 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: |