass wasting or removal by gravity
- Landslides
- Mudflows
- Erosion
- Running water
- Groundwater
- Waves, currents, tides & tsunami
- Wind
- Glaciers
- Processes that build things up
- Running water
- Groundwater
- Waves, currents, tides & tsunami
- Wind
- Glaciers (more info)
- Work of living things, including
humans
- Caused by events inside the Earth
- Continental drift (more info)
- Volcanism
- Caused by events off the Earth
- Meteorites
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Nice
books: |