E-Learning Material Geomorphology F

6 Year Integrated M. Tech.
Geotechnology and
Geoinformatics
e-Learning Material
PAPER CODE: MTIGT0506
GEOMORPHOLOGY AND MODERN

GEODYNAMICS
Dr. J. SARAVANAVEL
Assistant Professor
Centre for Remote Sensing
Bharathidasan University
Tiruchirappalli- 620023
Email: drsaraj@gmail.com
e-learning Material – Geomorphology and Modern Geodynamics
Dr.J.Saravanavel, Assistant Professor, Centre for Remote Sensing, Bharathidasan University. drsaraj@gmail.com
MTIGT0506: GEOMORPHOLOGY AND MODERN GEODYNAMICS
1. Basic Principles of Geomorphology.
2. Denudational Geomorphology: need for studying the denudational geomorphology -

Process of weathering - Types of landforms - Their expressions and manifestations (In Field,
Aerial Photographs and Satellite Image) - Resources, Hazards and Environmental appraisals
and Management in Denudational Geomorphic Systems.
Tectonic Geomorphology: Need for Studying the Tectonic Geomorphology - Types of

Landforms - Their origin and manifestations (in field, Aerial Photographs and Satellite
Images) - Resources, Hazards and Environmental Appraisals And Management in Tectano
Geomorphic Systems.
3. Fluvial Geomorphology: Need for studying the Fluvial Geomorphology - Drainages

(Classification, Morphology and Types) - Life Cycle of River Systems - Constructional and
Destructional Landforms (in Youthful, Mature and Old Stages) - Migratory behavior of
rivers - Manifestation of Fluvial Landforms (in field, Aerial Photographs and Satellite
Images) - Resources, Hazards and Environmental Appraisals and Management in Riverine
Systems.
Coastal Geomorphology: Need for Studying Coastal Geomorphology - Coastal Zone

Processes - Classification of Shorelines, - Constructional and Destructional Landforms( in
Emerging, Submerging, Neutral and Compound – Coasts) - Manifestations of Coastal
Landforms (In Field, Aerial Photographs and Satellite Images) - Resources, Hazards and
Environmental Appraisals And Management ff Coastal Systems.
4. Aeolian Geomorphology: Need for Studying Aeolian Geomorphology - Processes in Arid

Region - Landform Types and Morphology, Manifestations of Aeolian Land Forms (in field,
Aerial Photographs and Satellite Images) - Resources, Hazards and Environmental
Appraisals and Management of Aeolian Systems.

Volcanic Geomorphology: Need For Studying Volcanic Geomorphology - Origin Of
Volcanoes - Spatial Distribution of Volcanoes Around The World - Different Volcanic
Landforms and their Manifestations (in field, Aerial Photographs and Satellite Images) -
Resources, Hazards and Environmental Appraisals and Management of Volcanic Systems.
5. Ground Water Generated Landforms: Need for its Study – Landform Types - Their
Expressions (In Field, Air Photo and Satellite Images).
Bio-genic Landforms: Need For its Study – Landform Types - Their Expressions (In Field,
Air Photo and Satellite Images).
Glacial Geomorphology: Need For its Study – Landform Types - Their Expressions (In
Field, Air Photo and Satellite Images).
Text Books:
1. Thornbury, W.D., Principles of Geomorphology, John Wiley and Sons, 2nd Edition, New
York. 1985.
2. Jha. V.C., Geomorphology and Remote Sensing, ACB Publications.
3. Verstappen, H. Remote Sensing in Geomorphology, Elsevier, Amsterdam. 1977.
References:
1. American Society of Photogrammetry, Manual of Remote Sensing, ASP Falls Church,

Virginia. 1983.
2. Drury, S.A A guide to Remote Sensing Interpreting Images of Earth, Oxford Science
Publications, Oxford. 1990.
3. Gupta R.P Remote Sensing Geology, Springer - Verlag - New York, London, 1991.
4. Gary L.Prost Remote Sensing For Geologists - A Guide to Image Interpretation, Gordon
and Breach Science Publishers, The Netherlands. 1997.
5. Doehring, Geomorphology in Arid Regions, Allen and Unwin, London. 1980.
6. Verstappen,H. Applied Geomorphology, Elsevier, Amsterdam. 1983.

7. Ramasamy, SM. Trends in Geological Remote Sensing - Rawat Publishers, Jaipur, 1996.
8. Rao. D.P, Remote Sensing for Earth Resources - Association of Exploration

Geophysicists, 2nd Edition, Hyderabad, 1999.
9. Surendra Singh, Geomorphology and Remote Sensing in Environmental Management,

Scientific publishers, 1992.
10. Tripathi. N.K. Remote Sensing in Geosciences, Anmol Publications, 1998.
11. David Paine, Aerial Photography & Image Interpretation for Resource Management, John
Wiley & Sons, 1981.
12. Keller E.A., Environmental Geology, CBS Publishers, 1985.
13. Chouhan. T.S., Applied Remote Sensing and Photo Interpretation, Vigyan Prakashan,
1996.
14. Rice R.J, Fundamentals of Geomorphology, E.L.B.S, Longman, 1988.
15. Chouhan, T.S., Readings in Remote Sensing Applications, Scientific publishers, 1992.
16. Ramasamy, SM., Remote Sensing in Geology, Rawat Publishers
17. Ramasamy, SM., Remote Sensing in Geomorphology, New India Publishing Agency,
New Delhi, 2005.
18. Ramasamy, SM., C.J. Kumanan, The Indian Context – Allied Publishers, Chennai.
19. Ramasamy, SM., C.J. Kumanan, Sivakumar, Bhoopsingh, Geomatics in Tsunami, New
India Publishing Agency, New Delhi.

Introduction to
GEOMORPHOLOGY
e – Learning Material: Unit-1
 Geomorphology is the study of the

morphology or form of the Earth’s surface
 The study of landforms on or near the
Earth’s surface and the processes working
on them
 Geomorphology is the sub-discipline of
geology that describes the physical
changes of the surface of the earth over
time
 Geomorphology is the science of
landforms – their origin, evolution, form
and spatial distribution of Continental and
Submarine landforms

Dr.J.Saravanavel, Assistant Professor, Centre for Remote Sensing,
Bharathidasan University. drsaraj@gmail.com 1
Geomorphology relates to all the other disciplines of
geology in two directions:
Tectonics, petrology, geochemistry, stratigraphy, and
climate determine the geomorphology of the earth and
its regions by controlling the principal influences on
landscape.
Therefore evidence from observations of the

landscape in turn constrain the tectonic, petrologic,
geochemical, stratigraphic, and climatic history of the
earth and its regions
Landform Controls
Driving forces
•solar radiation
•gravity
•earth's internal heat
Resisting forces
•lithology
•geologic structure
Processes: interaction of driving and resisting forces

Keith – First person to use the term Geomorphology
in 1894
Earlier, it was called as Physiography
But Physiography includes climatology, meterology,
Oceanography, mathematical geography and
landforms
The term “Geomorphology has come as a result of
dissatisfaction with the term of Physiography
Geomorphology is primarily geology.
Development of Geomorphology
In the 17th & early 18th century, surface features of
the earth were commonly attributed to catastrophic,
often biblical-like events; (Flood, Earthquake,
Eruption, Tsunamis, Meteors)
- a school of thought referred to as
"catastrophism"
During the late 18th & 19th century, the works of

Hutton, Playfair, & Lyell introduced the concept of
“uniformitarianism” (Mountain building, Erosion,
deposition, glaciers)
“The present is the Key to the Past”
By the late 19th century, Gilbert postulated that
landforms reflect an adjustment between geomorphic
processes and geology

Uniformitarianism, in the philosophy of naturalism,
assumes that the same natural laws and processes that
operate in the universe now, have always operated in the
universe in the past and apply everywhere in the
universe.
It is frequently summarized as "the present is the key to

the past," because it holds that all things continue as they
were from the beginning of the world.
The concept of uniformity in geological processes can be

traced back to the Persian geologist, Avicenna (Ibn Sina),
in The Book of Healing, published in 1027.
Modern uniformitarianism was formulated by Scottish

naturalists in the late 18th century, starting with the work
of the geologist James Hutton, which was refined by John
Playfair and popularised by Charles Lyell's Principles of
Geology in 1830.
The term uniformitarianism was coined by William

Whewell, who also coined the term catastrophism for the
idea that the Earth was shaped by a series of sudden,
short-lived, violent events.

Early contributions to geomorphology
Herodotus (485-425 BC) – Father of history
He has made some geological observations
He observed the yearly increment of sand and silt in
the Nile river and stated that “Egypt as Gift of Nile”
He noted shells in the hills of Egypt and concluded
that the palaeo sea up to lower Egypt
Aristotile (384-322 BC) – He made some observation on origin
of Spring
He believe that the source of spring water is from the
percolation of rainwater and water formed within the earth by
condensation of air
Dry land can be submerged.
Land can be raised from beneath the ocean.
Described erosion by rivers, and deposition in deltas

Strabo (54BC – 25AD) – He traveled widely in Itlay
and observed sinking and rising lands
He inferred that the summit of mount Vesuvius was
of volcanic origin
He also observed that the size of the delta of river
varied to the regions to regions
Seneca (…– 65AD) – He recognized that the valleys

are developed due to stream erosion
THE DAWN OF MODERN GEOMORPHIC IDEAS

Avicenna (980-1037 AD) – He opined that the
mountains are formed due to uplifting of ground or
removing of soft rocks by erosion of stream
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-
1519) studied the topography
of the Arno River basin, drew
the first contour map of a
whole river basin, and
believed that rivers carved
their valleys and shaped
topography.

Targioni-Tozetti (1712 – 1984)
Italian who recognized differential stream erosion

He was the first person to say that age of the earth is
not in terms of 1000’s of years
Frenchman Guetthard (1715-1786) (Geologist)
First to recognize the gradation of mountains
He say that the materials removed from hills not
simply deposited in ocean, but develop the flood
plains
He was the first to argue that sea is a powerful
destroyer than the rivers (Massive destruction of
chalk hills, N France)
Evolve the fundamental principles of Denudation and
first to recognize the volcanic landforms
Hutton’s Era (1726 – 1797) Basically Physician

interested in Geology from Edinburgh, Scot land

Hutton’s Era (1726 – 1797) Geologist from Scot land
Propounded the Granite was igneous origin

Evolve the concept of “Present is the Key to the Past”
Established the doctrine of “uniformitarianism” in
opposition to that of catasotrophism
His first book “Theory of Earth” and 2nd one “Theory of
Earth with proofs and illustrations”
Werner (1749-1817) theorized that all mountains

formed under water, and were ultimately sculpted by
rapidly receding oceans.

Gilbert’s View of Dynamic Adjustment
• Landforms reflect a unique accommodation between dominant processes and
local geology.
Agassiz : Recognized glacial landforms in Europe -

introduced the concept of Ice Ages (1837)
Davis (1850-1934) – “The great definer and analyst”

He gave a new life to geomorphology. He introduced
the genetic methods of landform description
Propounded the concept of geomorphic cycle and

there from evolution of landforms
He explained differences in landforms to differences in

geological structures, geological processes and stages
of development

THE MODERN ERA
The modern era has refocused geomorphology as a

predictive science, making G.K. Gilbert the most
important early thinker in the discipline.
There were many leaders in the 20th century, but at

least 2 stand out - Bagnold and Leopold.

Effects of
Dam
Construction
on River
Channels

RECENT TRENDS IN GEOMORPHOLOGY
A tendency for geomorphology to become more strictly
geological than geographical as a result of an increasing
application to geomorphic studies of other phases of
geology
 Mineralogy in the study of weathering
 Stratigraphic and paleontology methods in
palaeogeomorphology
The development of regional geomorphology, which
attempt to divide the continents into areas of similar
geomorphic features and history
Application of geomorphic principles in groundwater, soil
science, engineering geology,
FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPT OF GEOMORPHOLOGY

1. The same physical processes and laws that operate
today operated through out geologic time, although
not necessarily always with same intensity as now.
This is based on the important principle of modern geology and is
known as the principles of uniformitarianism
It was first by Hutton in 1785, beautifully restated by Playfair in 1802
and popularized by Lyell with lot of editions
Hutton taught that the “The present is key to the past”, but he
applied this principles very rigidly and argue that the geological
processes operated through out the geological time with same
intensity. We know now this not true
Glaciers were more significant during Pleistocene and during the
other periods than now
Climates have not always distributed as now
Some regions that are now humid have been desert. The areas now
deserts have been humid

2. Geologic structure is a dominant control factor in the
evolution of landforms and is reflected in them.
W.M. Davis stated earlier that the major control factor in

the development of landforms are structures, process
and stage
Today there are some geologists who doubt the validity
of stage as a major control factor. But no geologists
doubts the important of process and structures
In general, structural features such as fold, fault, joint,
etc. of rocks are much older than the geomorphic forms
developed upon them
3. To a large degree the earth’s surface possess relief

because the geomorphic processes operates at
different rates.
Different gradation of the earth surface due to the

variation in lithology and structure from place to place of
earth crust
Hence they behave with varying degrees of resistance to
the gradational processes
Differences in rock composition and structures are not
only reflected in regional geomorphic variability but in
the local topography as well
The local intensity of particular processes may change
notably in response to differences in such factors such
as temperature, moisture, altitude, topographic
configuration and the vegetal cover

4. Geomorphic processes leave their distinct imprint
upon landforms and each geomorphic process
develops its own characteristics assemblage of
landforms.
Just as species of plants and animals have their

diagnostic characteristics, same way landforms have
their distinguishing features depending upon the
geomorphic process responsible for their development
Floodplains, alluvial plains and deltas are by the stream
action
Sinkholes and caverns are by groundwater
Morains and drumblins by glaciers
Sand dunes by aeolian actions
5. As the different erosional agents act upon the earth

surface there is produced an orderly sequence of
landforms.
The landforms possess distinctive characteristics

depending upon the stage of their developments
It is probably true that most geomorphologists believe
that landforms have an orderly and sequential
development in youthful, mature and old stage as
postulated by Davis

Usually, most of the topographic features have been developed in
current cycle of erosion, but there may exist within an area
remnants of features produced prior cycles
It is a rare thing to find landscape assemblages which can be
attributed solely to one geomorphic processes, even though we
can recognize the dominant one
Horberg (1952) classify the landforms into 1) simple, 2) compound,
3) monocyclic, 4) multicyclic, 5) exhumed or resurrected
landscapes
Simple landscapes – by a single dominant processes
Compound landscapes – by two or more geomorphic processes
Monocyclic landscapes –the imprint of only one cyclic of erosion
Multicyclic landscapes – by the more than one cyclic of erosion
Exhumed or resurrected landscapes – formed during the geological past,
then buried and now exposed for erosion
7. Little of the earth’s topography is older than Tertiary and

most of it no older than Pleistocene
The age of the topographic features with erosion surfaces dating
back to Cretaceous or even as far as the Precambrian.
These are very rare, they are exhumed forms (buried and exposed)
Most of the present topographic features are Pleistocene and only
some of the topographic features are date back to Tertiary
Ashley (1931) believed that the most of the world scenery like
mountains, valleys, shores, lakes, etc. are Post-Miocene
He estimated that the 90% of the present topography belonging to
Post-Tertiary age
But geological structures very old compare to topographic features
developed upon them
Himalayas were probably first folded in Cretaceous and latter in
Eocene and Miocene, but its present elevation was attained only in
Pleistocene

8. Proper interpretation of present day landscape is
impossible without a full appreciation of the many fold
influences of the geological and climatic changes
during Pleistocene.
Climatic changes during the Pleistocene have had far-
reaching effects upon present day topography
Glaciations directly affected many million sq km
Many stream courses were altered as a result of ice
invasions for example: Ohio, Missouri, Mississippi
World sea level were affected. Withdrawal of sea water
and form the huge ice sheets lead to lowering of sea
level to 300 – 500 ft
During the interglacial ages, sea level again raised
9. An appreciation of world climate is necessary to a

proper understanding of the varying importance of
the different geomorphic process
The climatic factors such as temperature and

precipitation influence the operation of geomorphic
features
Some detailed studies indicate that the climatic factors
influence the topographic details
Climatic factures controls the vegetal covers,
precipitation, evaporation
Differences in climatic conditions as related to slopes
facing the sun and those are not exposed

10. Geomorphology, although concerned primarily with
present day landscapes, attains its maximum
usefulness by historical extension.
Geomorphology concerns itself primarily with the origin
of the present landscapes, but in most landscape, there
are present form that date back to previous geologic
epochs or period
So geomorphologist must adopt historical approach to
identify the geomorphic history
Palaeogeomorphology deals with the ancient
topography and paleolandforms
GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
Depending upon their individual nature and mode of
operation, the natural agencies may be classified broadly into
two categories
Earthmovements, earthquakes and volcanic necessarily

have their origin underneath the surface of the earth.
Therefore, they may be classified as endogenous or hypogene
processes
That is the geological processes originating and operating

within the earth are called endogenous or hypogene
processes
The blowing wind, running and underground water, waves

and currents of water bodies (Lakes, sea, oceans), glaciers,
blowing sand, etc. are originating and operating on the
surface of the earth are called as the exogenous or epigene
processes.

Geomorphic Processes
Exogenetic or Epigene Endogenetic or Hypogene
Gradation Diastrophism Volcanism
Degradation Aggradations Role of Human and

other organism
Weathering Mass Wasting Erosion
Running Water Running Water
Groundwater Groundwater
Waves, Currents Waves, Currents
Wind Wind
Glaciers Glaciers
Endogenous or hypogene processes are generally develop the

irregularities upon the earth surface. For example:- accumulation
of lava due to volcanic eruption causes the formation of volcanic
mountain or plateau in vast plain surface and the severe
earthquakes create the lot of irregularities in the surface of the
earth
Endogenic processes expansion of oceanic crust and continual
drifting of continental crust
Diastrophism: is a general term for all crustal movements
produced by endogenic Earth forces that produce ocean basins,
continents, plateaus and mountains
Diastrophism: involves orogenic processes marked by the
deformation of the Earth’s crust and epiorogenic processes which
result in regional uplift and subsidence of the crust without large
scale deformation
Orogenesis, or mountain building, tends to be a localized
process that distorts pre-existing strata

Volcanism: There are nearly 60,000 volcanoes on the
earth and about 50,000 occur as seamounts in the Pacific
Ocean floor. Accordingly, it is obvious that the volcanoes
have an important role in modifying the Earth’s surface
Upwelling of magma through the vent and fissure

type volcanoes naturally modifies the topography
Extensive flow of magma creates the vast plateaus

like Deccan plateau in western India
The crustal rocks may also be deformed by the

intrusion of magma producing domal structures
The exogenous or epigene processes always tend to

reduce the surface of the earth to a continuous and gradual
slope with out any irregularities
The process of development of a continuous and gradual
slope of the land-mass may be defined as the gradation
The mechanism of reducing the altitude of a highlands due
to its wear and tear processes may be described as the
degradation
The materials or sediments result from the degradation are
deposited in the low lying lands like river, lake basins, surface
depression are called aggradation
 The aggradations and degradation occur simultaneously
upon the earth surface to reduce the same to continuous and
gradual slope

The natural processes which are play in grading the surface of the
globe in four different stages as follows
1.Mechanical breaking down of the rock masses

2.Decomposition of the rock due to chemical reactions
3.Transportation of broken rock debris, sand, silt, etc.
4.Deposition of the transported materials under
favourable condition
Weathering: Weathering which is responsible for disintegration and

decomposition of rocks. Through various processes reduce the great
mountains into fine particles (sand, clay)
The factors which are influence the weathering are structure of the rock,
the topography, vegetation of the terrain, climate, etc.
Weathering may be classified into Physical and Chemical weathering
Physical weathering: also called mechanical weathering due to
Rocks expand due to unloading of rock masses
Repeated heating and cooling arising out of

fluctuations in temperature
Activities of organisms
Chemical Weathering: Due to chemical processes, disintegration

of rock will take place. The following are the some of important
chemical weathering processes such as
Hydration
Hydrolysis
Oxidation
Carbonation
Solution

Erosion and Transportation of Materials: Erosion encompasses acquisition of
loose materials, grinding and wearing down of the bedrock by the material,
mutual attrition of particles and transportation of the debris and also taken the
materials by solution
The following are the important agents of erosion
 Running water
 Groundwater
 Waves & currents
 Wind and
 Glaciers
Human Activity: is also recognized to modify the Earth’s surface,

large quarries, rock cut and fills and other excavations are some
examples
Geomorphic Equilibrium
• A balance exists between landforms and

processes;
• This balance is dependent on the interaction of

energy, force and resistance;
• When thresholds are exceeded, a temporary

disequilibrium will trigger a response to meet a
new equilibrium condition;
• One process may affect others;
• Equilibrium conditions are more obvious over

extended timeframes.

DENUDATIONAL
GEOMORPHOLOGY
E – Learning Material: Unit-2
DENUDATIONAL GEOMORPHOLOGY
Definition
Landforms and Land features caused by

physical process and chemical process of
disintegration.

NEED FOR STUDYING DENUDATIONAL -
GEOMORPHOLOGY
 Discrimination of Rock types
 Mapping and understanding of planation

surfaces
 Detection of active tectonism by dating

Planation surfaces occurring at
different levels
 Mineral targetting in Talus cone, fan etc.,
 Depth and degree of weathering and

there from erosion vulnerability
 Groundwater targetting
 Soil profile - Palaeo climatology and
 Landslide hazard zonation

Denudational Processes
Weathering
weathering is the
combined action
of physical
weathering, in
which rocks are
fractured and
broken, and
chemical
weathering, in
which rock
minerals are
transformed to
softer or more
soluble forms
Figure 14.1, p. 483
Physical Weathering
Physical weathering produces regolith from

massive rock by the action of forces strong enough
to fracture the rock (frost action, salt-crystal growth,
unloading, and wedging by plant roots)
in chemical weathering, the minerals that make up

rocks are chemically altered or dissolved (the end
products are often softer and bulkier forms that are
more susceptible to erosion and mass movement)

Physical weathering due to
• pressure release
• water: freeze - thaw cycles
• crystallization of salt in cracks
• thermal expansion and contraction
All this increases the total surface area

exposed to weathering processes.
In mechanical or Physical weathering, a rock is broken

down into smaller pieces without changing its mineral
composition

PHYSICAL WEATHERING
Due to compression and

ratification of the earth crust
mountain building /
Upwarping,
downwarping, grabening,
etc
Temperature Variations
Day time - 700 - 800
Night time - -100
Such repeated and alternate fluctuations cause

physical disintegration. It is also called as
thermal weathering.
(e.g) Exfoliation domes

Thermal expansion due to the extreme range of temperatures can
Weathering
shatter rocks in desert environments.
Repeated swelling and shrinking of minerals with different expansion
rates will also shatter rocks.
Thermal Expansion and Contraction
Source: T om Bean

FREEZING / FROST ACTION
one of the most important
physical weathering
processes in cold
climates is frost action,
the repeated growth and
melting of ice crystals in
the pore spaces of soil
and in rock fractures
when water freezes in ENTRY OF WATER -

bedrock joints and ICE FORMATION -
bedding planes, it VOLUME INCREASE
expands and can split - fracture widening
rocks apart
Evidence of
Frost
Wedging in
Wheeler
Park,
Nevada
Source: T om Bean/DRK Photo

Salt-crystal growth: Water evaporates from
sandstone pores, leaving salt crystals
behind. Crystals grow and disintegrate
rock.
• Occurs in arid and semiarid regions
in arid climates, slow evaporation

of ground water from outcropping
sandstone surfaces causes the
growth of salt crystals
crystal growth breaks the rock

apart grain by grain, producing
niches, shallow caves, and rock
arches
SOIL EROSION – Exfoliation Sheeting
Erosion
HORIZONTAL
Deforestation Ex cessive soil SHEETING
erosion
Doming Horizontal
Arching Sheeting
unloading occurs as rock is brought near the surface by erosion of overlying

layers
as the rock above is slowly worn away, the pressure is reduced, and the
rock expands slightly in volume
this causes the rock to crack in layers that are more or less parallel to the
surface, creating a type of jointing called
sheeting structure

Exfoliation: Exfoliation of a small pluton
Rock breaks apart in
layers that are parallel
to the earth's surface;
as rock is uncovered, it
expands (due to the
lower confining pressure)
resulting in exfoliation.
Exfoliation of Granite
Unloading =
Exfoliation

Sheet Joints
(Exfoliation)
PRYING ACTION OF PLANTS

ROOT WEDGING
Tree Roots Growing

in Rock Fractures
Animal Burrows
Source: Runk/Schoenberger/Grant Heilman

PRYING ACTION OF ANIMALS
ANIMALS AND INSECTS LIKE ANTS MAKE DEEP
HOLES IN THE CRUST AND ILNITIATE PROCESS
OF DENUDATION INTIATE THE
 BURROWING

burrowing

HUMAN ACTION
 Quarrying and blasting
Mass Wasting
• Mass wasting is the downslope movement of
regolith and masses of rock under the pull of
gravity.
• Mass wasting is a basic part of the rock
cycle.
– Weathering, mass-wasting, and other aspects of
erosion constitute a continuum of interacting
processes.

GRAVITATIONAL GLIDING or MASS WASTING
Gravitational
Gliding
doming and
fracturing in upper
reaches
Rock flowage / soil

creep solifluction
LANDSLIDE BLOCK - VENEZULA

EXFOLIATION SHEETING DUE TO
GRAVITATIONAL GLIDING
Mass Wasting
Mass Wasting: spontaneous downhill movement of soil,

regolith, and bedrock under the influence of gravity

TYPES OF MASS WASTINGF (Modified after Varnes 1978
Type of material
Type of movement Rocks Predominantly Predominantly
coarse - debris fine - soil
Falls Rock fall Debris fall Earth fall
Topples Rock topple Debris topple Earth topple
Rotatio
Rock slump Debris slump Earth slump
nal
Few Rock block Debris block
Slides Earth block slide
Translat units slide slide
ional Many
Rock slide Debris slide Earth slide
units
Lateral spreads Rock spread Debris spread Earth spread
Rock flow Debris flow Earth flow
Rock Debris
Flows
avalanche avalanche
Deep creep Soil creep
Combination in time and/or space of two or more
Complex and compound
principal types of movement

In chemical weathering, a rock is
broken down by chemical reactions
that change its mineral composition
and physical and chemical
properties
Weathering
Chemical Weathering
Chemical Weathering: chemical change in rock minerals through exposure
to the atmosphere and water
• Most effective in warm, moist climates
• Hydrolysis
• Oxidation
• Carbonic acid action
• Dissolves limestone, creating
caverns
• Weathers buildings, tombstones
• Soil acids weather basalt

Chemical Weathering and its Landforms
the dominant processes of
chemical change affecting
silicate minerals are
oxidation, hydrolysis, and
carbonic acid action
oxidation and hydrolysis

change the chemical
structure of minerals,
turning them into new
minerals that are typically
softer and bulkier and
therefore more susceptible
to erosion and mass
movement
carbonic acid action

dissolves minerals,
washing them away in
runoff
Oxidation
Oxygen dissolved in water promotes oxidation of

sulfides, ferrous oxides, native metals
ADDITION OF OXYGEN  CONVERSION

OF SILICATES INTO OXIDES CAUSE
PHYSICAL DISTINTEGRATION
4 Fe + 3 O2  2Fe2 O3

Oxidation of Basalt
Rust (Iron Oxide) forms
REDUCTION
REMOVAL OF OXYGEN OR ADDITION OF

HYDROGEN DESTRUCT ROCKS
FE+++ -- O  FE++
(red) (black)
Ferric to Ferrous

Hydration: attachment of water molecules
to crystalline structure of a rock, causing
expansion and weakness
ADDITION OF WATER MOLECULES IN IT MINERAL

LATTICE CAUSE WEATHERING
Ca So4 + 2 H2O  CASO4.2H20
KAL SI3 O8 + H  HALSI3O8 + K

CARBONATION
Addition Of Co 2 Into Rock Elements And the resultant Decay of
Rocks Called Carbonation.
Co2 is Added into the Elements Like Calcium, Magnesium , Sodium

or Potassium Form Carbonates,
k2O Al2O3 6siO2 + H2 Co3 + Water = K2 Co3 + (A2O3 2SiO2 2H2O3) + 4SiO2
(orthoclase) (carbonic acid) (potassium (kaolinite)
carbonate)
- Similarly ( Na2 O3 Al2O3 6SiO2 ) changes to clay

(Albite)
- gabbro and pyroxene also changes to clay.
Olivine/pyroxene to clay
+ H2CO3 (acid)

Feldspars to clay
+ H2CO3 (acid)
Hydrolysis – Feldspar to Clay

Feldspars become
Mechanical fracture due to chemical weathering
48

Water is the main operator:
Dissolution: Many ionic and organic compounds
dissolve in water Silica, K, Na, Mg, Ca, Cl, CO3,
SO4
Acid Reactions
Water + carbon dioxide <---> carbonic acid
Water + sulfur <---> sulfuric acid
H+ effective at breaking down minerals
Precipation and resolification:

During the Course of transport such solution get
resolidified as secondary crystals.
(E.g)
Silicious solutions Secondary silica like
Amythist,
Amorphous Qtz,
Geoid, plasma etc.,
Solution: process by which rock is

dissolved in water
• Is strongly influenced by pH and temperature

• When water becomes saturated, chemicals may
precipitate out forming evaporite deposits.
• Calcium carbonate (calcite, limestone), sodium
chloride (salt), and calcium sulfate (gypsum) are
particularly vulnerable to solution weathering.

Dissolution
H2O + CO2 + CaCO3 --> Ca+2 + 2HCO3-
water + carbon dioxide + calcite

dissolve into calcium ion
and bicarbonate ion
Biological activity in soils

generates substantial CO 2
Bicarbonate is the dominant

ion in surface runoff.
Bowens Reaction Series and Weathering

Mg2SiO4 + 4CO2 + 4H2O => 2Mg+ = 4HCO3- + H4SiO4 (aq)
2KAlSi3O8 + 2H2CO3 + 9H2O => Al2Si2O5(OH)4 + 4 H4SiO4 (aq) + 2K+ + 2HCO3 -

Solution acitivity
Calcic plagioclase Olivine Faster
Calcic - sodic Pyroxine Next order
Sodic plagioclase Amphibole Next order
O rthoclase next
Q uartz next
DENUDATIONAL
LAND FORMS

Summit Zone Features
Summit Zone Features
Denudational Hills
Highly Dissected
Moderately Dissected
Poorly Dissected
Erosional Plateau
Highly Dissected
Poorly Dissected
Erosional Mesa / Butte
Highly Dissected
Poorly Dissected
Tors
Exfoliation Domes / Born Horte
Residual Hills
Arched hills
Inselberg
Intermontanane Valley
Slope Zone Features

Debris Slope / Scree Slope
Barren Slope
Midslope Mounds
Rock Slump
Debris Avalanche
Rock Creep / Rock Slide

Foot Hill Zone
Talus Cone / Fan
Debris Wash Plain
Plain Zone
Pediment
Rocky Pediment
Weathered Pediment Shallow
Weathered Pediment Moderate
Weathered Pediment Deep
Pediplain
Deeply Weathered
Moderatly Weathered
Poorly Weathered
Lateritic upland
Dissected
Undissected

DENUDATIONAL LANDFORMS
SUMMIT ZONE
Dendudational hill or Hill complexes

hills of irregular X, Y, Z
Hill
complexes
Size less,
shapeless,
pattern less &
relief less hills

Dissected Hills
Expression
 Hills dissected by criss crossing fractures
 With cliffs, peaks and serrations
Environment
 better Groundwater possibility
 prone for land slides / subsidences
 streams down below expected to carry more silt.

DISSECTED HILLS

Plateau: Vast horizontal plate like landforms covering
several hundred sq km Surrounded by vertical wall like
escarpments are developed due to tectonic processes
E-g i) Plateau in Sst - Vindhyans

ii) Plateau in Cuddapah
iii) All Deccan trap plateau
iv) Plateau in metamorphites (charnockite)
PLATEAU
ESCARPMENT
b) Signatures
 normally boat like
 rims / slopes prolific with vegetation

TORS
Tor is a complexly jointed blocked hills
(a) Tor complex
Tor: A high, isolated, craggy hill,

pinnacle, or rocky peak; or a pile of
rocks, much-jointed and usually
granitic, exposed to considerable
weathering, and often assuming
peculiar or fantastic shapes.
 No heavy metal seggregate in the foot.

 Less reservoir siltation in the foot hill reservoirs

Exfoliation domes
 solid rocks occur at the core with shells of

different layers outside.
 mostly occur in semi arid and arid tracts.

Unloading =
Exfoliation
Sheet Joints
(Exfoliation)

SPHEROIDAL WEATHERING
ESCARPMENTS
A steep slope or long cliff that results from erosion or

faulting and separates two relatively level areas of
differing elevations
A steep slope or long cliff formed by erosion or by vertical
movement of the Earth's crust along a fault. Escarpments separate
two relatively level areas of land.

Residual hills
Suggest maturity of weathering process

debris slope with scattered material
(e.g) hills in Bangalore area
RESOURCE:
Foot hills will have metal, mineral and concentrates

ENVIRONMENT:
 Erosion prone
 Downward reservoirs siltation prone.
Residual hills: A small remnant hill, which has witnessed

all forms of denudation.

Arched hills
Due to differential resistance, bottom portion scooped out leaving the top
layer.
removed zone
unstable area for heavy structures.

E.g:
 Granitic areas
 S.st areas
 Cuddapah

ARCHID HILL
(DELICATE ARCH, ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, UTAH)
Inselberg
 isolated conical hills
 No mineral resources in foot hills.
 No siltation in downward reservoirs.
Inselberg A prominent, isolated, steep-sided, usually smoothed

and rounded, residual knob, hill or small mountain of
circumdenudation rising abruptly form and surrounded by an
extensive and nearly level

INSELBERG
Balanced rocks
Balanced Rock is one of the most popular
features of Arches National Park, situated in
Grand County, Utah, United States.
Balanced Rock is located next to the park's
main road, at about 9 miles (14.5 km) from
the park entrance.

Intermontane Valley: The valley between the mountains.
Intermontane
Valley

SLOPE RELATED LAND FORMS
Slope Zone Features

Debris Slope / Scree Slope
Steep
Moderate
Shallow
Barren Slope
Midslope Mounds
Rock Slump
Debris Avalanche
Rock Creep

SLOPE ZONE
debris - Any surficial
Debris slope: accumulation of loose material
detached from rock masses by
chemical and mechanical means,
as by decay and disintegration.
It consists of rock clastic
material of any size and
sometimes organic matter
Zone between summit zone and pediment
DEBRIS SLOPE

TEAR SCAR - AUSTRIA
SCREE SLOPE - LADAKH

Rock slumb
 Slope 600 to 300
 Along debris slope there will be a series of parallel

to sub parallel slips will be there.
ROCK SLUMP

SLUMP
DEBRIS SPLAY (VALLEY OF FIRE, NEVEDA)

MID SLOPE MOUNT
CREEP, SLOPE BENT - AUSTRIA

ROCK FALL - ITALY
FOOT HILL FEATURES

Foot Hill Zone
Rockfall zone
Talus Cone / Fan
Debris Wash Plain
Composite slope
(III) FOOT HILL ZONE:
2.5.16 Rock fall
 if the slope is steeper then rocks will fall like a water fall
 as result the foot hills have heaps of

angular and assorted materials

Talus cone/ Fan
 eroded materials from the hills getting dumped at the foot

hills with coning effect
> 15 0 - cone
< 15 0 - fan
SCREE CONE - AUSTRIA

scree - A collective term for
an accumulation of coarse
rock debris or a sheet of
coarse debris mantling a
slope.
Scree is not a synonym of

talus, as scree includes
loose, coarse fragment
material on slopes without
cliffs. Compare - talus,
colluvium, mass movement.

PLAIN RELATED FEATURES
Plain Zone
Pediment
Rocky Pediment
Weathered Pediment Shallow
Weathered Pediment Moderate
Weathered Pediment Deep
Pediplain
Deeply Weathered
Moderatly Weathered
Poorly Weathered
Lateritic upland
Dissected
Undissected

Pediment:
A broad, flat or gently sloping, rock floored erosion

surface or plain of low relief, typically developed by sub
aerial agents (including running water) in an arid or
semiarid region at the base of an abrupt and
receeding mountain front or plateau escarpment, and
underlain by bedrock (occasionally by older alluvial
deposits) that may be bare but more often partly mantled
with a and discontinuous veneer of alluvium derived
form the upland masses and in transit across the
surface.

Dissected
Pediment
Dissected Pediment

Pediment-Inselberg Complex:
The pediments dotted by numerous inselberg of

small sizes, which makes it difficult to
distinguish from the pediments. Hence it is
called as a complex of pediment and inselberg.

ROCKY PEDIMENT
WEATHERED
PEDIMENT MODERATE
PEDIMENTS WEATHERED
PEDIMENT DEEP
WEATHERED
PEDIMENT
SHALLOW
WEATHERED
PEDIMENT
MODERATE

COLLUVIAL
FILL
PEDIPLAIN
COLLUVIAL FILL
MODERATE
ROCKY
PEDIMENTS

Pediplain:
COLLUVIAL FILL
An extensive,SHALLOW
multi-concave, thinly alluviate
rockcut erosion surface formed by the
coalescence of two or more adjacent pediments
PEDIPLAIN -
and occasional desert domes, and representing
POORLY
the end result (the “peneplain”) of the mature
WEATHERED
stage of the erosion cycle.
PEDIPLAIN MODERATELY
WEATHERED
PEDIPLAIN DEEPLY
WEATHERED

TECTONIC GEOMORPHOLOGY
(TECTONIC LANDFORMS)
e-Learning Material: Unit-2
DEFINITION: Land forms formed or produced by

denudational processes or physico- chemical
breaking down processes but retained their original
tectonic fabric.
Tectonic geomorphology: how tectonic activity

affects process and morphology in geomorphic
systems and how landforms can be used to
assess tectonic activity.

Landform of structural origin is related to structural
aspect of the area.
Most of the landform under this class has genesis

related to underlying structure.
Structure plays an important role for reducing the

resistance of rock which manifests itself in different
geomorphic forms.
REASONS FOR STUDYING TECTONIC LANDFORMS

(i) Mineral targetting ( structurally controlled deposits)
 Bauxites in plateau
 Copper in escarpments ( Vindhyans )
 Minerals in Strain maxima zones in folds
 Remobilised deposits in fractures / maximas
(ii) Groundwater in younger fractures
(iii) Hotwater springs in younger fractures
(iv) Detection of zones of Active tectonics
(v) Landslides mapping etc.,
(vi) Earthquake vulnerability mapping

CLIMATE FAVOURABLE FOR TECTONIC LANDFORMS
i) Temperate
ii) Humid
iii) Subhumid
iv) Arid - rarely
PARENT ROCKS
i) Sedimentary
ii) Meta sedimentary
iii) Volcanic
AGENTS
i) Atmosphere
ii) Wind
iii) Water
TECTONIC LANDFORMS

Structural Hills
Highly Dissected
Moderately dissected
Poorly dissected
Tors complexes
Horizontal Landforms
Tectonic Plateau
Highly Dissected
Poorly dissected
Tectonic Mesa / Butte
Highly Dissected
Poorly dissected
LANDFORMS IN UNDEFORMED ROCKS

Structural Hills: Hills are originated due to tectonic process and
If are highly dissected by the drainage lines, then can be further
classified as highly, moderately and low dissection depending on
the density of joints and drainage.
Structural Hills:
Pre-Cordillera: Patagonian Andes, Argentina

Structural Hills:

TORS
Tor is a complexly jointed blocked hills
(a) Tor complex
Tor: A high, isolated, craggy hill,

pinnacle, or rocky peak; or a pile of
rocks, much-jointed and usually
granitic, exposed to considerable
weathering, and often assuming
peculiar or fantastic shapes.
 No heavy metal seggregate in the foot.

 Less reservoir siltation in the foot hill reservoirs

Plateau: Vast horizontal plate like landforms covering
several hundred sq km Surrounded by vertical wall like
escarpments are developed due to tectonic processes
E-g i) Plateau in Sst - Vindhyans

ii) Plateau in Cuddapah
iii) All Deccan trap plateau
iv) Plateau in metamorphites (charnockite)
PLATEAU
ESCARPMENT
b) Signatures
 normally boat like
 rims / slopes prolific with vegetation

Landforms and Rock Structure
Landforms of Horizontal Strata and Coastal Plains

Arid climate landforms: horizontal strata in an arid climate often produce
plateaus, mesas, and buttes

Cedar Mesa Sandstone;
Colorado Plateau;
Erosional Features;
Geomorphology

Mesa: Plateau of small aerial extent
An isolated flat-topped hill with steep sides found in

landscapes with horizontal strata.
Mesa
Plateau

Mesas and buttes
• Mesa: an aerially-extensive, flat-topped hill with

upper layer more resistant to erosion than lower
layer
• Butte: an eroded remnant of a mesa
• Both are formed by mass wasting and slope and
tectonic upliftment of strata in arid to semi-arid
environments

• Mesa: an aerially-extensive,
Butte flat-topped hill with upper
layer more resistant to
erosion than lower layer
• Butte: an eroded remnant of a
mesa
• Both are formed by mass
wasting and slope and
tectonic upliftment of strata in
arid to semi-arid
environments
 relict isolated Mesas of small magnitudes

 suggest advance stage of denudation
 indicate maturity in denudation
In horizontal beds, rocks outcrops

would follow contours Butte chimney
Tablelands: note horizontal layers,
differential erosion
mesa
Inselberg
Pediment (gentle slope < 5%,

erosional concave up surface
w thin veneer of gravel etc.)
Dry Climate, intermittent strong storms
• Plateau>mesa>butte>chimney
• Ratio surface area of top to height
Dry Climate, intermittent strong storms
PLATEAU - HIGHLY
DISSECTED

HIGHLY DISSECTED PLATEAU
(Tower View, Bryce, Canyon)
Plateaus in the folded basement
 better groundwater prospects in axis

 groundwater heterogenous in metamorphic plateau
 sheet flow in volcanic plateau
 erosion generally less, except in metamorphic plateau

LANDFORMS IN MARGINALLY
DEFORMED ROCKS
Tilted Strata
• Monoclinal folds, or one
side (limb) of a fold
• Name = f(dip angle)
– Cuesta (gentle)
– Hogback (steep)
– Flatiron remnant of dissected
Hogback w triangular face

DIPPING LANDFORMS Cuesta: A hill or ridge with a
gentle slope on one side and
Cuesta a steep slope on the other;
specifically an asymmetric
SST
ridge with one face (dip slope)
SH
SST
long and gentle and
conforming with the dip of the
resistant bed or beds that
form it, and the opposite face
(scarp slope) steep or even
cliff-like and formed by the out
crop of the resistant rocks, the
formation of the ridge being
 dip less than 25o
controlled by the differential
 cap or sheet rock at top
erosion of the gently inclined
 obsequent slope by shale
strata.
 runoff area
 valleys better for reservoirs / storage

TECTONIC CUESTA
PASSIVE DIP SLOPE
CUESTA SCRAP PASSIVE

OBSEQUENT SLOPE
Dip Slope vs. Scarp slope
Cuesta
Hogback

Hogbacks
 dip more than 25o
 dip and obsequent slope will look almost similar in

expression
 dip and obsequent slopes are equal
–Flatiron remnant of dissected Hogback with triangular face

LANDFORMS IN FOLDED ROCKS

FOLDING

Folds Related Landforms
Folded Mountains
Anticline
Syncline
Domes
Salt dome
Basins
Annular Hills
Linear Ridges & Linear valleys
Anticlinal ridge
Synclinal valley
Homoclinal ridge
Anticlinal Valley
Homoclinal valley
Synclinal Ridges
Folded mountains
 mountains with tight folding (E-g) Aravalli, Delhi,
Bhimas, Cuddapah, himalayas
 contour in curved pattern
 curved ridges and valleys
 images, show curvilinear and contoured &
vegetation banding radial, annular, drainage
anomalies

Convergent Plate Boundaries
and Folding
Subduction causes Arc: Under Continent-Continent

Ocean Lithosphere Japan, collision forms
Aleutians, Cent. Am.; under Fold and Thrust Mountains:
continent Andes, Cascades Alps, Himalayans,
Appalachians

Landforms : Anticline and Syncline
Anticline ridge: A fold, the core of which contains the

stratigraphically older rocks.
Antiform/Anticlinal ridge : A breached/unbreached

uplift, where the structure is shown directly in the
topography and perhaps by drainage pattern. In case
of the presence of older rock in the core of the uplift
the antiform is called as anticline.
Synform / Synclinal valley: A breached/unbreached

depression, where the structure is shown directly in
the topography and perhaps by drainage pattern. In
case of the presence of younger rock in the core of the
depression the synform is called as syncline

Folds and Block Diagrams
 Anticline = oldest
rocks exposed in
the center.
 Syncline =
youngest rocks
exposed in the
center

www.geology.wisc.edu/courses/g112 CFW ‘07

ANTICLINAL VALLEY
Topography may be opposite of Structure

Anticline Before/After Erosion
Notice center rock oldest

Topography may be opposite of Structure
Syncline Before/After Erosion
Notice center rock youngest

Plunging Folds and Nose Rules
Demo: Plastic box, water, paper folds
Up
End Down
End
Nose of anticline points direction of plunge, syncline nose in opposite direction

HOMOCLINAL RIDGES AND HOMOCLINAL VALLEY
Differential weathering weak and strong beds causes the

Homoclinal ridges and valleys

FOLDS DOMES

(3.6.3.3)DOMED MOUNTAINS / BASINAL MOUNTAINS
Stress Maxima
Stress Eye
 qua-quaversal dips
 radial centripetal / centrifugal drainage
Domes
unstable, seismic prone, crest stress accumulated domain, erosion
prone, unsafe for dams
Basins
 Aseismic, suitable for dams - better groundwater prospects.
 suitable for waste disposals
 suitable for water storage

DOMES - IRAN

BASINAL HILLS or Synclinal Mountains
Synclinal mountains
may vary from
elongate narrow
ridges to broad
plateau like
expanses, but
typically they are
broader than aticlinal
mountains

Salt Dome
Low density
Buoyant
Diapirs
Surrounding
sediments
upwarped
Petroleum exploration

Annular Hills
A B
 circular ridges & valleys

 radial annual centrifugal / centripetal drainage
(E-g) Ramgarh dome, Ishwarakuppam dome
ANNULAR HILLS &

VALLEYS

Linear Ridges
 steep dipping hills form ridges
 no debris slope
 least erosion
LANDFORMS IN FAULTED ROCKS

Demo: Cardboard Models
Dip-Slip
Faults
Faults 1: Normal Faults
• Typical of Divergent
Sag pond
Margins
• Rift Valleys and Mid-
Ocean Ridges
• High-angle and Listric
• Horst and Graben
Structure
• Hanging wall is down
A ty pical sag pond caused
by f ault-induced tilting.
From Drury, Ch 4

Faults 2: Reverse Fault Structures
• Typical of Convergent Margins
• E.g. Accretionary Wedges (Santa Catalina
Island) and Fold and Thrust Mountains
(Himalayas, Alps, Appalachians)
• Often low-angle thrusts
• Hanging wall is up
Overhanging Block
http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect2/05-01_reverse_fault-j yougashima_DSC8766.jpg
Shallow Reverse Fault = Thrust Fault

Lewis Thrust Fault (cont'd)
Same layer
Klippe - Thrust Fault Remnant
A feature of thrust fault

terranes. The klippe is the
remnant portion of a nappe
after erosion.
http://www.pbase.com/dougsherman/image/93469147
Chief Mountain, a klippe outlier of the Lewis Thrust, Glacier National Park, MT

Source: Breck P. Kent
PreCambrian Limestone over

Cretaceous Shales
Horizontal Movement Along

Strike-Slip Fault

Tectonic Landforms
Faults and Fault Landforms

The East African Rift Valley is a graben
Strike-slip fault
http://epod.usra.edu/archive/images/wallace_creek_aerial.jpg

Landscape Shifting, Wallace Creek
San Andreas Fault
Reverse Fault Quake - Japan Normal Fault Quake - Nevada

HW Down Divergent
Convergent
HW Up
Transform
Strike Slip Fault Quake - California

Geomorphic features
• Fault scarp
• Fault-line scarps
• triangular facets
• alignment of facets
• increase of stream gradients at the fault line
• hanging valleys
• aligned springs and vegetation
• landslides
• displaced stream courses
Fault Related Landforms
Fault scarp
Fault-line scarps
Triangular facets
Horst and Graben
Fracture valleys
Filled
Barren
Fault valleys
Rift valleys

FAULT SCARP: The scarp produced directly by
the faulting is called fault scarp
Different stages in the
formation of the scarps
A) Formation of Fault Scarp
B) Destruction of fault scarp
by erosion
C) Renewal of erosion,
following upliftment, with
development of fault line
scarp
D) Renewal of faulting with
composite scarp, whose
upper part is of erosional
and lower part of fault
origin
Northern Tibet: Triangular

facets are fault scarps

Fault Scarp
FAULT LINE SCARP: Fault line scarp produced by

the differential erosion along the fault line
Different stages in the

formation of the scarps
A) Formation of Fault Scarp
B) Destruction of fault scarp
by erosion
C) Renewal of erosion,
following upliftment, with
development of fault line
scarp
D) Renewal of faulting with
composite scarp, whose
upper part is of erosional
and lower part of fault
origin

Fault-line scarp caused by faulting of
a resistant layer
Fault Line scarp

(High-angle
Normal Fault)

Sag Pond: Chain of lakes formed in fault line
is called Sag pond

Triangular facets : Due to erosion along the Fault
scarp and Fault line scarp develop the Triangular
facet
Flatirons
• Dissection of scarp by many gullies forms
triangular facets
http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/File:Flatirons.jpg

TRIANGULAR FACETS
(Jagged, Cappadocia, Turkey)
Horst and Graben

Blocks of the earth’s crust may be relatively raised
or lowered between more or less parallel faults
without pronounced tilting.
The relatively raised blocks are commonly called
horst and the lowered blocks are called as graben
The Jordan-Dead sea depression, Death valley, the

Rhine graben, the rift valleys of east Africa - GRABEN
The Vosgas Mountains to the

west of Rhine graben and
Block forest plateau to the east
of it, the Palaestine plateau to
the west of dead sea

Horst and Graben
Range Basin
Extensional Feature
w/ Normal Faults

INVERSION OF TOPOGRAPHY
Stages of development of
inversion topography
upon a graben
A) Formation of graben by
fauting
B) Destruction by erosion of
the fault produced
topography
C) Renewal of erosion
accompanying uplift
D) Development of an
obsequent rift block
mountains where the
originally graben exits

Continental Rift into Ocean Basin - Tension => Divergence
Rift Valleys and

Oceans are the
same thing
Rift valleys: The term rift valley applied to the great trough
or great grabens of East Africa and elsewhere. Rift valley
may develop on a block of weak rock bounded by parallel
faults. Such feature is called as rift block valley
 seismic prone
 hot water / geothermal

Basins and Range Topography
Faulted and tilted monoclinal blocks that had been

raised above the adjacent basins along range-front
fault

Basins and Range Topography – Western United state
Shallow Reverse Fault = Thrust Fault

Same layer
Klippe - Thrust Fault Remnant
A feature of thrust fault

terranes. The klippe is the
remnant portion of a nappe
after erosion.
Chief Mountain, a klippe outlier of the Lewis Thrust, Glacier National Park, MT

Source: Breck P. Kent
PreCambrian Limestone over

Cretaceous Shales
Horizontal Movement Along

Strike-Slip Fault

Fault valleys
 seismic prone
CUMBUM TECTONIC VALLEY

Fracture valleys: Valley developed by the erosion along the
faults, fracture, lineaments is called fracture valleys
Further, may classified into

filled fracture valleys or
barren fracture vallys
(E-g) Javadi, Shevroy, Chitteri hills
 metallogeny
 erosion prone
 groundwater flow
 pollutant migration
BARREN FRACTUTRE VALLEY

CUDDAPAH BASIN
Tectonic Pediments
If pediments
dissected by the
fractures are
called tectonic
pediments
Joints: Fractures – with no movement

FLUVIAL
GEOMORPHOLOGY
FLUVIAL GEOMORPHOLOGY
Definition:
Study of river actions and the landforms formed due to

such river actions
The study of erosional and depositional processes from

running water or river that forms the landscape.

WHY TO STUDY FLUVIAL GEOMORPHOLOGY/ ECOSYSTEM ?
 To understand the ongoing erosional and depositional dynamics of the river

systems
 To fabricate the past fluvial activities of the various geological basins so as
to understand the basin dynamics and the resources.
 To fabricate the palaeo flood cycle.
 To understand the areas prone for erosion and reservoir siltation.
 To locate placer deposits.
 To detect Groundwater locales
 To identify zones of natural and artificial recharge
 To identify vulnerable areas for pollution
 To select suitable sites for dams , reservoirs and bridges
 To locate deltas and palaeo shores
 To locate locales of hydrocarbon
 Inter linking of Rivers
SOURCES OF RIVER
 Rainfall
 Snow melt
 Water Table
Terrain
Stream
 “effluent streams”
Water Table

PARTS OF RIVER
• Stream: A flow of water

• River : Big flow of water through a channel
• Tributary : a stream flowing into or joining a larger stream
• Distributaries : River branch off into multiple stream where it
reaches its delta
• Upstream : moves toward headwater (up the regional slope of

erosion)
• Downstream : moves toward mouth of river (delta)
• Drainage basin: Area or catchments whos e rainfall being drained
into a river
Stream Systems
• Each stream drains a specific portion of the landmass, this

is called the watershed or drainage basin
• Drainage basins are separated by drainage divides
• Drainage divides may be distinct (mountain ridges) or much
more subtle

Stream Systems
Anatomy of a Drainage Basin
River Basin Processes
– Erosion
– Transportation
– Deposition

Erosion
• Attrition: As the rocks and pebbles are being swept along they
bang against each other and they slit up or little bits get knocked off,
making them smaller and smaller. This also has the effect of
smoothing and rounding the particles too.
• Corrasion: The bits of rock and sand in the river rub along the
banks, wearing it down and knocking more particles into the water
flow.
• Hydraulic action: This is when the water simply hits part of the
river bank so hard it sweeps it away.
• Corrosion: The rainwater that flows into the river all along its
length is very slightly acid. This acid very slowly dissolves minerals
such as calcium carbonate in limestone. These minerals are then
carried in the water, and eventually come out in our water systems
as limescale.
Transportation
• Traction: This is when the force of the water simply rolls large
rocks along the riverbed. The river usually only has this much force
in times of flood.
• Saltation: Little pieces of gravel and sand bounce along the

riverbed in a series of short hops as the river picks them up then
drops them again because they are not light enough to be kept
afloat.
• Suspension: Tiny grains of sand are light enough to actually be

kept in midflow and washed along with the water.
• Solution: When limestone is dissolved by the weak acid in the

water it is mixed with the water and called a solution.

Deposition
In sections of the river where the water velocity

slows down, such as wider sections towards
the mouth of a river, or on the inside of meanders,
the flow of the water is not strong enough to hold
up the particles it is carrying. It drops them on the
riverbed and this is called deposition.
CHARACTERISTICS OF STREAMS
Permanent streams
 Contain water through out the year

 Snow fed river
Intermittent Streams
Streams contain water intermittently
due to changes in snow melt
due to changes in rainfall
due to fluctuating water table
Epimeral Streams
purely rainfed

• A river system consists of a main channel (trunk stream) and all o f the
tributaries that flow into it or joining the trunk stream.
• A RIVER SYSTEM CAN BE DIVIDED INTO THREE SUBSYSTEMS:
• collecting system (branches) -- consisting of a network of tributaries in the

headwater region, collects and funnels water and sediment to the main stream
• transporting system (trunk) -- the main trunk stream, wh ich functions as a
channelway through which water and sediment move fro m the collecting area
toward the ocean. (Erosion and deposition also occur in a river's transporting
system)
• dispersing system (roots) -- consists of a network of d istributaries at the
mouth of a river (delta), where sediment and water are dispersed into an
ocean, a lake, or a dry basin
Terrain controlled drainage
Consequent Streams
s c
S O
Streams following the dip slope
drainages following in the dip slopes

are called consequent drainage
Indicate low dipping formations

underneath generally the main stream

Obsequent drainage
Dainages flowing against or in opposite direction to the dip slope
drainages following the obsequent slope
Helps in understanding the basement structure

Highly useful in engineering geology projects
O C
} indicates cuesta or
asymmetrical anticline
If such consequent and subsequent drainages are

sharp, vertically cutting and straight then it will indicate
recent tectonic movements.
Subsequent drainage
Drainages orthogonal to consequent drainage (or)
drainages parallel to strike (or) drainages
perpendicular to dip.
Subsequent Stream generally a tributary, it adjusts its

course by differential erosion through softer rocks
Insequent stream those developed by random headward

erosion.
Resequent Stream follows the same direction as

consequent stream, but it is a tributary.

Subsequent drainage
Drainages orthogonal to consequent drainage (or)
drainages parallel to strike (or) drainages
perpendicular to dip.
Subsequent Stream generally a tributary, it adjusts its course by

differential erosion through softer rocks Dendritic
Dendritic drainage
Hapzardly flowing drainages without any
strong tectonic control
indicate flat lying beds underneath or

granite or Shale.
(e.g) All dendritic drainages in

sedimentary and granitic terrains.
Dendritic drainage

Antecedent drainage
Antecedent Drainage : An antecedent stream is a stream that was
established before the land beneath it was uplifted through geologic
processes such as crustal compression. An antecedent stream will
maintain its course in spite of crustal compression, and the stream
will continue to erode the land at almost the same rate as the crustal
compression uplifts it.
Parallel Drainage
•Parallel or sub-parallel drainage

formed on uniformly sloping
surface.
 dune
 dip slope
Example: rivers of lesser Himalayas.
Parallel

Curvilinear / Annular Drainage • Streams flow nearly
circular or concentric
paths
ANNULAR When the upland has an outer soft stratum,

the radial streams develop subsequent tributaries which
try to follow a circular drainage around the summit.
Example: Black Hill streams of South Dakota.
Anomalous annularity in drainages

indicates surficial and subsurface domes and
basins
if deep vertical cutting is observed in such
annular areas the same will indicate recent and
ongoing doming
(e-g) Southern Saurastra, Iswara kuppam dome,
Kadavur area
Trellis
• Rectangular arrangement of
channels in which main
tributaries are parallel and very
long
TRELLIS: The short subsequent

streams meet the main stream at right
angles, and differential erosion through
soft rocks paves the way for tributaries.

Rectangular drainage
RECTANGULAR The main stream bends at
right angles and the tributaries join at right
angles creating rectangular patterns. This
pattern has a subsequent origin.
Rectangular drainages are seen in

zones of mutually perpendicular Joints
Channels marked by right-angle
bends
Radial drainages
(a) Radial centrifugal - domes
(b) Radial centripetal - basin
(c) Annular and radial - domes/ basins with
alternating hills and valleys
Streams radiates out from the

center of the topographic
high
common in Volcanic terrain
• Streams converge toward a

central depression

Superimposed drainage
The drainages of that are retaining their original character

of the formation in which they were formed but misfit or
super imposed over other formation
PIRATED DRAINAGES
Drainage of one water shed being captured by

the drainage of other watershed is called
Pirated drainages for e.g.
Capturing of Saraswathi by Indus Ganges
Yamuna
Saraswathi
Capturing of Cauvery by Ponnaiyar
Capturing of Cauvery by Proto Amaravati

Stream piracy

Drowned stream
Sometimes due to sudden rise of sea level the

deltas & rivers will get drowned. (e.g.) Mississippi
Ponded Streams
Man Made Streams
All irrigation canal, there will not be fluvial activity
Life History of Rivers

Youthful stage – Hilly area- much above MSL /
base level of erosion – Extensive erosion
Mature stage – Claimed down the hill – Lost
considerable elevation – Watch and Walk phase –
both erosion and deposition
Old stage – at coastal zone – at base
level of erosion – loosing of all energy –
Deposition / delta building is the only process
 Idealistic life cycle of the rivers
 But in mature stage , the river flow get abberated

by palaeo geological structures and ongoing tectonics
 In old stage sea level variations abberate the river

flow dynamics

 Due to this, the type and assemblages of Land
forms will be unique and self styled in each stage
 And these need to be mapped critically and

models to be built
 for natural resources
 environmental modelling
 disaster mapping and mitigation
LIFE HISTORY OF RIVERS

STREAMS SHOW THREE STAGES OF GRADATION FROM MOUNTAINS TO
THE SEA:
Old stage
Matured stage
Youthful stage

C: old age or lower stage
A: youthful or upper stage
B: mature or middle stage
Youthful Stage
• River is in catchment area
• Terrain gradient high
• River has more energy
• Much above sea level
• Hence erosion is the dominant process

•
• Called Torrential phase

Youthful stage of River
Youthful stage
Youthful stage
MATURE STAGE
River runs in the plains
Little above MSL
Hence both erode and

deposit
Mostly controlled by
geological structures
called as “watch & walk

phase”

Mature stage of the River
Mature stage
OLD STAGE
Coastal zone
Sluggish movement
Terrain is flat
Only deposition will take place
called “brownian phase or

movement

Old stage of the River
Gingee hills
Kalveli Tank
Delta Development
Old Stage
Mio-Pliocene sandstone
Ponnaiyar delta
Beach Ridges
LANDFORMS OF FLUVIAL ORIGIN
Landforms of Youthful stage
Landforms of Mature stage
Landforms of Old stage
Landforms of Youthful stage
(A) Destructional Landforms
(B) Constructional landforms

(A) Destructional Landfroms
Valleys
A valley is a longitudinal depression whose cross section is V shaped

Three processes in valley developments such as 1.valley deepening,
2. valley widening and 3. valley lengthening
Valley deepening due to the bedrock erosion

a) Origin of valleys
(Gullies) (Valleys)
(Ravines)
RIVER VALLEYS The extended depression on ground through which

a stream flows throughout its course is called a river valley at
different stages of the erosinal cycle
the valley acquires different profiles. At a young stage, the valley is

deep, narrow with steep wall-like sides and a convex slope. The
erosional action here is characterised by predominantly vertical
downcutting nature. The profile of valley here is typically ‘V’ shaped.
As the cycle attains maturity, the lateral erosion becomes prominent

and the valley floor flattens out. The valley profile now becomes
typically ‘U’ shaped with a broad base and a concave slope.
A deep and narrow ‘V’ shaped valley is also referred to as gorge and
may result due to downcutting erosion and because of recession of
a waterfall. Most Himalayan rivers pass through deep gores (at times
more than 500 metres deep) before they descend to the plains.
An extended from of gorge is called a canyon. The Grand Canyon of

the Colorado river in Arizona (USA) runs for 483 km and has a depth
of 2.88 km

b) Classification of valleys
i) Glacial valleys
ii) Tectonic valleys
iii) River valleys
c) Limit of valleys
i) Depth of valleys
Height of valleys above base level of
erosion
ii) Length of valleys

Valley can‟t grow in the tail, it can grow
only in the head It is called as length
of valleys or „head ward‟ erosion
iii) Width of valleys
IG4e_16_05

Features of erosion
a) Rill erosion
• Deep cuttings
• Closely spaced, almost parallel
• Due to softer lithologies and loose soil
b) Gully erosion
• Rills get widened into ‘V’ shaped valleys called gully erosion
c) Sheet erosion
• Gullies widened into sheets
 removal blank et after blank et
d) Gorges and Canyons

• Undercutting is more when compared to lateral cutting
Rill Erosion, Gully formation

Rill: a trickle of water, a very
small stream
Gully: a small watercourse with

steep sides, usually cut into
soil
Source: Ramesh Venkatakrishnan
Gully. Larger
channels,
Rill Erosion. Individual they persist, grow
Channels do not persist headward and widen.

Rill Erosion: concentrated flow pattern in numerous
parallel seams flowing downslope, rills may coalesce
into larger features known as gullies
Gully Erosion is larger, channelize flows carrying

the potential for large amount of sediment.
Rill and Gullies common in semi-arid areas with

sparse vegetative cover and high erosion potential.
Deforestation and devegetation can result in

greatly accelerating the erosion process.

Gullies
Gullied Plateau
iv) Hanging valleys
Valley of tributary lying above the main river
Main River
Tributary

Water falls
WATERFALLS A waterfall is simply  a) due to faulting

the fall of an enormous volume of
water from a great height, because of
a variety of factors such as variation in
the relative resistance of rocks, relative
difference in topographic reliefs, fall in
the sea level and related rejuvenation, Waterfall
earth movements etc. For example, Falls
jog or Gersoppa falls on Sharavati (a
tributary of Cauveri) has a fall of 260
metres.
b) due to hanging valleys
Due to difference in heights of valley of the tributary and

valley of the main streams, the tributary will meet the main
river through a water fall
Niagara Falls
due to faulting

c) Due to plateau land forms
WATERFALL: Plunging down of water over a cliff is

termed as water fall
RAPID: is one on which water flows along a steep

slope
CASCADE: If water flows over step like terraces are

known as cascades
Waterfalls Rapids
Cascade

Pot holes
POT HOLES The kettle-like small depressions in the rockly beds of

the river valleys are called pot holes which are usually cylindrical in
shape. Pot holes are generally formed in coarse -gained rocks such
as sandstone and granites.
• Pot holes are smaller depression found

on bed rock of stream
• Plunge pools are larger pot holes

usually found on the bottom of the
water falls
The Work of Streams

streams erode
their beds and
banks by hydraulic
action, abrasion,
and corrosion
abrasion by
stones on a
bedrock riverbed
can create deep
depressions
known as potholes
Figure 16.6, p. 551

(B) Constructional landforms
Alluvial cone/Fan
Finer material on
top coarser in the
bottom
 Bottom better for heavies
 Bottom better for GW / natural spring


 < 25 degree Alluvial fan
Fluvial Landscapes
Alluvial Fans
Alluvial fan: gently sloping,

conical accumulation of coarse
alluvium deposited by a braided
stream

An Alluvial Fan in Death Valley
Sudden drop in competence
Fast, steep bedrock stream hits flat plain

Alluvial Fans
IG4e_16_30a

Piedmont zone
Due to coalescence of number of alluvial fans a narrow strip of

loose sediments are formed fringing the hills called piedmont
zone (e.g. (Western rime of Aravallis)
 Potential Ground water
 Lower zone for heavy Minerals
 Lower Zone Better Groundwater

Coalescing Alluvial Fans

Bazada: A broad, continuous alluvial slope or gently inclined detrital
surface extending along and from the base of the mountain range out
into and around an inland basin, formed by the lateral coalescence of a
serie s of separate but confluent alluvial fans, and having an undulating
character due to the convexities of the component fans; it occurs most
commonly in semiarid or desert region.
Valley fills
Valley fill: The unconsolidated sediment deposited

by any agent so as to fill or partly fill a valley.
Colluvial fills

COLLUVIAL
FILL
PEDIPLAIN
COLLUVIAL FILL
MODERATE
ROCKY
PEDIMENTS

LANDFORMS OF MATURE STAGE
Signature of mature stage
(i) Hills with diminished relief
(ii) Flat topped hills, wide valleys
(iii) Well developed dendritic drainages
(iv) Absence of water falls, rapids
Stream cut terraces
• Step like flat level surfaces cut

by stream erosion
• Paired: are the terraces

equal in number and level
carved on both banks of the
river
• Unpaired: number and level

of the terraces are unequal on
both the banks of the river.
Due to fall of Flow rate
Rise of land
Fall of sea level

Paired terraces
Unpaired Terraces
Stream Terraces
Terraces are benches on the

valley side formed when a
stream cuts into a former
floodplain. Most result from
aggradation (deposition)
followed by incision (erosion).
They occur when the balance

between sediment
supply and river discharge
changes. This can happen
because of climate change, or
tectonic changes, including
base level change.

Base level drops,
or region uplifts.
Water goes faster, stream cuts
down into channel,
straightens, new lower
floodplain narrower.
Old, unused floodplain a

terrace
Further incision cuts a new

terrace
RIVER TERRACES - CHINA

Flood plains
when the river floods, the river deposits the loose sediments on
either banks called Flood plains
Flood plains are the broad flat plains parallel to the river channel
found by the lateral deposition of the stream during flood times.
 It will have loose un consolidated sediments
 Retain more moisture
 Accumulate better Ground water
 Better recharge zone from river
A floodplain is the flat land immediately

surrounding a stream channel and
innundated at times of high flow.

Floodplains can form either by deposition of overbank
suspended sediment or by deposition of bedload as the
channel migrates across its valley.
Paired Flood plain
F.P
FP Stream
FP River
Unpaired Flood Plain
Shifting river
Northern bank prone for erosion
Northern bank prone for flooding
Southern half have poor Ground water
Southern bank is emerging

Older Flood plain and Younger Flood plain
River
Younger F.P
Older F.P
 Show distinct two levels with contrasting tone

 Reasons,
(i) Rise of land
(ii) Fall of sea level
(iii) Excessive daming
 Resources / Environment
(i) Younger Flood plain - better Ground water
(ii) Younger Flood plain - prone for flooding
(iii) Younger Flood plain - better recharge zone.
FLOOD PLAIN
LOWER
FLOODPLAIN
UPPER
FLOODPLAIN

Paired Flood Plain
Natural Levees
 Long lens shaped sand bodies at

the bank of rivers
Levee  Better Groundwater pockets

 Heavy Minerals
Back Swamp
Back swamp
 Narrow depression between river bed and Levees
 Poor quality in Ground water

 Zone prone for flooding
 Poor area for bridges
 Black clay

Levees
The boundary between channel and floodplain may be

the site of a natural levee (a broad, low ridge of
alluvium built along the side of a channel by debris-
laden floodwater).
Levees form when

debris-laden
floodwater
overflows the
channel and slows
as it moves onto
the floodplain.
Backswamp
A low area of swampy ground beyond a river’s natural

levees.

Natural Levee Development
Flooding & Sedimentation

Back S wamp
Levee
Unpaired Flood
Plain

Splay
A deposit of coarse material resulting from a levee

breach during a flood.
Meander scroll or Scar

A meander scroll consists of long, curving, parallel ridges (scrolls)
that during stages of high water have been aggraded against the inner
bank of the meandering channel, while the opposite bank experienced
erosion.
Meander scar: A crescentic, concave mark on the face of a bluff or valley
wall, produced by the lateral plaination of a meandering stream which
undercut the lateral plaination of a meandering stream which undercut the
bluff, and indicating the abandoned root of the stream. An abandoned
meander often filled in by deposition and vegetation, but still
discernible (esp. from the air).

Braided streams
A network of converging and diverging streams separated from
each other by narrow strips of sand and gravel.
Rivers split up within mother channels
Indicate dams in up stream
Land emergence and seismicity
BRAHMAPUTRA R
showing Braided
streams

Braided stream: A stream that divides into or follows an
interlacing or tangled network of several, small,
branching and reuniting shallow channels separated
from each other by branch islands or channel bars,
resembling in plan the strands of a complex braid.
Such a system is generally believed to indicate the

inability to carry its entire load such as an overloaded
and aggrading stream flowing in a wide channel on a
flood plain.
BRAHMAPUTRA R
showing Braided
streams

Braided Channels
BRAIDED CHANNELS
Many converging and diverging streams separated

by gravel bars (or sand bars).

Braided Streams
• High sediment load

• Anastamosing channels
• Constantly changing course
• Floodplain completely occupied by channels
• Many small islands called mid-channel bars
• Usually coarse sand and gravel deposits.
Braided Channels
• If a stream is unable to move all the available load,

it tends to deposit the coarsest sediment as a bar
that locally divides the flow.
• Braided channels tends to form in streams having

highly variable discharge, easily erodible banks,
and/or a high sediment load.

Braided Channels
• Glacial streams generally

are braided because:
– The discharge varies

both daily and
seasonally.
– The glacier supplies

the stream with large
quantities of
sediment.
• Braided channels clog themselves with sediment,

so channels always shifting
• Generally in streams near mountain fronts

Braided Streams
Sand bars or Channel bar

Lens shaped sand
bodies within the river
 Due to loss of bed load

 Nearing of coastal zone
Channel bar: An elongate deposit of sand and gravel

located in the course of a stream, especially of a braided
stream.
1.6.2.10 Point Bar

• Point bar : these are deposits formed
inside a meander curve or at the river’s
mouth
a) Nosing indicate flow direction
b) Point bar with opposite nosing can

indicate drainage reversal

Stream Gradation
as a flood plain develops it widens over time creating a flat valley floor
where the river meanders back and forth (ALLUVIAL MEANDERS)
(on the inside of each bend – point bar deposition, on the outside of each
bend – erosion)

Depositional terraces
 When the river reaches maturity it deposits

terrace after terrace
 Himalayan rivers

Palaeo Channels / Buried Channels / Migration of Rivers
SARASWATI RIVER MIGRATION
PALAEO CHANNEL – PALAMCAUVERY
(a) Reasons for Migration
Spinning of the Earth
Isostatic Movements
Eustatic Changes
Frequent Flooding
Climatic Changes
Behaviour of Mother Channel
Littoral Currents etc.,

LAND FORMS OF OLD STAGE
Characteristics of Old Age Streams
• River changes its works from

erosion to deposition
• The valley floor is very broad and flat
• Slope are greatly

gentle
OLD STAGE

Delta
A body of alluvium, nearly flat
and fan-shaped, deposited at or
near the mouth of a river or
stream where it enters a body of
relatively quiet water, usually a
sea or lake is called delta
Where a river empties into a

large body of water, such as
a: sea, ocean, or lake, it loses
speed
It loses energy and deposits
suspended material
Since it is no longer
constrained by riverbanks as it
gradually loses speed as it
reaches further into the sea
Thus, the sediments carried
by river has been deposited
as triangular body is called
DELTA.

Deltas signify the land-ocean interactive dynamics
and the related geological processes
Lobate delta
Lobate delta covers the river derived

sediments (e.g. ancient Mississippi
river delta)
lobate deltas symbolize constant

emergence of land or withdrawal of
sea and the resultant progradation of
deltas by developing lobes after lobes.

Arcuate Delta
An arcuate delta has

three sided outline
with seaward margin
convex or arcuate
The Nile and the

Cauvery delta has
this morphology
Cuspate Delta
Triangle shaped
deposits accumulate
on either side of the
main channel. (e.g.
Brazos river delta,
Texas, Tiber river
delta

Digitate Delta
Digitate delta indicates that the delta might have been in the
process of subsidence inviting the tidal waters since its
inception
Estuarine Delta
This delta is funnel

shaped has the length
several times greater
than maximum width
The distributaries are

braided and are
separated by sandbars
or islands

Estuarine Delta
Mackenzie
MICRO DELTA – UPPER ANICUT

Deltaic Plain (Upper / Older)
Deltaic Plain (Lower / Younger)

Meander loop
Low velocity, low sediment streams flowing on nearly flat

floodplain form meanders. Meanders shift from side to side by
snaking motion
Meandering channels
Loops or meanders form as stream erodes its

banks.
Erosion takes place on the cut bank, which is the

outside loop of the meander.
Deposition takes place on the point bar, which is

on the inside loop of the meander.

Meandering channels
Change their channel course gradually
Create floodplains wider than the

channel
– Very Fertile soil
– Subjected to seasonal flooding
Meandering channels
Cut Banks
Point Bars

• Meandering streams often characterized by large
loopy bends across their floodplains.
• Meanders occur most commonly in channels that

lie in fine-grained stream sediments and have
gentle gradients.
Growing meanders can intersect each other and cut

off a meander loop, forming an oxbow lake.

Old channels abandoned as a river
meanders across its floodplain form
oxbows.
Oxbow lake
Meander “train” = belt of meandering
Owens River, CA Sacramento River, CA

Note old meanders
Owens River, CA Sacramento River, CA
Meander “train” = belt of meandering
Meander belt
Meander belt
Channel migration zone = area across

which the river is prone to move.

Formation of Meanders
Point
bar
deposits

Pool - riffle sequence
Riffle to riffle = 5 - 7 channel widths
Cut Off Meanders / Oxbow Lakes
As the erosion and deposition processes continues,

the heads grow closer and the point bar bigger. During
a major flood when velocity and water volume increase,
the river takes a new shorter course cutting across the
loop
The abandoned loop remains as an oxbow lake

Erosion and deposition along
a meandering stream
Meanders get more extreme with time. Note the THALWEG (blue arrows)

Channel moves in direction of cutbank
Pointbar advances as crossbed drapes
Meandering
Stream
Oxbow
Floodplain
http://hays.outcrop.org/gallery/rivers/arid_meander?full=1
Meander plain:
 Plain developed in between the meanders called meander plain

YANZGE – RIVER – SAR - ERS
Meander Plain
SWIR

• Yazoo river: are
tributaries flowing
parallel to the
main stream.
LAND FORMS OF REJUVENATION
Definition:
Landforms formed due to rejuvenation of rivers
inducing processes
Younger or mature stage landforms may be subsided

due to tectonic activity (Flood Plain in youthful stage)
Old or mature stage landforms may be uplifted due to

tectonic activity (Entrenched meanders)
Sea level Changes

Land forms
Incised or entrenched meanders
A deep valley cut by a

meandering stream
2. River cut terraces in old stage.
Fluvial Landscapes
Entrenched Meanders
Rapid tectonic uplift increases the river‟s
gradient and velocity, so it cuts down into the
bedrock
Entrenched meanders: winding, sinuous valley
produced by degradation of a stream with
trenching into the bedrock by downcutting

Flood plain in youthful stage

COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY
DEFINITION
Science dealing with landforms created
by marine action/Physical oceanographic
processes.
Coast are the areas between low tide and the highest
level affected by storm waves
dynamic areas where waves, tides, and marine

currents continually modify features
vary from rocky and steep to broad sandy beaches
rising sea level threatens coastal property

Why to study Coastal Geomorphology ?
(i) To understand the genesis of each landform.
(ii) To fabricate the Quaternary geomorphic processes

along the coast.
(iii) To understand the ongoing tectonic processes.
(iv) To fabricate the sea level variations in Quaternary

period and develop fore casting models.
(v) To understand the flooding pattern & detect

flood prone areas / fluvial interfaces.
(vi) To monitor sediment dump pattern.
(vii) To understand back water / creek dynamics.
(viii) To locate placer mineral deposits.
(ix) To locate hydrocarbon locales.

(x) G.W. Targets
(xi) Artificial recharge
(xii) Salt water intrusion
(xiii) Coastal Zone Management
(xiv) For the overall understanding of Land - Ocean
interactive processes
COASTAL ZONE
Transition zone where the land meets water. Extends

from continental shelf break to the first major change
in topography
Shoreline: shifting line of contact between water and land
Coastline: zone in which coastal processes operate or

have a strong influence

Dynamic coastal processes
1. Wave action
2. Littoral current Action
3. Rip currents
4. Tide Rips
5. Tides Action
6. Organisms and their Action
Dynamic coastal processes

1. Wave action
Ordinary ocean waves (not tsunamis) are created by

wind blowing over the surface of the water
When waves strike coastlines, wind energy is

transferred to the rocks and sediments on Beaches
This energy is available to erode coastlines and

transport sediments
Wave height determined by

– wind speed
– length of time wind blows
– distance wind blows over the water (fetch)

(a) Causes of waves
(1) Earth Tides
(2) Lunar Tides
(3) Sub marine earthquakes
(4) Landslides
(5) Wind
(6) Movement of boat / ships
(7) Tsunamis
(c) Height of waves
 Height depends upon the source. ( 20 to 45 feet)
(d) Wave length of waves
W.L
(e) Depth of wave action
 Wave motion decreases rapidly at depth

 They carry fine sediments below their surface

Waves in the ocean
 Wave measures:
wavelength (L)
wave height (H)
A – DESTRUCTIVE WAVES
B – CONSTRUCTIVE WAVES

FORWARD / RETREAT WAVES
(Kayangal Reef)
WAVE MOTION
In Wave motion, there is no horizontal movement of

water (only nearer to the shore), only the wave form and
energy where transmitted Eg. Wave ripples moving
across paddy fields

WAVE MOTION
1. Oscillatory motion
Individual water particle move in circular fashion
They move forward in the crest of the wave and
backward in the trough
But during heavy winds the forward motion is
accelerated and causes asymmetrical waves
2. Translatory motions
In asymmetrical waves particles will have
translatory motion
Waves in the ocean

• How does the water move?
wave motion

Waves approaching shore
• Wavelength decreases
• Wave height increases
• Speed decreases
• Waves “fall over” (breakers)
Orbital motion in waves decreases with depth until it is
essentially gone at a depth of half the wavelength
• As water shallows, orbital motion will eventually

impact the sea bottom, causing waves to pile up and
break (topple forward) in the surf zone
Waves approaching shore

L3
L2
L1
L
H3
H2 H1 H
wave base

WAVE BRAKES
(Crashing Down)
When wave approaching the gently sloping shore the

wave length is decreased and wave height is increased.
The crest of the wave folds smoothly as the depth of the
water is less than one half of the wave length. The falling
wave is called as breaker
– Swash: Upward movement of water on to the

beach occurs at an certain oblique angle.
– Backwash: Return of water is at right angle to
the beach
– Beach Drift: the endless cycle of swash and
backwash

6.4.2 Littoral current Action
(i) It is a current moving parallel to the coast

(ii) The tangentially or obliquely hitting waves get resolved
into two one parallel to shore another backward. Such
parallel current is littoral current.
Shoreline
(iii) * Such Littoral Currents only Cause Severe Coastal

Erosion
* Form spits at creek and river mouths

Long shore current

6.4.3 Rip currents
 When waves hit the coast and resolved into littoral currents
and the seaward drifted currents such seaward drifted
currents will be pushed back to the shore by wave
 This cause Rip currents

CALIFORNIA RIP CURRENT
Tide Rips
The interference between wave front and littoral current

will cause eddies. This is called as tide rips.

Tidal currents
Tides are due to the gravitational attraction of

Moon and Sun on the Earth
Causes the Earth to bulge toward the moon result
in rise and fall of ocean surface
As a result water moves horizontally in the form of
currents called as TIDAL CURRENTS
 They rise and fall twice a day

 Normal height only 1 1/2 feet
 But flood tides can move upto 500 k.m/hr
and erode upto 300’

SPRING TIDE: Highest high tides - when the Sun, Moon and
Earth are in same line (new Moon & full Moon).
NEAP TIDE: The lowest high tides occur when the Sun and the
Moon are not opposed relative to the Earth (quarter Moons)
Organisms And Their Action
 Polyps live in 150 - 200’ deep water and when

water has more caco3 and the temperature is
above 68 degree, these organisms segregate and
build reefs which finally grow into Islands

The Evolution of Carbonate (coral) reefs
FRINGING REEFS : adjacent to the volcanic Islands
BARRIER REEFS: Lagoon between Island and Reef
ATOLL: Circular coral reef with central lagoon
SHALLOW SHELF
(Rocks Islands, Palau)

COASTAL ZONE
Transition zone where the land meets water
extends from continental shelf break to the first major
change in topography
Classified into to four sub units
(1) Coast.
(2) Shore.
(3) Near shore
(4) Off shore.

CLASSIFICATION OF COASTS
Coasts are highly varied and complex systems. The

number and variety of coastal classifications is large and
often subject to an author's personal bias or background.
Mostly classifications are based on influencing factor

such as geologic history and sea-level changes, tectonic
environment, glaciation, sediment supply, wave and tidal
regime, biological factor, etc.

Johnson (1919) Classify the coast on the basis of Tectonic
and relative sea level changes (eustatic and isostatic).
Submergent: Fjord or ria coast (Chesapeake Bay,

Martha's Vineyard)
Submerged shoreline formed when water comes in

contact with partially submerged land. This type of
coast is very irregular. This produces long and narrow
bays called estuaries. Due to wave action, sea cliffs,
wave cut terrace, sea caves, stacks, beaches, hooks,
spits, hooks, etc. are developed
Emergent: Tidal flats and barrier islands
Emerged shoreline formed when water comes in

contact with partially emerged land. This type of coast
is regular and flat. Water is shallow to some distance.
 Neutral
In this types, effects of submergence and emergences

of land is not represented (e.g) shoreline produced by
sreams (deltas), organic growth (coral reef)
Compound coast
 Some emerging coast has the some
submergent coastal features
 Some submerging coast has the features

of an emergent coast landfomrs(e.g.
barrier islands)

Fiord coast: ocean fills valleys created by glaciers

Barrier-Island Coasts
• Barrier island of sand lies a short distance from the coast
• Associated with recently emerged coastal plain
• Ridges of sand built by storm waves
• Behind barrier island is a lagoon
• Tidal inlet: gaps in the barrier island through which tide
flows
Delta Coasts
Delta: sediment deposit
built by a stream entering
a body of standing water
•Current of water slows as it
enters ocean, and sediment is
deposited
•River channel divides into
distributaries
•Deltas have a variety of
shapes
•Deltas can grow and shrink
rapidly

Types of Coastlines
Volcano and Coral-Reef Coasts
Volcano coasts: lava and ash from active volcanoes deposited in ocean
Wave actions erodes the deposits
Forms cliffs and narrow beaches
Types of Coastlines
Volcano and Coral-Reef Coasts
Coral reef: rock-like accumulation of carbonates secreted by corals and
algae in shallow water along a marine shoreline
• New land is made by organisms
• Warm tropical and equatorial waters
• Coral needs warm, clean water,
good aeration
• Reefs exposed at low tide,
covered at high tide
Fringing reefs: reef platforms
attached to shore
Barrier reefs: separated from
mainland by a lagoon
Atolls: circular reefs enclosing a
lagoon; no land inside; most grow
on top of old sunken volcanoes

Types of Coastlines
Fault Coast
Faulting can raise cliffs along a coastline
Types of Coastlines
Raised Shorelines and Marine Terraces
Marine terrace: former abrasion platform elevated to become a step-like
coastal landform

Classification of the coasts on the basis of marine
processes or non marine processes by Shepard (1973)
Primary coast: Unmodified--morphology controlled by
non marine processes
Secondary Coasts: Modified by marine processes

Primary coast:
1. Land erosion coasts
Drown river valley coast : indented--shape

controlled by drainage basin pattern
Drowned glaciated coast (e.g. Deep coastal valleys-

-fiords)
2. Subaerial deposition coasts

River deposition coasts
Glacial deposition coasts
Wind deposition coasts
Landslide coast
volcanic coasts
shaped by diastrophic movements (faulted coasts)
Ice coasts

Secondary Coasts (modified by coastal processes)
Wave erosion coasts

Wave straightened cliffs
Differentially eroded coasts
Marine deposition coasts

Barrier beach
Barrier island
Barrier spit
Coasts built by organisms (Coral reef coasts (fringing

reef, barrier reef, atoll, etc.)
Fringing Reef- initially surround land, grow seaward
Barrier Reef- separated from coast by a lagoon
Atoll- circular structure from great depth that
encloses shallow lagoon
Mangrove coast
Davies, 1964: Classification based on tidal energy
Microtidal coasts (tidal range = 0-2 meters)

Mesotidal coasts (tidal range = 2-4 meters)
Macrotidal coast (tidal range >4 meters)
Microtidal = wave dominant

Macrotidal = tide dominate
Mesotidal = mixed energy

Coastal landforms were formed either by erosional or
depositional processes
Coastal Landforms can be classified into destructional

and constructional landforms
Destructional landforms formed by four main forms of

coastal erosion
Hydraulic Action, Attrition, Abrasion, Solution

Hydraulic Action
Wave approaches the cliff. Note cracks exaggerated In Wave reaches the cliff & the air trapped by
size the wave is compressed into the crack.
Wave rebounds from the cliff & the compressed air

escapes explosively, enlarging the cracks & ripping
bits of rock off.
HYDRAULIC ACTION
Abrasion & Attrition (Corrasion)
Abrasion. Attrition
• The waves pick up • As the sediment is
the sediment & hurl hurled against the
it against the cliffs cliff, bits are chipped
(uses the sediment off, the sediment
as ammunition). gets smaller &
rounder.
• Also as sediment
roll against each
other on a beach.

Corrosion (Solution)
• Salt & other chemicals in sea water

attack & dissolve the cliffs.
EROSIONAL LANDFORMS
or
DESTRUCTIONAL LANDFORMS

EROSIONAL LANDFORMS
SEA CLIFF
Coastal highlands due to wave erosion undergo undercutting as a
result the overhanging block get collapsed.
WAVE CUT TERRACE

Sea cliff retreats leaving flat platform
SEA CAVES
The underlying weak rocks erode faster that the overlying hard rock
resulting cave like morphology
SEA ARCH
Caves may develop from both sides, when unnite develop SEA ARCH
HEADLANDS
If there is alternate hard rock and weak rock, results in unequal erosion
The hard rock extending into the sea is called as HEADLAND
STACKS
Continuing erosion will develop isolated block of rock called as
STACKS
HARD / ROCKY COAST

Headland & Bay
• On a larger
scale
geological
differences
influence the
whole shape
of the
coastline, as
here in N.
Devon.
Headlands & Bays

EORDED ROCKY COAST FEATURES
Stages in coastal Development
a) geological weakness (e.g. fault) forming a geo.

b) formation of sea cave by marine erosion.
c) enlargement of cave to form arch.
d) collapse of arch to form stack.
e) removal of stack to create a stump.

• Wave attack is
concentrated at
the foot of the cliff.
• The waves cut a
notch in to the cliff
foot
• Flamborough
Head, North
Yorkshire
Wave Cut Platform

• The cliff above the
wave cut notch
eventually collapses
leaving the cliff
further back.
• Repeat this process
& a wave cut
platform is left at the
cliff foot, indicating
retreat.
Fairlight Head, E.
Sussex

Cliff
• Constant wave
attack at the base &
leave a steep, near
vertical cliff.
• Fairlight head, E.
Sussex.
Crack, Inlet or Geo
• Wave attack picks out

cracks, joints &
weaknesses in the
cliff.
• In time these
weaknesses are
widened, to form inlets
or Geos
• Fairlight Head, E.
Sussex

Sea Cave
• The inlet is further

widened &
deepened to form a
cave
• Fairlight Head, E.
Sussex
Natural Arch
• Eventually the cave

deepens enough for
it to pass through
the headland, or it
meets another cave
coming the opposite
direction.
• London Bridge,
Australia

Stack
• Continual erosion of
the arch causes the
roof to become
unstable & collapse
• The Twelve
Apostles, Australia.
Stump
Continual attack of
the stack reduces its
height & width & it
gradually
disappears
Land’s End,
Cornwall

ERODED - SANDY / WETLAND COAST
SANDY / WET LAND COAST

ERODED - SANDY / WETLAND COAST

DEPOSITIONAL LANDFORMS
or
CONSTRUCTIONAL LANDFORMS
1. Beach Ridges
2. Strand Plain Complex
3. Swales
4. Mud Flats / Tidal Flats
a. Supra Tidal Flats
b. Inter Tidal Flats
c. Sub Tidal Flats
5. Creeks
6. Backwaters / Lagoons
7. Salt Flats
8. Beaches

9. Bay Mouth Bars / Spits
10. Protruding Delta
11. Submarine Delta
12. Offshore Islands
13. Shoal
14. Offshore Mud Bank
15. Stabilized Coastal Dunes
16. Migratory Coastal Dunes
17. Coastal Sand Sheets
1. Beach Ridges
 Beach ridges are the long and linear sub parallel swarms
of sand ridges occurring parallel to the coast for several
kilometers both continuously and discontinuously.
 These represent the ancient shorelines along which the

littoral currents and the waves have dumped the
sediments and built the beaches.
 These have become stabilised as long and linear sand

ridges called beach ridges during the process of sea level
recession
 These Beach ridges further classified into Palaeo beach

ridges (close to landward side) and younger beach ridges
(close to seaward side)

STABLISED BEACH RIDGES
BEACH RIDGES

Swales
• The set of linear depressions sandwiched between

the long and linear sand ridges running for several
kilometers parallel to the coast are called as
swales.
• These swales are having 100m to 200m width and

at places even more.
• These swales have permanent connection with the

sea either through the creeks or the streams.
• The floor and the banks of the swales are

characterized by black clays and mudflats.
Palaeo Swales
• sub parallel linear depressions found amidst the

long and linear palaeo beach ridges and occurring
at a little higher elevation from the MSL are called
as palaeo swales.
• The clayey sub stratum while indicates its marine

origin, the absence of linkage with sea and lack of
tidal activities indicate that these would have lost
their linkages with the sea in the recent past.
• Hence, these are called as palaeo swales.

Mud Flats / Tidal Flats
 Fringing the creeks, river mouths, swales,

backwaters and near the shore, the mudflats and
saltpans are found. These normally occur under the
grip of the tidal activities
 Extensive land , alternately covered and uncovered

by the tide activities consists of unconsolidated
sediment (clays, silts and/or sands)
a. Supra Tidal Flats: Above the MSL
b. Inter Tidal Flats: At MSL level
c. Sub Tidal Flats: Below MSL
SUPRA-INTER-SUB TIDAL FLATS

Mud flats & salt flats
Salt flats
Mud flats
Pulicat lake area
MUD FLAT - GERMANY

Mudflat
TIDAL FLATS / MUD FLATS

Creeks
Along the river or stream mouth, fractures, narrow

depressions, the tidal water comes and go. This is
called the creek
Backwaters / Lagoons
Seawater comes through creeks, swales,
fractures and fill the adjoining lowlands areas are
called backwater
Water caught up between barrier and shore

Beaches
Loose material deposited on the shore by wave

action
May be continuous for many miles, or isolated pocket

beaches
Unconsolidated sediment extending from a change in

topography to low tide mark
Beaches
Loose material deposited on
the shore by wave action

BARRIER BEACH
When current and wave deposit material parallel to
shore (few meters inside the sea)

Bay Mouth Bars / Spits
Bay Mouth Bar: Sandbar developed at the river mouth
or creek mouth parallel to the shore is called Bay
mouth bar.
Spit: Growth of sandbar at an angle to the shore or at
mouth of an embayment or at faulted segments are
called spit HOOK: Curved spit
This indicates that these rivers are dynamically weak,
thus facilitating the littoral currents to dump the
sediments and build the sandbars at their mouths.
 Formed by littoral currents
 Good indicator For palaeo littoral current pattern
Example. Spits of Tamil Nadu coast

Example. Off shore bars Tirunelveli coast

Protruding Delta: Delta
Developed at river mouth
or at confluencing point is
called Protruding delta:
Indicate Excessive soil

erosion in catchment Agniar river mouth
Protruding Delta
Ambuliar river mouth
Vellar river mouth
COASTAL DUNE - OREGON

ORGANISMS AND THEIR ACTION
Polyps live in 150 - 200’ deep water and

when water has more caco3 and the
temperature is above 68 degree, these
organisms segregate and build
reefs which finally grow into Islands
 Fringing reef
– A coral reef built out laterally from the shore, forming
a broad bench; slightly below the sea level.
 Barrier reef
– A prominent ridge of coral that roughly parallels the
coastline but lies offshore, with the shallow lagoon
between the reefs and the coasts.
 Atoll
– Coral reef in the shape of a ring or partial ring that
encloses a lagoon that had formally surrounded a
volcano, but that volcano has since sunk below
surface.

Coral reef
Fringing reef

Barrier reef
Atoll


AEOLIAN LANDFORMS / GEOMORPHOLOGY
Definition
 Land forms formed due to erosion, transportation and

deposition by wind
or
 Landforms caused due to the destructional and
constructional processes of wind
 Science of studying the aeolian land forms and processes

is called Aeolian Geomorphology

World's Deserts about 1/5 th of land
Types: subtropical, rain-shadow,

coastal, interior, polar
Why to study Aeolian landforms
 To understand its resource potential mineral, water

hydrocarbons
 To understand the palaeowind direction
 To understand the palaeoenvironment & present
environment
 To create developmental plans canals, irrigation
 To understand the hazard potential

SOURCES OF SAND
 Sandy beaches with onshore winds

 Streams with sandy bottoms exposed during dry
season
 Dry areas / desert areas where disintegration of
sandstone & other rocks provides the sand
 Glacial outwash deposits and sandy glacial lakebed
WIND ACTION
 Wind erosion
 Wind transportation
 Wind deposition

WIND EROSION
Removal of material by wind
Processes :
Deflation :
 Blowing of fine sand particles leaving the coarser
material
 This process scoop out the material and cause depressions
 These depressions cause „lakes‟
 In Arabian desert – 10 Km long X 3 miles wide and 300‟ deep
Collision : Wind with sands collide with rocks and cause wind sculptured
features
Abrasion : Wind polished features
LANDFORMS OF WIND EROSION

Wind sculptures / Cavernous features
In Hard rocks
 Undercut hills
 Cave rocks
 Toad rocks (frog rock)
 Mushroom, Table and Pedestal or Pinnacled rocks
 Natural bridges
 Yardang
 Ventifacts
 Desert Varnish

In Soft rocks and Unconsolidated material

 Forms bowels and caves
 Deflation Basin
 Desert Lakes
 Desert pavements
Wind Carved Hills

Underside of some hills are removed by the abrasion and
impact of wind transported sand particles. The top of the
would be bigger in size relative to the bottom. This is due
to transportation of sand grains in near surface
Cave Rocks: The impact and abrasion of sand cut cave

like features in the sides of rock
Frog rocks: The impact and abrasion of sand cut features

like frog is called frog rocks. This is due to the wind
sculpturing. This transportation of sand grains in above
the near surface

Mushroom and Pedestal or Pinnacled rocks
These are isolated rocks from which the base has
been partially cut by undercutting of wind flown sand
and create feature like mushroom.
Wind erodes away the bottom portion of a rock and
giving a feature of large mass of rock resting on the
piller. This is called pedestal rock
Mushroom rock

Yardangs
In a region where hard and soft rocks alternate wind
erodes away the softer rocks. The hard rocks protruding in
between grooves are known as yardangs. These are ridge
like features
Coastal desert of Peru
Yardangs are elongated and

streamlined ridges that look like
an overturned ship‟s hull.
They are typically found
grouped in clusters aligned
(Roman playa deposits, parallel to the prevailing winds.
Kharga Depression, Egypt)
They probably form by
differential erosion in which
depressions, parallel to the
direction of wind, are carved out
of a rock body, leaving sharp,
elongated ridges.
These ridges may then be
further modified by wind
abrasion into their characteristic
Yardangs shape
VENTIFACTS
Death Valley, California
Ventifacts form when wind blowing predominantly from one direction

abrades desert floor stone s, creating flat surface s and sharp edges. As
the wind changes direction or the stone s shift position, exposing other
surface s to wind abrasion, more facets are produced on the newly
exposed surfaces
Abrasion Origin of Ventifacts

PITTED & POLISHED SURFACES
Where soft, poorly consolidated rock is exposed, wind

erosion can be both spectacular and distinctive. Some
pebbles called ventifacts (wind made) are shaped and
polished by the wind. Some have surface irregularities
and groove aligned with the wind direction
PITTED & POLISHED SURFACES
Where soft, poorly consolidated rock is exposed, wind erosion

can be both spectacular and dis tinctiv e. Some pebbles called
ventifacts (wind made) are shaped and polished by the w ind.
Some have surface irregularities and groove aligned w ith the
w ind direction

Rock varnish
(Castle Valley, Utah)
An interesting feature seen in many deserts is a

thin, red, brown or black shiny coating on the
surface of many rocks called rock varnish, is
composed of iron and manganese oxides
Chemical Weathering in Deserts
Desert Varnish

Inselberg
(Olgas, Australia)
In many arid and semiarid regions there occur steep-sided mountains ridges or isolated hills
rising abruptly f rom adjoining monotonously flat plains called inselbergs (German f or “island
mountains”) resemble rocky islands standing abov e the surf ace of a broad, f lat sea.
Bornhardts (inselberg)
(Ayres Rock, Central Australia)
Bornhardts, a special type of inselberg having rounded or domal form are named after a
German explorer, Wilhelm Bornhardt, w ho described such features in East Africa

“Sliding Rocks”
Racetrack Playa in Death Valley, California)
This rock moved over this normally

dry lake bed through distances of up
to 260 m. The stones probably are
moved by strong winds following
heavy rains when the playa surface
becomes a layer of slippery clay.

In Soft rocks and Unconsolidated material
 Deflation Hollows or Blow outs

 Deflation Basin
 Desert Lakes
 Desert pavements

Deflation Hollows or Blow outs: Depression formed from
barren unconsolidated materials by deflation.
They ranging from several centimeter to some km. Depth

may be 1 cm up to 10m. Similar pot holes by stream
Deflation hollow
(Death Valley, California)
These shallow depressions of variable dimensions result from

differential erosion of surface materials. Ranging size from
several kilometers in diameter and tens of meters deep to
small depressions only a few meters wide and less than a
meter deep
(caused by deflation in sand hills, State park, Texas)
Erosional Landform - Deflation Hollow
Anecdote – How fast does this occur?

DEFLATION BASINS, GREAT PLAINS
are produced where solution activity in the layers of horizontal bedrock

dissolves the cement that binds the sand grains together. The loose sand is
removed by the wind and a basin is formed. Water trapped in the basin
dissolves more cement and the basin is enlarged
DESERT PAVEMENT (lag deposits)

(KUWAIT, NORTH EAST SAUDI ARABIA AND SOUTHERN IRAQ)
Sorting action of wind during deflation produces de sert pavements.

Wind can move only sand and dust-size particles, so deflation leaves
concentrations of coarser material called lag deposits or desert
pavement. These striking de sert features of erosion stand out in
contrast to deposits in dune fields and playa lakes

Desert Pavements (cont'd) –
Hammada (Hamada) = barren rock
Makes a great runway for supply aircraft

Just clear away a few big rocks
We tow makeshift rakes behind our Land Rovers
Desert Pavement
Source: Martin Miller
Desert Pavement, Sahara

(formed from the progressive deflation of fine particles,
concentrating coarse materials at the surface)

Desert Oases
Oases occur in arid climates where artesian water rises to the surface, such
as along a fault or anticline or wind erosion up to water table
Wind Transportation
Sahara to Caribbean
Effect on Hurricanes
Surface creep
Landforms of Wind Transportation
 Wind carries coarser to fine sands from bottom to

top laterally
 This is called “Dust Strom”
Dust Storm
When a sediment layer is disturbed, silt and clay sized particles are easily
picked up and carried in suspension by the wind, creating clouds of dust or even
dust storms. Once these fine particles are lifted into the atmosphere, they may
be carried thousands of kilometers from their source

Dust storm or “haboob”, The blue Nile area – Sudan, Africa
(results w hen cool air descends and moves laterally over the
surface as a density current. As the dense, cool air moves across
the surface it sweeps up dust and sand by its turbulent flow,
creating a dust storm or haboob )
Flying sand erodes by abrasion

Deposition Landforms of Eolian
Sands
• Reduced wind velocity results in sediments
deposition
• Dunes are hills of loose wind-born sand
• Size, shape, and orientation of dunes are

determined by available sand, vegetation, and
wind
Sand drift in Lee Of Mountains
LANDFORMS OF WIND DEPOSITION
RIPPLES
LOESS
DUNES : a. Longitudinal dunes

b. Transverse dunes
d. Barchan dunes
e. Parabolic dunes
f. Sand dunes

Depositional landforms
 Ripples:- small sand waves with a
wavelength of about 1 m
they are ephemeral and mobile, i.e. move,
disappear and reform during wind storms
common the windward slopes of sand
dunes
Loess
it is a fine, silty,
windblown type of
unconsolidated deposit.
Loess forms near vertical walls.

Loess Deposit
Yukon river, Yukon Territory, Canada
Windblown silt and clay deposits composed of angular quartz, f eldspar, micas and calcite are known as
loess. The distribution of loess shows that is is deriv ed f rom three main sources: deserts, Pleistocene
glacial outwash deposits and the f lood plains of riv ers in semiarid regions. It must be stabilized by
moisture and v egetation in order to accumulate. Because of its unconsolidated nature, loess is easily
eroded and as a result, eroded loess areas are characterised by steep cliffs and rapid lateral and head
ward stream erosion
Loess Deposit
Shaanxi Province, China
It reach a thickness of more than 150 m. Reddish-brown bands crossing the

section are paleosols. Erosion of the deposits, which were laid down over a
period of about 2.5 million years, generates a vast load of silt that is
responsibe for the striking color of the yellow river.
Dunes
• classic aeolian landform
• stable or advancing landform of windblown
sand
• originates as a mound of free sand from a
sandy surficial deposit (e.g. beach,
weathering sandstone) or from a blowout.
SAND DUNES

DUNES :
a. Longitudinal dunes
b. Transverse dunes
d. Barchan dunes
e. Parabolic dunes
f. Sand dunes
LONGITUDINAL DUNES
 Long, nearly straight ridges, parallel to the wind direction

 Where strong prevailing wind in a constant direction
 Symmetrical cross section, width several times the height
 Height < 15cm and several Kms long (200 – 300 km)

Longitudinal Dunes
(Simpson Desert, Central Australia)
Longitudinal dunes are

parallel ridges and oriented
parallel to the prevailing
wind direction. They form
when sand supply is
moderate and wind
direction various within a
narrow range
Longitudinal Dunes
Constant wind direction, no vegetation

Longitudinal Dunes
(Gibbson Desert, West central Australia)
The bright blue areas betw een the dunes are shallow pools of rainwater, while the darkest patches
are areas w here the Aborigines have set fires to encourage the growth of spring grasses
The ASTER sensor onboard Terra has generated false -color images
of some of these Empty Quarter dunes )longitudinal type) in southern
Saudi Arabia. In the version below, dunes are bright yellow and
brown whereas the blue relates to the spectral response of interdune
clays and silts.

longitudinal dunes in the Egyptian desert
Transverse dunes
(Mesquite Flat, Death Valley, California
Transverse dunes are a series of parallel ridges

that typic ally occur in arid and semi-arid regions
where sand is plentif ul, wind direction constant
and vegetation scarce. These dunes form
perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction
and have a gentle windward slope and steep
leew ard slip face. They als o develop along the
shores of oceans and large lakes where
abundant sand is shaped by strong onshore
w inds

Transverse Dunes
Massive volumes of sand, low consistent winds
Barchan Dunes
(Baja Desert, Baja California)
Barchan dune s (pronounced
bar’- kane) are crescent
shaped ridges that form
perpendicular to the
prevailing wind as sand
begins to accumulate around
small patches of desert
vegetation.
Barchans develop in arid

regions on flat, hard ground
where there is little available
sand and wind direction is
fixed.
Their horns, the points of the crescents are thinner than their
centers the horns migrate downward rapidly, thus extending the
barchan with its characteri stic sharply pointed horns in the
downwind direction

Barchan Dunes
Isolated Dunes, low sand supply, migrating across rock
Barchanoid dunes
(White Sands National
Monument, New Mexico)

Barchan Dunes
• Isolated – low sand supply; migrating across rock
Seif Dunes
• Formed due to occasional

shift in wind direction
• These dunes are similar to

BARCHANS where one
wing is not developed.
Seif dunes

Parabolic
Parabolic dunes are horseshoe-shaped, differing from barchans in that their
horns point upwind. They commonly form along sandy ocean and lake
shores, the only appreciable dune areas outside of deserts. Parabolic dunes
develop from transverse dunes that are exposed to accelerated wind
deflation, especially after removal of some vegetation.
U-shaped mounds of sand with convex noses trailed by elongated arms are
parabolic dunes. Sometimes these dunes are called U-shaped, blowout, or
hairpin dunes, and they are well known in coastal deserts.
Parabolic Dune
Parabolic Dunes
Horns pinned by plants

Typical of coasts

Parabolic Dunes
(Lake Michigan shoreline w est of St.Ignace, Michigan)
Parabolic dunes are horseshoe-shaped, differing from barchans
in that their horns point upw ind. They commonly form along
sandy ocean and lake shores, the only appreciable dune areas
outside of deserts. Parabolic dunes develop from transverse
dunes that are exposed to accelerated w ind deflation, especially
after removal of some vegetation.
Parabolic Dunes
• Stabilized “horns" point upwind

Star Dunes
(Namib Desert)
Star dunes, the most complex of

the dune types form when winds
blow from three or more principal
directions or when wind direction
is constantly shifting. They tend
grow vertically to high central
point and may have three or four
arms radiating from the center.
Continued variability of wind
direction causes star dunes to
remain relatively fixed in position
Star Dunes

Star Dunes
Variable Wind Direction
Copyright © Frank Eckardt 2002
Star Dune

Dune Migration
Windward slope Slip face (deposition)
erosion and transport
Just like ripples in a stream

Dome
• Oval or circular mounds that generally lack
a slipface, dome dunes are rare and occur
at the far upwind margins of sand seas.
Wadis - (Dry Stream

Channels)
Sinai Peninsula, West of
Gulf of Aqba

Dry river system in the Arabian desert
(begins in the Hijaz Mountains of western Saudi Arabia and end in kuwait)
This Landsat TM image (7,4,2 RGB) led geologists to a dry river bed long covered by two dune
fields. Sand dunes in the flat desert form linear patterns, and as sand descends into depressions
made by an ancient river channel, the wind pattern is disturbed, breaking the long dune into
little segments, making individual dome dunes and creating the ‘corncob’ pattern. In this image
blue is rock desert surface and gold is sand.
Tw o w adis, light blue

extend south from the
sand dunes. The desert
floor, mostly rocky gravel
plain and exposed
limestone bedrock,
dominates the southern
and eastern portions of
the image. A triangle of
roads encircles the
village of Shisar, w hich
is the probable site of
the ancient city of Ubar
Lost city of Ubar

Playa Lake
Moiave desert, California
In arid regions, after an infrequent and partic ularly intense rainstorm, excess water
that is not absorbed by the ground may accumulate in low area and form playa
lakes. These lakes are temporary, lasting from a few hours to several months,
most of them are shallow and have rapidly shifting boundaries as water flows in or
leaves by evaporation in the ground. The w ater is often very saline
Sand Advance
Barchans, advance across
irrigated fields in the Danakil
Depressions, Egypt

THE EMPTY QUARTER
(Rub‟ al Khali) of Saudi Arabia
- which is a sea of sand cov ering an

area of almost 650,000 sq.km. This
image lies on the northern flank of the
empty quarter and shows part of the
United Arab Emirates
Sand seas, North Africa
The main sand seas in

Algeria, Tunisia and
western Libya are located
in structural and
topographic basins,
separated by plateaus
and low mountain ranges.
A variety of dune types
are formed as a result of
variations in wind velocity
and direction, supply of
sand, the nature of the
surface over which the
sand moves

In the southern Arabian
Peninsula. Loose sand, up to
several hundred meters
thick, covers most of the
solid rock landscape in this
region.
Most of the center consists

of Complex Crescentic
Dunes on the left and
Complex Linear Dunes on
the right. In the lower right
corner are Star Dunes, and
along the left is a separate
sea consisting of small
Linear and Complex dunes.
Sand Sea
in the Central Namiba,
Western Africa
Large, complex linear

dunes pass shoreward
into barchanoid ridges
that have been
reworked along the
coast to form
pronounced spits

Huge Sand Dune
(Alashan Plain of Western China)
It reaches a height of several hundred meters (< 500 m)

Desert Landforms Produced By Water
Water-Carved Canyon
Dangers of Arroyos-Flash Floods

Playas (cont'd) –
A Playa in Death Valley, California
Spadefoot Toad Anecdote
Evaporites 20 mule team Borax
Alluvial fan

Coalescence of Alluvial fans
IN RAJASTHAN

Volcanic Geomorphology
An artist’s rendition of the volcanic eruption on Thera that destroyed

most of the island in about 1390 BC. Most of the island’s inhabitants
escaped the devastation

Continental landforms are the result of endogenic
and exogenic processes.
Endogenic process: works from within the Earth
 Produces initial landforms
 Uplifts; brings fresh rock to the surface
 Powered by Earth’s internal energy
Exogenic process: works at Earth’s surface

 Wears down initial landforms
 Creates sequential landforms
A VOLCANO is a vent in earth’s crust through

which molten rock, steam, gas, and ash are
expelled
volcano: opening in Earth’s crust through which

molten rock, gases, & ash erupt to the land
around the opening
Volcanoes is the Windows of Earth’s interior

 Help us understand plate tectonic process
and mantle convection
At present, but also millions to billions

of years in past using radioisotopic
dating
 Impact Earth’s atmosphere and hydrosphere

 Pose hazards to millions of people
 Geothermal energy sources
Regions near hot springs and geysers have
hot water that can be tapped and used to drive
turbines to generate electricity.
Volcanic Hazards
• Lava flows
• Pyroclastic flow and falls
• Ash flows
• Lahars and Debris Avalanches
• Volcanic gases
• Volcanic dome collapse
• Caldera collapse
• Eruption clouds
• Landslides
• Seismicities
Resources
• volcanic soils
• Tsunami
• industrial materials
• ore formation
• geothermal energy

Magma Formation
A volcanic eruption occurs where magma

(molten rock) rises to the surface.
Most of the asthenosphere is solid because of

the pressure exerted on it by the lithosphere
above it, but some materials do melt.

Conditions for Magma Formation in the
Asthenosphere
1. A decrease in pressure can lower the melting

temperature of the materials.
 along rift valley at mid-ocean ridge where the
lithosphere is thinner & exerts less pressure
2. An increase in temperature can cause materials to

melt.
at a hotspot
3. An increase in the amount of water in the

asthenosphere can lower the melting temperature of the
materials.
At subduction boundaries
Magma generation at mid-ocean ridges
In these zones, the

mantle rises and
melts, producing
magma of silicate
composition
the magma
continues to rise,
and erupts mainly
as basaltic lava
flows

At Divergent Boundaries
 Most magma that reaches the
Earth’s surface is at divergent
boundaries along mid-ocean
ridges
Most volcanic activity takes
place beneath oceans
Iceland  Mid-Atlantic Ridge
is ABOVE sea-level
Magma generation at subduction zones
 During subduction, the

subducted oceanic
plate is heated as it
plunges into the mantle
 At a depth of 80-120
km, melting begins,
and volcanoes are
produced which
parallel the subduction
zone Andesitic magmas are
typical of these volcanoes

Magma generation at hot spots
Magmas at hot spots

are derived from
deep within the
mantle
the magmas are fed

by deep mantle
plumes which are
stationary relative to
the drifting tectonic
plates

Formation
of
Hawaiian
Islands

Plate tectonics and volcanism
Factors that determine the violence of an eruption and

viscosity
• Composition of the magma
• Temperature of the magma
• Dissolved gases in the magma
Viscosity of magma
• Viscosity is a measure of a material's resistance to
flow
• Factors affecting viscosity
• Temperature (hotter magmas are less viscous)
• Composition (silica content)
• High silica – high viscosity (e.g., rhyolitic lava)
• Low silica – more fluid (e.g., basaltic lava)
• Dissolved gases (volatiles) (Provide the force to
extrude lava, Violence of an eruption is related to how
easily gases escape from magma)
• Mainly water vapor, Sulper, and carbon dioxide
• Gases expand near the surface
Magma & Erupted Materials
Differences in volcanic activity result partly from
differences in magma
Kilauea Mount St. Helens Yellowstone caldera
Global distribution of volcanoes

Global distribution of volcanoes
DISTRIBUTION OF VOLCANOES
CIRCUM-PACIFIC BELT
More than 60 % of active volcanoes

Ring of Fire ( follows the convergent
boundary of the pacific plate)
Alaskan volcanoes
MEDITERRANEAN BELT
About 20 % of active volcanoes
Mount Etna, Italy.
Rest of the active volcanoes are at or near mid-
oceanic ridges.
The longest of these ridges is the MID-ATLANTIC
RIDGE.
VOLCANO, AUGUSTINE ISLAND, ALEUTIAN ISLAND ARC
This image was

recorded by
Landsat 5. Red
represents flowing
hot ash, blue
indicates snow
and gray-brown
shows flows of
cool ash. This
type of explosive
eruption
represents a
fundamental type
of volcanism
resulting from
converging
tectonic plates.

Classification of Volcanoes
Based on . . . . .
State Mode of Eruption Type of Eruption
1. Active 1. Central Vent 1. Hawaiian
2. Dormant type or cone
2. Strombolian
3. Extinct 2. Fissure type
3. Vulcanian
4. Vesuvian
5. Pelean &
6. Plinian
Based on the State of the Volcanoes

Active volcano
- are those which are active at present or have been
in eruption at least during the historic past.
Dormant or Slumbering volcano

- are those which have not been in eruption in the
historic period but at the same time may have time to erupt
in future.
Extinct volcanoes
- these are geologically ancient and have totally
stopped all their activities.

ACTIVE VOLCANO
10 m high fountain of lava

Based on the mode of Eruption
1. CENTRAL VENT TYPE :
Based on eruptive force, composition and Viscosity of the
magma …
• VOLCANIC CONES ( due to low viscosity magma )
• CINDER CONES ( glassy material around the cone )
• COMPOSITE CONES ( alternating layers of pyroclastic

material and lava )
2. FISSURE TYPE :
Lava eruption takes place through fractures and fissures.

Based on eruption
• Hawaiian: Volcanoes with mild eruption belong to this
phase is free from explosion (e.g. Hawaiian volcanoes).
Lava is ejected mildly. Such quite eruption build shield
volcanoes and lava plateaus and plains. Low silica
basaltic composition make the lava mobile.
• Strombolian: Eruption of lava punctuated by periodic,

mild explosions is known as Strombolian phase. (e.g.
Stromboli, Italy). In this type of eruption lava is ejected
out in fountains with bombs and scoria and light-colored
clouds (mostly steam) reach upward only to moderate
heights.
• Vulcanian: More Viscous and less mobile lavas; allowing

gas buildup below surface; over longer periods of quiet
until lava crust is broken up, ejecting bombs, pumice, ash
and thick clouds and built the Composite cone. (e.g.
Vulcano, Sicily)
•Vesuvian: More stronger then Strombolian or Vulcanian

types; extremely violent expulsion of gas; eruption
occurs after long interval of quiescence of mild activity;
vent tends to be emptied to considerable depth; lava
ejects in explosive spray, repeated clouds (cauliflower)
that reach great heights and deposit tephra.
•Plinian: More violent form of Vesuvian eruption; Calderas

are formed. Volume of erupted materials is enormous. It
is named after the observer Pliny who lost his life during
the observations.
•Pelean: Results from high-viscosity lavas, erupts

pyroclastics in violent explosion, forming the Volcanic
domes, Glowing cloud is typical are typical feature of
Pelean phase (e.g. Mount Pelee, West Indies)
No volcano erupts in the same manner through out its

life. A single Volcano may erupt in different types at
different times

Volcanic activity &
Hazards

Volcanic Hazards
• Lava flows
• Pyroclastic flow and falls
• Ash flows
• Lahars and Debris Avalanches
• Volcanic gases
• Volcanic dome collapse
• Caldera collapse
• Eruption clouds
• Landslides
• Seismicities
• Tsunami

LAVA FLOWS
 This is a basalt
lava flow in a
channel
 Due to its low silica

content and high
temperature, it is
quite fluid
 Yet lava usually

flows fairly slowly
Lava Flows
●lava: magma that reaches Earth’s surface
●temp. & speed affect appearance of hardened surface
• ON LAND • UNDERWATER
– Hotter basaltic lava – Distinctive shape
• Flows quickly out of
• Rounded, pillow-like,
vents
hard crust
– Forms pahoehoe
» Smooth, ropelike – Forms pillow lava
surfaces
– Cooler basaltic lava

• Moves slowly, cools
quickly
– Forms aa
» Rough, jagged
surfaces

Pahoehoe lava
This is a Hawaiian
term for smooth,
ropy lava
It generally
exhibits fluid-like
textures
Aa lava
• This type of lava is
quite blocky on the
surface, and
comparatively cool
• Yet below the

surface, the lava is
fairly massive and
much hotter
• Also called Blocky

Lava

It was photographed at
close range by scientists
in the deep-diving
submersible Alvin. Little or
no sediment covers the
basalt because this part of
the sea floor is very
young. The large elliptical
structure is approximately
1 m long.
PILLOW BASALT, MID
ATLANTIC RIDGE
Tubular-shaped pillows of basalt

photographed in the c entral rift
of the East Pacific Rise, at a
water depth of about 500 m.
Fire Fountaining
• Sometimes,
basaltic lava can
contain lots of gas
• Then, small
explosive eruptions
form fire fountains
• As partially liquid
drops fall back to
the ground, they
may coalesce to
form a lava flow

Flood basalts
• The previous examples represent small-scale

activity
• But basaltic eruptions can be huge, forming lava
plateaus
• These huge outpourings may occur quickly (1-3 Ma)
and may contribute to mass extinctions
• (e.g. Deccan Plateau, Columbia Plateau)
Global distribution of large igneous provinces

(LIPS)
Mainly flood
basalts

Lava domes
Mt. Unzen, Japan
Unzen began
growing a lava dome
in mid-1991. The
dome complex
continued to grow
until 1995
Lava domes at Unzen
• The lava is silica-

rich and thus highly
viscous (sticky) and
cannot easily flow
• Thus it tends to
form steep-sided
domal structures

Volcanic activity: lava domes
• By early 1995, the

dome complex had
grown substantially
and was highly
oversteepened
• As pieces of the
dome broke off,
they would
fragment, creating
pyroclastic flows
Dome growth-destruction cycles
Late lava dome

Ash & Rock Fragments
• Explosive eruptions usually involve magmas which
contain trapped gasses
– When gasses are released, solid pyroclastic material
may be ejected
• Classified by size
– Smallest  ash
– Intermediate  lapilli
– Largest  blocks & bombs
• If pyroclastic materials combine with hot gasses 

pyroclastic flow (dense, superheated cloud that travels
downhill with amazing speed)
Volcanic activity: Pyroclastic flows

• “A Pyroclastic flow is a
fluidized mixture of solid
fragments and hot,
expanding gases that
flows down the volcano
vent.
• Pyroclastic flows are
suspensions of hot
pyroclastic material, air, and
gas which descend under the
influence of gravity
• Their velocity is generally
very high (50-500 km/hr)
• This example is a flow from
Mt. St. Helens

Pyroclastic falls
• During explosive
volcanic eruptions,
ash falls downwind
of the volcano
• In the case of very

large eruptions, the
ash may be
deposited over a
vast area
Pyroclastic flows
• This is another
example,
descending the
slopes of Unzen
volcano after part
of the dome has
collapsed
• The flow has a
dense core which
is hidden by the
billows of ash
which are rising Unzen, 24 June 1993

Pyroclastic flows - note big rounded pumices
Volcanic activity: lahars
• Lahar is an Indonesian
word for volcanic
debris flow
• Lahars are flows of

water and loose
volcanic debris
• They are especially

prevalent at snow-clad
and ice-clad
volcanoes

Some homes, once buried by lahar, and
now being exposed by recent erosion

The human cost at Armero
A victim just after

rescue from the
lahar
She is completely
coated in the mud
of the lahar
In general,
survivors had great
difficulty extricating
themselves
If a volcano’s lava is thick and stiff, the lava may

explode into the air and harden into ash, cinders, and
bombs.

VOLCANIC BOMBS
Volcanic activity: debris avalanches
• Sometimes a volcanic
structure is weakened
• Wholesale collapse of
part of the volcano may
result
• During collapse, a
debris avalanche
occurs, and a scar
remains
Unzen volcano, with the 1792
scar in the foreground

Volcanic activity: gases
• Volcanic gases are
typically highly acid
• Major constituents
include H2O, CO2, HCl,
SO2, and HF
• This photo shows gas

emission from Masaya
volcano in Nicaragua
• This is also Masaya

volcano…
• but this photo was

taken from the
space shuttle
• it shows the gas

plume being blown
out over the Pacific
Ocean
• About 15 km
downwind from
Masaya, the
coffee crop is
adversely
affected by the
acid gases
Volcanic Landforms

Shield Volcanoes
A shield volcano is characterized by gentle upper
slopes (about 5o) and somewhat steeper lower slopes
(about 10o).
Shield volcanoes are composed almost entirely of
relatively thin lava flows built up over a central vent.
Most shields were formed by low viscosity basaltic
magma that flows easily down slope away form the
summit vent.

Shield Volcanoes
Most shield volcanoes have a roughly circular or oval
shape in map view.
Very little pyroclastic material is found within a shield
volcano, except near the eruptive vents, where small
amounts of pyroclastic material accumulate as a result
of fire fountaining events.
Shield volcanoes thus form by relatively non-explosive
eruptions of low viscosity basaltic magma.
»Ex. Mauna Loa in Hawaii is 9170 m tall (4170 m above sea level & 5000 m below
sea level)

Tend to be less explosive than other types of volcanoes
However, flows may be frequent & large in volume and
results in damage to homes, highways, & other property
Tend to form over hotspots & in oceans (b/c oceanic crust is
made of basalt)
Mauna Loa is the tallest

volcano on Earth, as
measured from the sea
floor
Shield volcanoes on Mars
Other planets also

have shield
volcanoes
This is the largest

shield volcano in
the solar system,
Olympus Mons on
Mars

Shield volcanoes: Earth vs. Mars
Red = Hawaiian
chain, which is
superimposed on
Olympus Mons
Mauna Loa is about here
Stratovolcanoes (also called Composite Volcanoes)

Have steeper slopes than shield volcanoes, with slopes
of 6 to 10o low on the flanks to 30 o near the top.
The steep slope near the summit is due partly to thick,

short viscous lava flows that do not travel far down
slope from the vent.
They show an internal

layered structure due
to varying intensities
of the explosions that
deposit different sizes
of pyroclastics.

Mt. Shasta
Mount St. Helens
The gentler slopes near the base are due to accumulations of

material eroded from the volcano
Stratovolcanoes show inter-layering of lava flows and pyroclastic
material, So it is also called composite volcanoes. Pyroclastic
material can make up over 50% of the volume of a stratovolcano.
Lavas and pyroclastics are usually andesitic to rhyolitic in
composition.
Due to the higher viscosity of magmas erupted from these
volcanoes, they are usually more explosive than shield volcanoes.
Stratovolcanoes sometimes have a crater at the summit that is
formed by explosive ejection of material from a central vent.
Sometimes the craters have been filled in by lava flows or lava
domes, sometimes they are filled with glacial ice, and less
commonly they are filled with water.
Long periods of repose (times of inactivity) lasting for hundreds to
thousands of years, make this type of volcano particularly
dangerous, since many times they have shown no historic activity,
and people are reluctant to heed warnings about possible eruptions.

Cinder cones (Tephra Cones)
Cinder cones are

volcanoes which erupt
only during one
episode
They are explosive, but

small in size
The cone is a pile of

pyroclastic debris which
piles up at the angle of
repose
Cinder cones
The cinders are generally of basaltic

composition
The eruptive activity typically lasts a few

months or years

Cinder cones: Parícutin
Parícutin volcano
in Mexico is a
classic cinder cone
The region
contains many
cinder cones
It consists of both

pyroclastics and
lava
Parícutin
Here is a photo of
the volcano
showing the classic
form of cinder
cones
In the foreground is

the obviously
distressed farmer,
Dionisio Pulido

Maars
Maars result from phreatic
or phreatomagmatic
activity, wherein magma
heats up water in the
groundwater system,
pressure builds as the
water to turns to steam, and
then the water and Parts of the crater walls
preexisting rock (and some eventually collapse back into
new magma if the eruption the crater, the vent is filled with
is phreatomagmatic) are loose material, and, if the crater
blasted out of the ground to still is deeper than the water
form a tephra cone with table, the crater fills with water
gentle slopes. to form a lake, the lake level
coinciding with the water table.
Lava Domes (also called Volcanic Domes)

Volcanic Domes result from the extrusion of highly
viscous, gas poor andesitic and rhyolitic lava. Since the
viscosity is so high, the lava does not flow away from the
vent, but instead piles up over the vent.
Blocks of nearly solid lava break off the outer surface of

the dome and roll down its flanks to form a breccia around
the margins of domes.
The surface of volcanic

domes are generally
very rough, with
numerous spines that
have been pushed up
by the magma from
below.

Most dome eruptions are
preceded by explosive
eruptions of more gas rich
magma, producing a tephra
cone into which the dome is
extruded.
Volcanic domes can be

extremely dangerous.
because they form unstable
slopes that may collapse to
expose gas-rich viscous
magma to atmospheric
pressure. This can result in
lateral blasts or Pelean type
pyroclastic flow
(nuéeardentes) eruptions.
CRATERS AND CALDERAS

 Craters are circular depress ions, usually less than 1 km in
diameter, that for m as a result of e xplosions that e mit gases
and tephra.
 Calderas are much larger de pressions, circular to ellipt ical in

shape, with diameters ranging from 1 km to 50
km. Calderas for m as a result of collapse of a volcanic
structure. The collapse results from evacuat ion of the
underlying magma chamber.
 In shield volcanoes, like in Hawaii, the evacuat ion of the

magma chamber is a slow drawn out processes.
 In stratovolcanoes the collapse and for mation of a caldera

results from rapid evacuation of the under ly ing magma
chamber by voluminous e xplosive eruptions that for m
extensive fall deposits and pyroclastic flows.
 Calderas are often enclose d depressions that collect rain

water and snow melt, and thus lakes often for m within a
caldera.

CALDERAS
Crater Lake
caldera
Crater lake is a
medium-sized caldera,
about 10 km in
diameter
The upper parts of a

big stratovolcano (Mt.
Mazama) once rested
on top
Mt. Mazama is now at

the bottom of Crater
Lake
Crater Lake fills caldera formed by collapse during
massive eruption of Mt. Mazama 6600 years ago.
Yellowstone caldera
Yellowstone is a good
example of a big
continental caldera
It is rhyolitic in
composition and formed
about 600,000 years
ago
It actually sits within an

older, much larger
caldera extending west
into Idaho
Martian calderas
Here are two Martian calderas. Again, you should

appreciate the difference in scale between these
structures and those on Earth
Geysers, Fumaroles and Hot Springs
A fumarole is vent where

gases, either from a magma
body at depth, or steam from
heated groundwater,
emerges at the surface of the
Earth. Since most magmatic
gas is H2O vapor, and since
heated groundwater will
produce H2O vapor,
fumaroles will only be visible
if the water condenses. (H2O
vapor is invisible, unless
droplets of liquid water have
condensed)

Hot springs or thermal springs are areas where hot water comes to
the surface of the Earth. Cool groundwater moves downward and is
heated by a body of magma or hot rock. A hot spring results if this
hot water can find its way back to the surface, usually along fault
zones.
A geyser results if the hot spring has a plumbing system that allows
for the accumulation of steam from the boiling water. When the
steam pressure builds so that it is higher than the pressure of the
overlying water in the system, the steam will move rapidly toward the
surface, causing the eruption of the overlying water.
Some geysers, like Old Faithful in Yellowstone Park, erupt at regular

intervals. The time between eruptions is controlled by the time it
takes for the steam pressure to build in the underlying plumbing
system.
Plateau Basalts or Flood Basalts

Lava plateaus
Sometimes, plate tectonics results in a long,
narrow crack (fissure) in Earth’s surface
Basaltic lava pouring from the fissure spreads
across the land, forming a lava plateau
Due to erosional processes the plateau gives Mesa

and Buteau

In western India are the Deccan plateau basalts, whose
extrusions for more than 70 million years are related to
the collision of India against the southern margin of
the Asian plate.
 Deccan trap forms unique and self styled
geological formation with rhythmic and repetitive
layers of volcanic flows numbering over 40 – 50
 These 40 – 50 flows have repetitively erupted
intermittently
 Each flow contains
 Red bole / flow breccia in the bottom followed on the
top by Massive flow
 Columnar flow
 Vesicular and Amygdaloidal basalt on the top
 These multiple flows are intensively di ssected and
hence depending upon the levels of di ssection and
erosion different flows are spatially exposed in
different locations
RED BOLE

Vesicular / Amygdoloidal
Columnar
Massive
COLUMNAR
MASSIVE
VESICULAR
AMYGDALOIDAL

Transitional Flow
Massive Flow

Multiple flows
5TH FLOW
ESCARPMENT
4TH FLOW
ESCARPMENT
3RD FLOW
2ND FLOW
1ST FLOW

DEM Wrapped FCC image showing different level of flow elevation
860-900
800-860
760-800
700-760
660-700
600-660
560-600
<560

 Sometimes magma rises upward through cracks
in the crust but does not reach Earth’s surface.
 The magma cools and hardens into rock
beneath the surface
 Features formed by magma include volcanic
necks, dikes, and sills, as well as batholiths
and dome mountains.
 A volcanic neck forms when magma hardens

in a volcano’s pipe.

 The softer rock around the pipe wears away,
exposing the hard rock of the volcanic neck.
 A dike forms when magma forces itself across

rock layers and hardens.

 A sill forms when magma squeezes between
layers of rock and hardens.
Laccolith: A laccolith (also called a plutonic formation or an

igneous intrusion) i s a formation in which magma (molten rock) is
trapped beneath the surface of the Earth and pushe s the rock
located above it into a dome shape. It has a flat base and a convex
upper surface. The magma cools and solidifies, and eventually, it is
exposed (as the fractured sedimentary rock above it erodes away).
Laccolith means "cistern stone" in Greek.

 When a large body of magma cools inside the crust,
a mass of rock called a batholith forms. Because of
erosion, it will be exposed in the surface
Exposed Batholiths and Monadnocks

Batholiths: huge bodies of intrusive igneous rock
• Form hilly or mountainous uplands
• Monadnock: a mountain that rises out of a
surrounding plain and that develops because it
consists of more resistant rock than the bedrock of
the surrounding region

 Smaller bodies of hardened magma can form
dome mountains.

When Mt. Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79, the people in nearby Pompeii w ere trapped and
suffocated beneath a layer of volcanic ash up to 8 m thick. When Pompeii w as excavated,
archaeologis ts found cavities lines w ith an exact imprint of the decomposed bodies: by pouring
plaster into the cavities they were able to make casts that displayed the victim’s musculature,
agonized facial expressions and in some cases even the folds in their clothing.

Glacial
Geomorphology
Glaciers
Glaciers are rivers or sheets of recrystalised Ice that
survive all year along and move in response to their
own weight and slope. They carve beautiful
landscapes and deposits hills of sediment

Vatnajokull Glacier, Iceland
Valley glacier on Bylot Island
It is just off the northern end of Canada’s Baffin island originate in the snow f ields that almost
completely cov er the mountain peaks. Note that the snowline extends down a lmost to sea
lev el. The main glaciers extend down f rom the highland as tongues of ice (blue). Note the
glaciers, like riv er systems, consist of a main trunk stream and an intricate sy stem of
branching tributaries

Glaciers in the Himalayas show this continuing condition
of retreat. The mountain glaciers in Bhutan shown here
are shrinking and developing new lakes at their terminal -
solid indications of diminishing glacial active in that
region.

The image is a special, false-color
image, using yellow, red, and blue
filters, to enhance various types of ice
and glacial zones.
It shows the thick ice cap (defined as

a dome-shaped ice mass with radial
flow) known as Vatnajökull, in south-
central Iceland which has 43 outlet
glaciers (light blue), many with lobate
termini.
Areas in yellow-orange are vegetated,

while reds associate with basaltic
rocks and sparse vegetation.
Green in the ocean is sediment, and
black around the ice cap is a zone of

ground soaking from glacial
meltwater.

Glacier Formation
Large, long-lasting accumulation of snow & ice

that develop on land
Time passes –ice mass begins moving due to pull

of gravity
Periods of…
• ADVANCING (cold temps + moisture =
accumulation)
• RETREATING (warm temps = melting)

Movement: Advancing & Retreating
Zones of Accumulation & Ablation

Zone of Accumulation
Area where glacier is gaining
precipitation
Upslope –higher elevations
Zone of Ablation
Area where glacier is melting
Downslope–lower elevations
Sublimation
Occurs when ice is directly
changed into water vapor

A Glacial system
Movement of Glaciers
To be called “glacier”, mass of ice must be capable
of MOVEMENT
Movement within glacier is not uniform.
Middle and top of glacier moves faster than

sides and bottom.

Glacial Movement
Plastic flow: under the influence of gravity glacial ice

will undergo plastic flow as much as several meters per
year
Basal slip: under sufficient pressure the basal ice in a

glacier will melt allowing the entire glacier to undergo
basal slip up to a kilometer per year
The largest and longest glacier in the world is the Lambert Glacier, in
northeastern Antarctica (Australian sector), which meets the sea at
the Amery Ice Shelf. Its length is given as 403 km (250 miles); it width
reaches to 64 km (40 miles).
Three space images: the first shows part of the glacier in a Landsat image;
the center is a perspective view made using DEM data; the third displays
rates of flow determined from radar data taken over an extended period:

Crevasses
􀂄 Crevasses are cracks in the glacier ice
􀂄 Form at low confining pressures
􀂄 near the glacier surface ice is brittle
􀂄 Seracs are a form of crevasses that
commonly form at icefalls
Longitudinal crevasses develop in areas of compressive

stress
Transverse crevasses develop in areas of tensile stress
Marginal crevasses occur when the central portion of the

glacier flows faster than the outer edges.

Crevasses in a glacier, Alaska
Crack or fissure in a glacier resulting from stress due to movement, Glacial
crevasses may be 20 m wide, 45 m deep and several hundred meters long.
Longitudinal crevasses develop in areas of compressive stress, transverse
crevasses develop in areas of tensile stress, marginal crevasses occur when
the central portion of the glacier flows faster than the outer edges. Jagged ice
pinnacles may form where crevasses intersect at the glacier terminus
This JERS-1 SAR (radar) image of an Alaskan glacier brings out

the details in the cracking of the ice as the entire mass moves
slowly down gradient.

Glacial Mass Balance
Calculated by the difference in

amount of snow accumulated
(winter) and the snow melted
(summer).
Snow accumulated is less than

Melted snow, mass balance is
positive and the glacier has
increased in volume.
Melted snow is more than

Snow accumulated, mass
balance is negative and the
glacier volume decreased.

Categories of Glaciers
Continental Glacier:
 Large ice masses that cover significant portions of
continents and are a mile or more thick
Largest type: only 2 exist
ANTARCTICA and GREENLAND
Surface coverage of at least 2Million sq. miles
Mountain/Alpine Glacier
Occupies a U-shaped valley on a mountain
 2 MYA (Pleistocene), max extent: 1/3 land covered
 Now: 10% land covered
 96% glacial ice is tied up in Antarctica & Greenland
Continental Glaciers
Greenland & Antarctica

Glacial Processes
1. Erosion
• Erosion is possible due to presence of till (Combination

of all sizes of sediments (pebbles to boulders) carried
within glacier and eventually deposited).
2. Transportation & Deposition
3. Glaciofluvial

Glacial Erosion
 Plucking
• Water gets in cracks, freezes,
lifts up bits of rock and
carries them in the glacier
itself
• Leaves a blocky and irregular

surface
 Scouring
• Abrasive action of rocks within
glacier as glacier moves over
surface
• Leaves striated surface
• Enough scouring creates a

polished surface
Glaciofluvial
Meltwater deposit materials far away from the
glacier
Braided streams are formed –think of all that till

moving inside the glacier, and what happens to it
as it is carried by meltwaters.

Glacial Transportation & Deposition
• Debris within glacier = transported
• Debris ahead or to sides of glacier = deposited
• Moraines form when till gets pushed into linear

piles (heap) by the movement of a glacier.
EROSIONAL FEATURES OF GLACIERS

Roche moutonee
A glacially eroded hill that
becomes elongate in the
direction of flow and
asymmetric; glacial rasping
smoothe s the upstream part of
the hill into a gentle slope, while
glacial plucking erodes the
downstream edge into a steep
slope.
Landforms due to Erosion in Mountain (Valley) Glaciers
 Cirque
 Tarn
 Horn
 Arete
 Glacial Valley
 Hanging Valley
 Paternoster Lakes

Erosional Features: Cirques
􀂄 Bowl-shaped depression
􀂄 Area where snow first accumulates and modifies

into glacial ice (called Cirques Glacier)

Erosional Features: Tarns
􀂄 After a glacier is no longer present, a lake may
form in a cirque
Erosional Features: Horns

 Pyramidal peak that forms when cirques chisel a
mountain from 3+ sides

Erosional Features: Aretes
 Narrow ridge : Formed when two glaciers move down
valleys and erode the area between them into a ridge
Erosional Features: Glacial Valley

 Valleys become deeper &
wider over time
 Guide the path of glacial

ice flow
 U-Shaped
This Landsat scene shows

widened valleys in the alpine
region of that country

Erosional Features: Hanging Valley
 When smaller valleys join
with larger glacial valleys,
the floors are not at the
same elevation
 Waterfalls are often

present here

Fjord : A deep, glacially carved, U-shaped valley
flooded by rising sea level.
This partial Landsat scene in

the Trollaskagi region of
northwest Iceland provide a
post-ice view of an ice-
sculpted mountainous area
where glaciers, now gone,
have left conspicuous
troughs (wide valleys) with
intervening ridges now
sharply creased into aretes.
Several large fjords are

formed where seawater has
encroached into larger
glacially-scoured lowlands.

Erosional Features: Paternoster Lakes
 Chain of tarns that are formed when a valley
“steps” down
 Lakes are all connected by streams and/or
waterfalls
DEPOSITIONAL FEATURES OF GLACIERS

Continental Glaciers
Landforms
All formed by deposition of materials
􀂄 Moraines
􀂄 Kames
􀂄 Esker
􀂄 Kettles/Kettle Ponds
􀂄 Braided Outwash Streams

Moraines: A strip of debris or linear body of debris
formed by the glacier.
􀂄 Numerous types of moraines, Two are

associated with continental glaciers
1. Terminal Moraine
marks the maximum
extent of the glacier
2. Recessional Moraine
develops behind the
terminal moraine as the
glacier retreats

Depositional Features: Moraines
A strip of sediment in the interior of a
A strip of debris along the glacier, parallel to the flow direction
margins of a glacier. of the glacier, formed by the lateral
moraines of two merging glaciers.
Lateral and Medial Moraines

“End moraines”are more commonly called
“Terminal”and “Recessional”moraines.
Glacial Till
• Sediment transported and deposited by a glacier
 Poor sorting
 bimodal: fines from abrasion; coarse grains
from plucking
• Usually lacks stratification
• Cobbles exhibit striations and facets

Depositional Features: Kames
􀂄 Steep-sided, conical hill of debris that originally
collected in a hole in the glacier.
Depositional Features: Erratics

􀂄 Boulders that are carried far from their place
of origin by a glacier

Depositional Features: Kettles
􀂄 Large chunks of ice leave a depression in the
landscape because
 Isolated ice is surrounded by till (which
becomes part of the landscape). Ice melts –
leaving a “depression”.
 If filled with water,called “kettle lakes”
Depositional Features: Glacial Outwash Meltwater

Braided streams form when glacial meltwater
passes through the moraines and picks up till. It will
eventually drop this till into channel bars and begin
flowing around them, forming braids.

Varves :- are thin, alternating layers of light and dark
sediment deposited in a glacial lake.
A layer of relatively coarse grained, light colored sediment

accumulates during the spring and summer runoff.
During the winter, when the

lake is frozen over, fine,
dark mud settles to form a
dark layer.
Each set of light and dark
layers therefore represents
a year’s accumulation

‘Drumlins’
In areas where continental glaciers have deposited till, the till
has been reshaped into elongated hills known as drumlins.
Some drumlins measure as much as 50 m high and 1 km long
but most are much smaller. From the side, a drumlin looks like
an inverted spoon with the steep end on the side from which the
glacial ice advanced and the gently sloping end pointing in the
direction of ice movement
(Antrim County, Michigan) DRUMLIN SWARM, Strangford lough, Co. Down
Drumlins
Elliptical hills oriented in the direction of ice movement
Created when a glacier overrides and reshapes preexisting glacial drift

Melt water landforms
Eskers
meandering ridges of stratified drift deposited in tunnels in the ice
Eskers - a long, narrow, and often sinuous ridges of stratified drift
- formed by glacial melt streams flowing in tunnels beneath a stagnant glacier

Outwash plain
valleys floors and undulating plains formed in outwash, sand and gravel
washed out from glaciers by melt water

In the southern hemisphere glaciers occur in New
Zealand and in South America, as this ASTER view of a
mountain (valley-filling) glacier in the Andes displays so
well (the time of the year is the southern summer [around
December])
The image mosaic below

shows typical alpine or
mountain glaciers developed
from snow fields covering
the higher elevations of parts
of the Wrangell and Chugach
mountains of southeast
Alaska.
Note the dark streaks in

some of these piedmont
glaciers. These are medial
and lateral moraines (glacial
debris that may become
rock deposits). The reds in
the scene are mostly tundra
vegetation.

Along the southern coast of Alaska is a famous active
glacier known as the Malaspina Glacier. The Landsat
subscene below shows a series of internal moraines on
the glacier and a prominent wide lateral moraine to the
west (left).
The perspective view of this glacier as it creeps towards the Gulf of

Alaska, made by combining Landsat and STRM data, shows it in
context with its mountain source:
Glaciers tend to have black streaks on their surfaces - these are

medial moraine deposits formed as rock falls loose at the head of the
glacier and continue s thi s proce ss over the years, so that the debris
are strung out as streaks that move over the years.

The Bear glacier in the Denai
Peninsula of Alaska shows a
prominent medial moraine.
As it reaches an ocean inlet,

ice breaks off to form small
icebergs that could become a
hazard if they reach the open
sea.
This IKONOS image has high

enough resolution to show
crevasses formed by
differential movement of the
ice mass
Piedmont Glaciers: Fans or lobes of Ice that form where

valley glacier spread out to adjacent plains

GROUNDWATER RELATED LANDFORMS
Water beneath the surface (groundwater)
Largest freshwater reservoir for humans
 Groundwater fills the open spaces in rocks,

sediment, and soil beneath the surface
 Groundwater is an important source for domestic,
industrial, and agricultural use, but is also an
important erosional and depositional Agent in
subsurface, important energy source in some
areas
Groundwater is about 22% of the world’s fresh water
comes from precipitation percolating through
soils and sediment
streams, lakes, and snowmelt also contribute

Groundwater and the Hydrologic Cycle
How water reaching the subsurface
What Properties of Earth’s Materials allow them

to absorb Water?
 It is depend on the porosity and
permeability of the rock
Porosity
• Percentage of pore spaces in compare to its
volume rock
• Determines how much groundwater can be

stored
Permeability
• Ability to transmit water through connected
pore spaces

Porosity
Primary porosity
Primary porosity depends

on the rock types, sorting,
Secondary porosity

Permeability
• Ability to transmit water through connected pore
spaces
Aquifers

Aquifers and Aquitards
Aquifers
Aquitards
Aquifers
Aquifers - types
􀀟 Unconfined
􀀟 Confined

Water Table
 The water table is the top of the zone of saturation.
Vadose zone (Unsaturated zone)

The capillary fringe
Phreatic zone (Saturated zone)
The depth to the water table is variable

Perennial surface water exposes the water table

Water table position changes with rainfall
Ponds go dry if the water table falls
below the bottom.
Water Table Topography

The water table often follows the
land’s topography
 Discontinuous aquitards
 Aquitards can form perched
water tables

Groundwater Movement
Gravity moves groundwater, just as it does water in
channels
moves from areas of high pressure to areas
of low pressure
may move up to 250 m per day, or less than a
few cm/day

Springs?
 Springs are locations
of natural
groundwater
discharge.
 Places where
groundwater flows or
seeps out of the
ground
 when percolating
water reaches the
water table or
impermeable layer, it
flows laterally and
may intersect the
surface
Springs result from varied geologic features.

Artesian well – Confined
groundwater that flows at
the surface under
Hydrostatic pressure
Artesian well – Water from
a confined aquifer rises
above the land surface
producing a flowing well
that spouts water
continuously into the air
Artesian wells
generally in confined,
tilted aquifers

Hot springs
 Water is 6-9ºC warmer than the mean

air temperature of the locality
 Heated by Magma
Geysers
• a type of hot spring that periodically
erupts hot water and steam
geyser in Yellowstone National Park
Old Faithful Geyser

(Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming)
One of the world‟s most famous geysers,
erupting approximately every 30 to 90
minutes
Geysers are hot springs that intermittently
eject hot water and steam with
tremendous force. The word come from
Icelandic geysir means to gush or to rush
forth. Ge ysers are the surface expression
of an extensive underground system of
interconnected fractures within hot
igneous rocks

Hot Springs
(West Thumb Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming)
Hot spring (thermal spring or warm spring) is a spring in which

the water temperature is warmer than the human body (37o C).
The heat for most hot springs comes from magma or cooling
igneous rocks.
Mudpot – a type of hot spring that contains thick boiling

mud and strong sulfurous acids
- Intense chemical weathering
Mud Pot

Geothermal deposits
• Travertine – a deposit of calcite that forms

around hot springs
• Sinter (or geyserite) – a deposit of

precipitated silica
Sinter Travertine
TRAVERTINE DEPOSITS, MINERVA TERRACE, MAMMOTH HOT

SPRINGS, YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, WYOMING
Trav ertine (CaCO3) f ormed by the warm spring water cooled and ev aporated

Fumeroles
Mammoth Hot Spring, Yellowstone National Park, Wy oming
Sometimes hot water incorporates sulfur on its way to the surface,

the spring emits the distinctive rotten-egg odor of sulfur dioxide and
the deposits have a yellowish tinge

Like other Geological agents, Groundwater also
modify the surface and subsurface of the earth by
erosional and processes through solution activities
When soluble rock is exposed at the surface, water
can attack minerals chemically and become a
significant erosional agent and create the various
erosional and depositional landforms
The resulting topography with shallow depression

and small mounts is termed Karst Topography (After
the area Karst in Itlay)
The Karst topography are generally associated with

limestone region (because limestone easily soluble
and taken as solution by water)
Karst Topography
Definition by Jennings (1985)
“A terrain with distinctive landforms and drainage arising
from greater rock solubility in natural water that is found
elsewhere.”

The "type locality" for karst terrain is in the Dinaric Alps of Croatia, where
Mesozoic limestones are notably pitted by solution, as seen in this astronaut
photo:
The karst topography in this scene appears in the darker -toned surfaces.
These karsts are a thick series of carbonate rocks that elsewhere in the
image have their outer rock removed to expose older non-carbonates
underneath

The island of Jamaica in the Caribbean is composed mostly of limestones. As
such, it is subject to intensive karst development in response to high annual
rainfall. This Seasat radar image shows the typical karst topography developed
under subtropical conditions.
perspective view of Jamaican cockpit karst using IKONOS and DEM inputs

FOUR TYPES OF KARST TOPOGRAPHY
1. True Karast, 2. Tropical Karst, FLuviokarst, 4. Glaciokarst
1.True Karast:
Jugoslavian Karst topography is called True Karst. It is
developed in Limestone mountainous regions.
Deep cavities and solution dolines (sinkhole) are
common. Surface streams are absent and undergorund
drainage is not a refelction of surface features
2. Tropical Karst Cone Karst
Cone karst and tower karst

are common.
Cone Karst is the
assemblage of peaks and
intermittent depressions
resembling egg box
Tower karst are steep sided
hills of hum s studded in
alluvial plains
Tropical karst extensively
developed in southern Tower karst
China
Copyright © Frank Eckardt 2002

3. Fluviokarst
In the areas of western and central Europe and the USA,
both solutional and fluvial activity are seen.
Limestones are less developed. River gorges and
dryvalleys are common.
Disappearance and resurgence of streams, springs,
blindvalleys and sinkholes are common features. Caves
are characteristic features of fluviokarsts and soil cover
is thicker
4. Glaciokarst
Glaciokarst seen in periglacial, glacial and permofrost
regions are with limestone pavements, dolines and
potholes

Dissolution Reactions
• water + carbon dioxide carbonic acid
H20 + CO2 H2CO3
• carbonic acid +limestone calcium +bicarbonate

H2C03 + Ca CO3 Ca + HCO3
Karst topography
Generally associated with
 Numerous caves, springs, solution valleys,
sinkholes, and disappearing streams

Karst Landscapes
Karst Landforms
Sink holes: are large solution cavities. In karst regions,
sinkholes are numerous and in some sinkholes streams may
disappear
Dolines or Solution sinkholes: Sink holes developed mainly by
solution activity are known as Dolines. These are generally shallow
basins to depth of 2-100 m and are 100 – 1000 m across. The sides
are rocky or covered with vegetation
Concentration of joints are suitable place for Doline development

Collapse Sinkhole
Collapse Sinkhole: material fails into

subsurface cavity previously created
by dissolution
Removal basement causes
subsidence of roof and as a result of
a depression on the surface, it is
known as Collapse Sinkhole

Karst Hazards – Sinkhole Collapse
Winter Park, FL Crooked Lake, FL
Tucson, AZ ----Karst?? Guatemala City

Copyright © Jelena Calic-Ljubojevic 2002
Sinkhole
Flooding

• Blind Valley: A valley that end abruptly where stream vanishes
underground.
• Sinking Stream: stream that vanishes underground, usually at

terminus of blind valley.
• Resurgence: point where waters from sinking stream reemerges from

underground.
• Dry Valley: Valley that no longer exhibits channelized flow.
• Cave: A natural underground room or series of rooms large enough to

be entered by a person.
• Swallet (swallow hole): A place where water disappears underground
in karst region. Swallet commonly used to describe loss of water in
stream bed.
• Swallet (swallow hole): A place

where water disappears underground
in karst region. Swallet commonly
used to describe loss of water in
stream bed.

DIAGRAM SHOWING LIMESTONE CAVERN ENVIRONMENT

DIAGRAM SHOWING LIMESTONE CAVERN ENVIRONMENT

Sinuous Cave
Three principle theories of

Cave origins
1) Form above water table

by vadose water
(unsaturated zone water)
2) Form beneath water

table by circulation of
phreatic water
(=saturated zone water)
3) Form at water table =

water table caves

WATER TABLE CAVE
Cave Patterns

Reprecipitation in Caves
When groundwater with dissolved Ca and 2HCO3 seeps

into an open cavity, it releases CO2 and deposits
CaCO3 and create various type of landforms
(Speleothems).
Speleothems
• Stalactites
• Stalagmites
• Columns
• Flowstone
• Cave popcorn
• Helictites

Speleothems
Calcite deposits formed by dripping water
are called speleothems
Copyright © Stephane Veyrat-Charvillon 2002
Speleothems
deposits in caves
• Stalactite- icicle like deposit from dripping

water from cave ceiling
• Stalagmite- same as above but builds from
cave floor up
• Flowstone- produced by flowing water
over a wall

Stalagmite- same as above but builds from cave floor up
•Stalagmite- same as above but builds from cave floor up
Stalacmite

Stalactites
and
Stalagmites
‘Column’
Stalactites hanging from
the cave ceiling and
stalagmites growing
upward from the floor
merge to form a column

Column – a joined
stalactite and
stalagmite
Drip of a drop
Drop of water collects at the end of
a growing stalactite. As the water
loses carbon dioxide, a tiny amount
of calcium carbonate precipitates
from the solution and is added to
the end of the dripstone formation

CARLDSBAR CAVERNS, NEW MEXICO
show many of the forms of dripstone. Dripstone originates on the ceilings of cav es. Water seeps
through a crack and partially ev aporates. This causes a small ring of calcite to be deposited
around the crack. The ring grows into a tube, which commonly acquires a tapering shape as
water seeps f rom adjacent areas and f lows down its outer surf ace
Flow stone
Flowstone- produced by
flowing water over a
wall

DRIP CURTAINS: are the curtain like deposits hanging
from the ceiling formed by the percolation of water
through fractures
‘Helictites’
Helictites f orm by capillary action and can grow in any direction

Cave „Pearls‟
Cave pearls form when layers of travertine

precipitate around a sand grain or similar
particle
Cave „Popcorn‟
Giant cave popcorn forms by the precipitation of

travertine at the surface openings of large speleothems

Biogenic Activity and Geomorphology
Biogenic Activity and Geomorphology
 Influence of landforms on distribution of

organisms
 Influence of organisms on the development

of landforms
Bidirectional
 Effects of geomorphology on organisms
 Effects of organisms on geomorphology

Effects of organisms on
geomorphology
• Animals
– Modification of
landform
– Direct agents of
sediment movement
Prying action of animals
• Animals and insects like ants make deep holes in

the crust and initiate process of denudation.
• Human action- querying and blasting.
• Soil erosion- sheeting

geomorphic processes
• Weathering
– Provides nutrients to plants,

microbes
– Organisms secrete weathering

compounds (acids, enzymes)
– Roots break up particles
– Oxidation of the atmosphere
• Organisms influence the

development of ‘overburden’

Prying action of plants
RO OT WE DGING

burrowing

geomorphology

ORGANISMS AND THEIR ACTION
Polyps live in 150 - 200’ deep water and when water has
more caco3 and the temperature is above 68 degree, these
organisms segregate and build reefs which finally grow into
Islands
 Fringing reef
– A coral reef built out laterally from the shore,
forming a broad bench; slightly below the sea
level.
 Barrier reef
– A prominent ridge of coral that roughly
parallels the coastline but lies offshore, with
the shallow lagoon between the reefs and the
coasts.
 Atoll
– Coral reef in the shape of a ring or partial ring
that encloses a lagoon that had formally
surrounded a volcano, but that volcano has
since sunk below surface.
Coral reef
Fringing reef

Barrier reef
Atoll

Channel Modifications
Humans often decide that a stream should flow along a

specified path for such reasons as flood control, enhancement
of drainage, control of erosion, increasing access to the
floodplain for development, or improvement of the appearance
of the channel. Such channel modifications involve measures
such as the straightening the channel, deepening or widening
the channel, clearing vegetation from the banks, or lining the
channel with concrete. These modifications are referred to as
channelization.

DEFORESTATION - SOIL EROSION -SHEETING
Erosion
Horizontal
sheeting

RESTORATION OF BEACHES
Groynes:
Wooden, concrete and/or rock barriers

or walls at right angles to the sea.
Groynes arrest littoral drift and make

the shore line progress seaward
till become parallel to the wave
direction
ROCK REVETMENTS

Rock faced concrete revetment
Sand bags
timber and geotextile
stabilisation using grass plants.

OFFSHORE BREAKWATER
Structures constructed parallel to the coastline in break
water zone thereby reducing the magnitude of wave
attack
Enormous concrete blocks and natural boulders are

sunk offshore to alter wave direction and to filter the
energy of waves and tides.
The waves brake further offshore and therefore reduce

their erosive power.
This leads to wider beaches


E-Learning Material Geomorphology F

Transféré par

Informations du document

Titre original

Copyright

Formats disponibles

Partager ce document

Partager ou intégrer le document

Options de partage

Avez-vous trouvé ce document utile ?

Ce contenu est-il inapproprié ?

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

E-Learning Material Geomorphology F

Transféré par

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

6 Year Integrated M. Tech.

PAPER CODE: MTIGT0506

GEOMORPHOLOGY AND MODERN

1. Basic Principles of Geomorphology.

2. Denudational Geomorphology: need for studying the denudational geomorphology -

Tectonic Geomorphology: Need for Studying the Tectonic Geomorphology - Types of

3. Fluvial Geomorphology: Need for studying the Fluvial Geomorphology - Drainages

Coastal Geomorphology: Need for Studying Coastal Geomorphology - Coastal Zone

4. Aeolian Geomorphology: Need for Studying Aeolian Geomorphology - Processes in Arid

e-learning Material – Geomorphology and Modern Geodynamics

2. Jha. V.C., Geomorphology and Remote Sensing, ACB Publications.

3. Verstappen, H. Remote Sensing in Geomorphology, Elsevier, Amsterdam. 1977.

1. American Society of Photogrammetry, Manual of Remote Sensing, ASP Falls Church,

5. Doehring, Geomorphology in Arid Regions, Allen and Unwin, London. 1980.

6. Verstappen,H. Applied Geomorphology, Elsevier, Amsterdam. 1983.

e-learning Material – Geomorphology and Modern Geodynamics

8. Rao. D.P, Remote Sensing for Earth Resources - Association of Exploration

9. Surendra Singh, Geomorphology and Remote Sensing in Environmental Management,

10. Tripathi. N.K. Remote Sensing in Geosciences, Anmol Publications, 1998.

12. Keller E.A., Environmental Geology, CBS Publishers, 1985.

14. Rice R.J, Fundamentals of Geomorphology, E.L.B.S, Longman, 1988.

16. Ramasamy, SM., Remote Sensing in Geology, Rawat Publishers

e-learning Material – Geomorphology and Modern Geodynamics

 Geomorphology is the study of the

e-learning Material – Geomorphology and Modern Geodynamics

Therefore evidence from observations of the

•earth's internal heat

Processes: interaction of driving and resisting forces

e-learning Material – Geomorphology and Modern Geodynamics

During the late 18th & 19th century, the works of

e-learning Material – Geomorphology and Modern Geodynamics

It is frequently summarized as "the present is the key to

The concept of uniformity in geological processes can be

Modern uniformitarianism was formulated by Scottish

The term uniformitarianism was coined by William

e-learning Material – Geomorphology and Modern Geodynamics

e-learning Material – Geomorphology and Modern Geodynamics

Seneca (…– 65AD) – He recognized that the valleys

THE DAWN OF MODERN GEOMORPHIC IDEAS

e-learning Material – Geomorphology and Modern Geodynamics

Italian who recognized differential stream erosion

Hutton’s Era (1726 – 1797) Basically Physician

e-learning Material – Geomorphology and Modern Geodynamics

Propounded the Granite was igneous origin

Werner (1749-1817) theorized that all mountains

e-learning Material – Geomorphology and Modern Geodynamics

Agassiz : Recognized glacial landforms in Europe -

Davis (1850-1934) – “The great definer and analyst”

Propounded the concept of geomorphic cycle and

He explained differences in landforms to differences in

e-learning Material – Geomorphology and Modern Geodynamics

The modern era has refocused geomorphology as a

There were many leaders in the 20th century, but at

e-learning Material – Geomorphology and Modern Geodynamics

e-learning Material – Geomorphology and Modern Geodynamics

FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPT OF GEOMORPHOLOGY

e-learning Material – Geomorphology and Modern Geodynamics

W.M. Davis stated earlier that the major control factor in

3. To a large degree the earth’s surface possess relief

Different gradation of the earth surface due to the

e-learning Material – Geomorphology and Modern Geodynamics

Just as species of plants and animals have their

5. As the different erosional agents act upon the earth