EROSION

PROCESS

Engineering Geology & Geomorphology

Agents of Weathering & Erosion - Wind

The winds cause enormous erosion of the rocks. It is entirely a mechanical

erosion involving physical breaking down of larger rock masses into finer
particles.

This process of disintegration takes place in three different ways:

1. Deflation
2. Abrasion
3. Attrition
 Deflation

● The blowing away of finer products of rock-waste by the wind is

called ‘deflation’.

● A fast blowing wind has a great amount of energy to disrupt and

blow away loose or loosely held rocks.

● Loose sediments (such as alluvium, desert and beach sands) and

soils etc. are readily subjected to this kind of erosion.
 Abrasion

● A wind charged with rock particles which act as sharp bits, is

capable of scratching or abrading the rocks obstructing its
passage.
● This effect is so powerful and intense that even huge rocks
standing out as hillocks may be completely levelled down.
● There being a greater concentration of rock particles nearer
the ground, the rocks show a greater amount of erosion on their
lower parts. As a result some rock masses can be seen
projecting above the ground, with a narrow constriction or a
neck at their base, being known as pedestal rocks.
 Attrition

● The rock particles carried by wind are further worn down by their
mutual scratching, known as attrition.

● The materials of softer nature are made into a fine powdery product.

● The harder ones such as sand grains are worn into finer grains.

● The initially sharp and angular fragments become more and more
rounded.
 Controlling factor of Wind Erosion

● Nature of the rock

● Velocity

● Amount of rock fragments

● Presence of moisture

● Presence of vegetation
 Transportation By Wind

● Wind also acts as a powerful transporting agent.

● The distance covered by the fine dust in the wind is not
possible by any other agent.
● The products of wind-erosion are simultaneously transported
or carried away.
● The coarser and heavier fragments may move on or go over
longer distances, while the finer particles are easily carried by
the wind and transported over far greater distances, even
may be taken from one continent to another continent.
 Transportation By Wind-
Controlling Factor

● Velocity

● Size of fragments

● Density of the fragments

 Deposition By Wind

● When the velocity of fast blowing wind is checked by any obstructions

or otherwise, these sediments are dumped or deposited.
● The vegetation may also trap advancing sediments and check their
further movement.
● Water bodies like lakes and rivers also act as traps digesting the
sediments moving close to the ground surface.
● Oceans also keep on receiving wind borne sediments either directly
blown in by the winds or through the rivers.
● The fine dust is carried high up in the atmosphere, which may be carried
over enormous distances.
● This dust is brought down by the rain water and deposited.
Resulting Features-Desert
Deserts are the vast sandy lands
formed by prolonged and persistent
wind erosion. Arid climate (dry and
hot climate) is a factor which greatly
favours the formation and expansion
of desert conditions. In a desert one
can see the entire geological work
being performed by the wind,
including erosion, transportation and
deposition.
Resulting Features-Oases
The deflation may at times result in
the formation of big depressions
within the sandy lands of the deserts.
The underground water checks
further erosion at the water table
level as the moist and wet sediments
can not be removed from their place.
Such depressions formed up to the
water table level, in which water
starts oozing making even small
lakes, are called oases.
Resulting Features-Sand Dunes
In the deserts and beach areas sands may
accumulate forming mounds or hillocks
known as ‘Sand dunes’. A dune shows a
gentle slope on the windward side (side
facing the wind) and a steep slope on the
opposite or leeward side. With the
blowing of wind the sand particles are
lifted from the windward side and
thrown over to the leeward side. As a
result, the sand dunes also advance.
Resulting Features-Loess

The fine dust of wind erosion thrown in

the atmosphere is normally carried over
considerable distances. Ultimately it may
be brought down by the rains and
deposited. Such deposits are called loess.
These are very fragile and soft and do
not show any layering. Having fine
particles of clay, feldspar, quartz, mica
and calcite as its constituents, a loess
often shows a buff and pale color. Such
deposits provide porous and highly fertile
soil.
Agents of Weathering & Erosion - River

A river or a stream is a very powerful agent of erosion bringing about

significant changes on the earth’s Surface. The process of disintegration
and decomposition of the rocks by river may be of mechanical or chemical
nature.

This process of disintegration takes place in different ways:

1. Hydraulic Action
2. Corrasion
3. Attrition
4. Corrosion
Agents of weathering & Erosion_river

Hydraulic Action: Corrasion:

This involves physical The rock fragments or bits

breaking down of the rocks carried by a river also start
due to pressure exerted by scouring the river bed and
the running water. The rocks the sides. This kind of
exposed along the bed and erosion by the scratching
sides of river are broken action is called corrasion or
apart and carried away along abrasion.
with the other loose
materials.
Agents of weathering & Erosion_river

Attrition: Corrosion:
It is the mutual rubbing or It is the process of solution. The
scratching action of the river water, when having some
materials being carried, causing dissolved gases or other acidic or
their further disintegration and alkaline solutions, act as a
ultimately resulting in the powerful solvent. Some of the
formation of rounded carbonate rocks may be
fragments like boulders, completely dissolved away by
pebbles, sands and fine the water rich in carbon dioxide.
products like silt and clay.
 Erosion By RIver- Controlling
Factor
● Nature of the rocks: Softer and readily soluble varieties get easily worn down than
others.
● Inclination of the rocks: Erosion occurs with much greater ease when the beds are
horizontal or inclined downstream.
● Presence of Joints: Jointed rocks get easily loosened and detached from their place.
● Velocity of Water: Velocity of river water controls the mechanical breaking-down of
the rocks. A rapid flow considerably increases the abrasion and the attrition effects also.
● Nature of Water: Acidic or alkaline water with dissolved gases and other compounds
may bring about enormous chemical decomposition.
● Land-form: Hilly or semi-hilly tracts provide a higher gradient to stream, favouring a
higher velocity and get eroded to a greater extent than flat or plain tracts.
 Transportation By River

● All streams, regardless of size, transport some rock Material

● Streams also sort the solid sediment they transport because finer, lighter
material is carried more readily than larger, heavier particles.

● Streams transport their load of sediment in three ways:

(1) in solution (dissolved load),

(2) in suspension (suspended load), and

(3) sliding or rolling along the bottom (bed load).

 Dissolved Load

● Most of the dissolved load is brought to a stream by groundwater and is dispersed

throughout the flow.

● When water percolates through the ground, it acquires soluble soil compounds.

● Then it seeps through cracks and pores in bedrock, dissolving additional mineral
matter.

● Eventually much of this mineral-rich water finds its way into streams.

● Precipitation of the dissolved mineral matter occurs when the chemistry of the
water changes or the river encounters an arid climate where the rate of
evaporation is high.
 Suspended Load

● Most streams carry the largest part of their load in suspension.

● Usually only very fine sand, silt, and clay particles are carried this way, but
during flood stage larger particles can also be transported in suspension.

● The type and amount of material carried in suspension are controlled by

two factors: the flow velocity and the settling velocity of each sediment
grain.

● The slower the settling velocity and higher the flow velocity, the longer a
sediment particle will stay in suspension and the farther it will be carried
downstream.
 Bed Load

● Coarse material, including coarse sands, gravels, and

even boulders typically move along the bed of the
channel as bed load. The particles that make up the
bed load move by rolling, sliding, and saltation.
Sediment moving by saltation appears to jump or
skip along the stream bed.
 Deposition By River

● A check in the velocity of a river results in deposition of its load.

● Depending upon the check in velocity, part of the load which the
river is unable to carry, gets deposited, while the remaining part is
carried further.
● On the way of a river, sediments once deposited may again be
carried over because of an increase in the amount and velocity of
water.
● Most of the rivers end in oceans or lakes while some end inland. The
sediments carried by a river are ultimately deposited in the lakes or
oceans.
● Part of the sediments are also left behind in the plain where the
flow becomes too slow, these are known as alluvium or alluvial
 Erosional Landforms By
River

● V-Shaped Valley
● Gorges & Canyons
● Waterfall
● Pot hole
● Stream Terraces
● River Meanders
Valleys

A stream valley consists of a channel and

the surrounding terrain that directs
water to the stream. It includes the valley
floor, which is the lower, flatter area that
is partially or totally occupied by the
stream channel, and the sloping valley
walls that rise above the valley floor on
both sides.
Gorges

The process of valley deepening

often gives rise to magnificent
surface features known as Gorges
and canyons.

Georges are very deep and narrow

valley with very steep and high walls
on either side.
Waterfalls
Wherever on the way of a river a
harder rock is followed by an
underlying softer bed, a quick
erosion of the soft bed steepens
the slope. The slope may ultimately
become vertical. In such a case the
river waterfall vertically below
making a ‘Waterfall’.
Potholes
Potholes are round / oval shaped
holes in the bedrock of a river bed.

They are formed when sediment

and other material carried by a
river scours the bed.
Stream Terraces
These are bench like ledges or flat
surfaces that occur on the sides of
many river valley. From a distance
they may appear as successions of
several steps of a big natural
staircase rising up.
 River Meandering

When a stream flows along a curved, zigzag path acquiring a

loop-shaped course, it is said to meander. Meanders are developed
mostly in the middle and lower reaches of major stream where lateral
erosion and depositions along opposite banks become almost
concurrent geological activities of the stream, when a stream is flowing
through such a channel it cannot be assumed to have absolutely
uniform velocities all across its width. Thus the same river is eroding its
channel on the concave side and making its progress further inland
whereas on the convex side it is depositing. A loop shaped outline for
the channel is a natural outcome where a stream seen from a distance.
River Meandering
Oxbow Lakes
In the advanced stages of a meandering
stream only relatively narrow strips of land
separate the individual loops from each other.
During high-water times, as during small
floods, when the stream acquires good volume
of water, it has a tendency to flow straight,
some of the intervening strips of land between
the loops get eroded. The stream starts
flowing straight in those limited stretches,
thereby leaving the loops or loops on the sides
either completely detached or only slightly
connected. This isolated curved or looped
shaped area of the river, which often contains
some water are called oxbow lakes.
 Depositional Landform By
River

Deltas

Alluvial Fans and Cones

Natural Levees
Deltas
Deltas are defined as alluvial
deposits of roughly triangular shape
that are deposited by major river at
their mouth, i.e.. where they enter a
sea.
Natural Levees

Meandering rivers that occupy

valleys with broad floodplains tend
to build natural levees by riverbank
deposits parallel to their channels
on both banks. Natural levees are
built by years of successive floods.
Alluvial Fans & Cones
Alluvial fans form where tributaries enter
into broad valleys from the steep hillsides
or mountain ranges. With the stream
competency suddenly reduced, most of the
transported sediment is rapidly deposited.
The fans are usually formed by mud flow or
sheetwash deposition during periods of
heavy rain and runoff, although stream
deposition does occur. The only difference
between an alluvial fan and cone is that the
cone tends to be somewhat steeper and
exhibits a more conical shape.