Weathering and Mass Wasting Meister
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School
University of Kansas *
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Course
104
Subject
Geography
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
docx
Pages
4
Uploaded by BaronDugongPerson1540
Exploring Weathering and Mass Wasting
Background
If we had unlimited time and an unlimited budget for this course, we would take a trip across the country to see everything you are learning in real life. Instead, you will have to rely on visual travels to gain a better understanding of weathering.
Google Street View merges 360
o
images with Google Maps so that you can get an immersive sense of a location you are exploring. Geology is always all around us, so we can use Google Street View to look at 360
o
images of the geologic features you’re learning about.
For the second part of this activity you will use GoogleEarth. If you do not have it installed on your computer, it is available for free download at: http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html
Learning Objectives:
Identify examples of physical and chemical weathering
Identify examples of mass wasting
Directions For each location below, be sure to explore the photo by: dragging your mouse around the 360
o
view around you, and using the scroll feature on your mouse to zoom in and out on specific parts of the image. Answer each question that accompanies the link.
You open the links by CTR-Click.
Part 1 - Weathering
1.
Visit Apikuni Falls
in Glacier National Park. Some of these rocks has a white color, but they have an orange color where they are exposed to water from the waterfall. Which type of weathering is producing the orange colored rocks? a.
Hydrolysis
b.
Oxidation
c.
Exfoliation
d.
Frost wedging
2.
Visit Stone Foundation
in Wisconsin. There is evidence in this 360
O
photo for which type of weathering?
a.
Hydrolysis
b.
Oxidation
c.
Exfoliation
d.
Frost wedging
3.
Visit Starved Rock State
Park in Illinois. What type of weathering you see in this 360
O
photo? Exfoliation Weathering. 4.
One type of physical weathering not covered in the videos is abrasion
. A scratch on your skin or eye is called an abrasion and an “abrasive” person is someone that grates on your nerves. So, this form of weathering is just like it sounds. When sand or silt is picked up by water or wind and bumps into other rocks, it can round off the edges, making things smooth. River rocks are rounded because they roll around in rivers, bumping into one another and chipping off their rough edges. Sand carried by river water acts like sandpaper, smoothing the surface of the rocks. For example, see this photograph of rounded pebbles
. Abrasion also happens as a result of wind carrying sand. Visit Devil’s Garden
in Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument in Utah. The towers of rock are called hoodoos. How are Devil’s Garden hoodoos an example of differential weathering? Provide evidence from your observations of the 360
O
photo.
Because the hoodoos themselves have varied shape features and display different patterns of weathering and erosion owing to wind or water or both, the hoodoos from Devil's Garden show apparent traces of differential weathering. The dry environment and different elevations allow me to think that these features are caused by winds and water over time, shaping the landscape.
Part 2 - Mass Wasting
1.
Go to the following webpage illustrating landslide occurrence and susceptibility in the continental U.S.: http://landslides.usgs.gov/learning/nationalmap/index.php
a.
List several specific locations that have a high susceptibility to landsliding.
Slides can occur in all 50 states, but regions like the Appellation Mountains, the Rocky Mountains, and Pacific Coastal Regions have “severe landslide problems,” according to the USGS. The agency lists California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii as especially prone.
b.
Which 3 environmental factors appear to be most important in generating landsliding? Briefly explain your choices.
I would say three factors would be slope, type of rock, and water. I think this because the steeper the slope the more prone the land is to shift. This can also be influence by the rock in the area. If the rock is “weak” it is more prone to break and crumble. Finally, I think water because water acts as a lubricant, reducing the friction. 2.
Go to: “Stone Mountain, GA” in Google Earth. Note that you will want to navigate to the mountain itself, which is just east of the town of Stone Mountain. Zoom in on the mountain, tilt
a bit so that you are looking at a side view, and fly around its side, keeping your perspective on the mountain’s exposed granite wall.
a.
Note the close correspondence between the locations of large exfoliation sheets that have not yet slid down the mountainside and vegetation outcrops. What physical reason
might be provided to explain this juxtaposition? The close association between large exfoliation sheets and vegetation outcrops can be explained by the active role of plant roots in both mechanical and chemical weathering processes. The roots contribute to the weathering and eventual detachment of exfoliation sheets from the mountainside.
b.
On the northeast flank of the mountain near the summit there are a series of large weathering pits. Explain the most likely cause for these features, given their particular setting.
The most likely cause for the large weathering pits on the northeast flank near the summit is the
process of frost weathering or freeze-thaw weathering. The combination of temperature
fluctuations, freeze-thaw cycles, rock type, and topographical factors contributes to the formation of these distinctive features in high-altitude environments.
c.
Note the numerous black streaks down the side of the mountain. What caused these? Where are they most abundant?
The black streaks on the side of the mountain are likely rock varnish, formed through the accumulation of minerals and organic matter. They are most abundant on surfaces that
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are sheltered from prevailing weathering forces and erosion, such as the leeward side or areas protected from direct sunlight and precipitation.