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Surface Processes
Fig. 3.2 Section through a limestone plateau to show solution features. WT = water table.
In-situ
River disappears
via sink hole Boulder
Weathered
core stones
Trace of former
river valley,
now dry
Less weathered
core stones
Route of caves
Unweathered
Unweathered granite granite
Emergence of
river
Underground Fig. 3.4 Corestones of less weathered rock within a weath-
river ering profile.
Active layer
Fig. 3.6 Permafrost, (a) Vertical profile through ground containing permafrost. Thickness of permafrost (T) may be 1000 m + .
(b) Temperature distribution with depth. As ground temperature fluctuates between summer maximum and winter minimum,
soadepth of ground (0.5to 3.0 m + )isseasonallyfrozenandthawed(theactivelayer).iw = icewedge;il = icelense Based on data
from Brown (1970) and Stearns (1 966).
within their mass. The water cannot drain away through Many engineering problems arise from this cause in
the still frozen ground below and it accumulates in the areas of permafrost, as in connection with bridge foun-
soil, which thenflowsreadily down slopes, even those as dations, and rail and road construction and maintenance
low as 3 degrees. The amount of moving soil involved is in Alaska, Canada, N. Europe and northern Russia.
large andflowis comparatively rapid. A landscape under Buildings which are heated can be placed a little above
these conditions is reduced to long smooth slopes and ground level with a large air space beneath them. Cold
gently rounded forms. air in winter then circulates under the building and
Near the margins of permafrost areas, where slopes are counteracts the heating effect from it. Piped services to
covered with a mixture offineand coarse rock fragments, the buildings are also placed above ground level to prev-
the slow movement of this surface material over the ent their rupture by ground movement.
frozen ground beneath it takes place by repeated freezing
and thawing (Fig. 3.7). The process is known as solifluc- Insolation
tion( = soil-flow). In hot climates, when a rock surface is exposed to a
considerable daily range of temperature, as in arid and
semi-arid regions, the expansion that occurs during the
Gentle slope
day and the contraction at night, constantly repeated,
weaken the structure of the rock. The outer heated layers
Lobes tend to pull away from the cooler rock underneath and
flakes and slabs split off, a process known as exfoliation.
This weathering is called insolation.
A large range of temperature occurs daily in deserts,
commonly 300C and sometimes as high as 500C; the daily
Thin weak layer
range for rock surfaces is often higher than for air. Strain
is set up in a rock by the unequal expansion and contrac-
tion of its different mineral constituents and its texture is
thereby loosened. A more homogeneous rock, made up
Fig. 3.7 Vertical section through slope affected by solifluc-
largely of minerals having similar thermal expansion,
tion, illustrating lobate character of soil flow. would not be affected so much as a rock containing
several kinds of minerals having different rates of expan-
sion.
Frost-heaving
Under natural conditions, insolation of rock faces may
This occurs when the freezing of the soil results in the result in the opening of many small cracks - some of
formation of layers of segregated ice at shallow depths. hair-like fineness - into which water and dissolved salts
Each lens of ice is separated from the next by a layer of enter; and thus both the decomposition of the rock and
soil, whose water content freezes solid. The ice lenses vary its disintegration are promoted. The crystallization of
in thickness from a few millimetres to about 30 mm. The salts from solution in confined spaces, such as cracks and
total heave of the surface is approximately equal to the interstices (pore spaces) may hasten the process of weath-
aggregate thickness of all the ice layers. ering in deserts and coastal areas in arid regions, e.g. as
The frost-heaving of foundations of buildings is also along the Arabian and Persian coasts.
caused by forces originating in the active layer and is a
common problem in the Arctic.
Biological weathering the Quaternary (p. 28) because much of the continental
Weathering effects which are small in themselves but area between the tropics was drier than at present and to
noticeable in the aggregate can be attributed to plants the north and south lay cooler and colder conditions
and animals {biotic weathering). Plants retain moisture peripheral to the extended glaciers: the former position of
and any rock surface on which they grow is kept damp, permafrost is shown in the figure. Weathering profiles
thus promoting the solvent action of the water. The chem- produced under these earlier conditions are frequently
ical decay of rock is also aided by the formation of veget- preserved beneath more recent drift and the present
able humus, i.e. organic products derived from plants, weathering profiles. Excavations and foundations of
and this is helped by the action of bacteria and fungi. moderate depth may therefore expose rock and soil
Organic acids are thereby added to percolating rain-water weathered under a previous, and perhaps more severe,
and increase its solvent power. Bacteria species may live weathering regime.
in the aerobic and anaerobic pore space of the weathering In previously hot, semi-arid regions, where evapora-
zone, and mobilize C, N, Fe, S and O, so assisting the tion from the ground had been rapid and nearly equal to
process of weathering and sometimes attacking concrete the rainfall, chemical decomposition of the rocks will
and steel. Their mineral by-products can accumulate and have proceeded to great depths and a hard, superficial
cause expansion of the ground if not washed away by crust formed by the deposition of mineral matter just
percollating water. below the soil. The water from the occasional rains carries
The mechanical break-up of rocks is hastened when dissolved salts only a short distance below the surface,
the roots of plants penetrate into cracks and wedge apart where they are retained by capillarity, with the result that
the walls of the crack. as evaporation proceeds a mineral deposit is built up. If
solutions are saturated with calcium carbonate the de-
posit will be a calcareous one (calcrete or kankar), like
Global trends that which covers large areas in India. With ferruginous
Present distribution of the weathering described is illus- solutions, such as would result from the decomposition
trated in Fig. 3.8. Different distributions existed during of basic igneous rocks, a red concretionary deposit may
ICE
Permafrost = Mc
Permafrost = Mc
Extent of
_ Pleistocene
permafrost
Cancer
Equator
Capricorn
Extent of Pleistocene
Extent of Pleistocene
permafrost
permafrost
M = Mechanical Mc= Mechanical weathering dominates Boundary to semi-arid and drier zones
C = Chemical ( including biological) Cm= Chemical weathering dominates Limit of seasonal widespread permafrost
Fig. 3.8 Present distribution of weathering types. Based on data from Washburn (1 979); Meigs (1953); Flint (1957); and
Strakhov(1967).
Cancer
Equator
Capricorn
Fig. 3.9 General distribution of soils. Based on data from Bridges (1970); Kellog (1950); Thornbury (1969); and Walton
(1969).
Frozen
ground
Red-grey Chestnut- Chernozem Grey-brown Podzols Black- Red-yellow Ferallitic Brown Terra
brown Prairie brown earth rosa
Fig. 3.10 Soils of the major climatic vegetation regions. Numbers refer to Fig. 3.9. CaCO3 found in soil profiles of warm dry
regions. Ca, Si, Fe = Calcite, Silica, Iron precipitate, often as a hard durable crust (duricrust): see text.
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be formed, as in many parts of Africa. Major accumula- In many instances present day lowland valleys have been
tions of silica occur as silcrete duricrusts in Australia and
shaped by the streams that occupy them; these were most
S. Africa. They form very resistant horizons up to 5 m active during the interglacial periods when their discharge
thick and are often found capping prominent plateaux was considerably greater than it is at present. Valleys in
and mesas (Fig. 3.1 Ie). It is believed that the silcrete mountains and glaciated areas have been modified by
formed during a period of warm, humid climate that other agencies, such as the action of avalanches, land-
existed at the end of the Tertiary. slides and moving ice. In course of time a valley becomes
The distribution of pedological soils is shown in deepened and widened, and theriveris extended by tribu-
Fig. 3.9. A basic relationship exists between soil type and taries. The area drained by a river and its tributaries is
weathering type (Fig. 3.8) because both reflect climate. called a catchment, orriverbasin. Stages of youth, matur-
Soils can be classified according to their climatic zone andity, and old age may be distinguished in the history of a
soil profiles usually reflect their latitude (Fig. 3.10). river, and topographical forms characteristic of these
stages can be recognized in modern landscapes. Thus
A special deposit, called laterite, exists in certain areas
of S. America, Central and Southern Africa, India, Sri there is the steep-sided valley of the youthful stream; the
Lanka, S.E. Asia, East Indies and Australia. It is rich in broader valley and more deeply dissected landscape of
oxides of aluminium and iron and may have formed the mature river system; and the subdued topography of
under previous climatic conditions. The term iaterite' the catchment of a river in old age.
was originally used to describe material which could ir- Youthful rivers cut gorges in hard, jointed rocks and
reversibly harden when cut from the weathering profile V-shaped valleys in softer rocks, Fig. 3.11a, and are char-
and air dried, so that it could be used as bricks (from the acteristic of many upland areas. A youthful valley fre-
Latin, later - a brick). The word is now used to describe quently follows a zig-zag course, leaving overlapping
many other forms of red soil which contain hard bands spurs which project from either side of the valley. Debris,
and nodules (concretions) but are not self-hardening. loosened by frost, rain or insolation, falls from the valley
sides, to be carried away by the stream and assist in its
work of abrasion. Rain-wash and soil creep (p. 59) also
Erosion and deposition contribute material from the slopes, especially in more
mature stages of valley development, when a mantle of
Rivers, wind, moving ice and water waves are capable of soil has been formed on a land surface. Large movements
loosening, dislodging and carrying particles of soil, sedi- in the form of landslides also contribute to the erosion of
ment and larger pieces of rock. They are therefore de- a valley by transporting material to the river (Fig. 3.1 \b).
scribed as the agents of erosion. Gradually as the headwaters of a river cut back, increas-
ing the length of the river's course, its valley is deepened
The work of rivers and widened into a broader V; slope movement causes
the valley sides to recede and deposits debris on the valley
The work of erosion performed by rivers results in the floor (Fig. 3.1 Ic). Small scree slopes form at the base of
widening and deepening of their valleys. The rate of ero- the valley sides. The deepening and widening, if uninter-
sion is greatly enhanced in times of flood. Rivers are also rupted, continue as shown in thefigureuntil the stage of
agents of transport, and carry much material in suspen- maturity is reached, when there is maximum topograph-
sion, to re-deposit part of it along their course further ical relief (i.e. the difference in height between valley floor
downstream, or in lakes, or in times of flood as levees and adjacent ridge tops). Eventually the tributaries of one
(p. 42) and over the flood plain; ultimately most of the catchment will be separated by only a thin ridge from
eroded material reaches the sea. Some matter is carried in those of its neighbour, and when denudation reduces the
solution and contributes to the salinity of the oceans. The height of the ridges the river can be considered to have
energy which is imparted to sediment moved by a stream, entered its old age: the valley comes to have a wide, flat
thefinerparticles in suspension and the coarser (including floor over which the river follows a winding course, the
boulders) rolled along the bed during floods, performs upper slopes may be convex and the depth of relief is less.
work by abrading the channel of the river. Hollows Such a sequence would be followed by a river in a tem-
known as pot-holes are often worn in the rock of a river- perate climate, if uninterrupted. Under other conditions,
bed by the grinding action of pebbles which are swirled as in a drier climate, the valley slopes stand at a steeper
round by eddying water. Such a water-worn rock surface angle because they are less affected by atmospheric weath-
is easily recognized, and if observed near but above an ering and slope instability, particularly landslides: the
existing stream it marks a former course at a higher level. ridges between valleys are then sharper. Flat-topped hills
may be left in partly denuded horizontal strata where a
Valleys layer of hard rock such as sandstone, or a dolerite sill,
A drainage system is initiated when, for example, a new forms the capping of the hill; the term mesa (= table) is
land surface is formed by uplift of the sea floor. Streams used for this topographical form. Continued weathering
begin to flow over it and excavate valleys, their courses and erosion reduce the mesa to isolated, steep-sided,
mainly directed by the general slope of the surface but pillar-like hills (Fig. 3.1 \e,f).
also controlled by any irregularities which it may possess. Youth, maturity and old age constitute a 'cycle' of