Exogenic and Endogenic Processes

• Exogenic processes shape the surface environment and climate of the Earth at long timescales.
• Exogenic processes are natural occurrences on or near the surface of the earth that leave significant changes on the landscape and even in the ecosystem of an area.
• Endogenic processes can relate to the movement of the earth.
• Metamorphism is the process by which rising temperature and pressure, or changing chemical conditions, transform rocks and minerals.
• Exogenic processes include weathering, which is the disintegration or decomposition of rocks, soils, and minerals together with other materials through contact with Earth’s subsystems.
• Physical weathering, also called mechanical weathering, reduces solid rock to small fragments.
• Pressure-release fracturing, commonly found on rocks previously located at the Earth’s surface, occurs when the pressure on the rock decreases causing the rock to expand and create a fracture.
• Frost wedging occurs when water accumulates in a crack and then freezes causing it to wedge the rock apart.
• Abrasion occurs when rocks, sand grains, and silt collide with one another due to currents or waves causing the rock to become rounded.
• Root wedging occurs when roots grow and expand causing the rock to wedge apart.
• Chemical weathering occurs when air and water chemically react with rock to alter its composition and mineral content.
• Debris Flow is the process when a mass of earth falls on a downslope without water.
• Slumps are a slow downslope movement of loosely consolidated materials or rock and soil layers.
• Dissolution is a process that occurs when water comes into contact with rocks and dissolves the minerals that make up that rock into individual elements.
• Erosion is the process by which the surface of the earth gets worn down.
• Sedimentation is the process when eroded particles suspended in water settle out of it under the effect of gravity.
• Oxidation is a process that occurs when oxygen reacts with other substances, especially with iron through rusting.
• Mudflow is the process when a combined soil and water flow downslope.
• Endogenic Processes include Magmatism, the formation and movement of magma, and Volcanism, when magma escapes from the earth through volcanoes or cracks on the grounds.
• Exogenic Processes are caused by forces from within the earth due to the thermal energy of the mantle and the crust.
• Hydrolysis is a process that occurs when water reacts with one mineral to form a new mineral that has water as part of its crystal structure.
• Mass Wasting is the process by which earth moves downslope under the force of gravity.