“Motihari College of Engineering, Motihari”

Ghausul Azam Ansari

Department of Civil Engineering
Mob No-8638578983

Module 3: Physical Geology- Weathering, Erosion and Denudation.

Factors affecting weathering and product of weathering. Engineering
Consideration. Superficial deposits and its geotechnical importance:
Water fall and Gorges, River meandering, Alluvium, Glacial deposits,
Laterite (Engineering aspects), Desert landform, Loess, Residual deposits
of clay with flints, Solifluction deposits, mudflows, Coastal deposits.
  Engineering Considerations of Weathering are as follows –
i) Weathering is an important aspect from civil engineering point of view because all the civil
structures are constructed using stone masonry and concrete work.

ii) Most important constitute material is stone which should be strong, tough, sound and hard. So the
Quality of the stone depends upon the weathering condition of the available rock. The Weathered
stone has to be avoided as their strength is low and unsound.

iii) The structures should be constructed on the good, strong and un-weathered rock surface. Thus,
the extent of weathering is important criteria for the site selection especially in case of high rise
building, sea shore structures, tunnels, dams as the process of weathering weaken the strength of the
rocks or soil.

iv) The architect and interior designers uses the marbles, granites for the ornamental work for the
interior as well as the surface exposed to atmosphere. In that case, it is necessary to determine their
suitability from the environment point of view as these stones are usually affected by chemical
weathering agents like rains, temperature etc. and there is a chance to more porosity like honeycomb
resulting in the loss of strength, durability, appearance and life.

Landforms shaped by Wind/ Deserts

Areas where there is little or no vegetation are usually the most effected places that experience
shaping due to wind. This happens when the wind picks up weathered rock materials and uses them
to sand-blast larger rock structures on the zone closet to the ground. The formation of rock-strewn
reg surfaces has resulted in the removal of finer material by wind. The wind also plays an important
role in moving and reshaping dunes. Examples of landforms that are obvious in deserts are rock
pedestals, Yardangs, Desert pavements, Deflation hollows, Oasis and Sand dunes.

Rock Pedestals
Rock pedestals are landforms created by abrasion in which grains cut away the base of rock
structures but leaves their tips intact. This is due to wind-borne sand grains following bouncing
trajectories that carry sand as high as 1m above the ground.
Deflation Hollows
When the sand is carried away over long distances by the wind, depressions are formed in the area
from which is lands in. These depressions are called deflation hollows and are commonly found in
non-mountainous arid regions. Deflation hollows are an example of wind erosion causing deflation
yet these depressions also tend to collect rainwater and hold this water for a time depending on
evaporation rates through the stones.

Oasis
Oasis' are found in the middle of deserts as fertile spots containing one or more springs surrounded
by vegetation. This is caused by a variety of different temperature extremes causing islands of life.
This outcome is due to oasis usually been located in parts of the desert where the elevation is low
enough meaning the water table is underneath the surface, allowing life to grow through their roots
extending into the moist land. Water is able to run right through the sand as it is holey hence why
the water can stay underneath the surface especially when large quantities of sand is moved due to
wind erosion.
Sand Dunes
There are two different types of sand dunes which are the barchan dunes and seif dunes. These are
differentiated as barchan dunes are produced by the action of wind predominately convex facing
from one direction forming crescent-shaped dunes , whereas the seif dunes are long and narrow or
can be a chain of dunes. These dunes are generally orientated in a direction parallel to the wind or in
a direction in which have been the result of two or more winds blowing at acute angles to each
other. Wind directions can also alter the series of peaks, gaps, steepness and the face of the sides.
These sand dunes are mostly found in open deserts and rest on a base of a sand sheet. Sand dunes
are a result of deposition processes.

Yardangs
Yardangs are also the result of sand grains pushed by persistent winds to form low ridges of sand
carved in soft rock. This is commonly found in flat deserts where steady winds blow away dust and
silt. Higher front faces of Yardangs are undercut as erosion is concentrated in the lower areas
because wind driven sand stays near the ground. These are an example of erosional landforms
Desert Pavements
Pavements are commonly covered with stones rather than sand. This may be due to the wind
blowing away the finest material leaving the stones behind as they are the bigger particles and
remain as a lag deposit or may be through various physical processes including the soil in the
ground as the fine materials are moved down beneath the pebbles. This results in the stones
remaining on top. Desert pavements can be used as mulch for plants or as a shelter for ants and
rodents.
Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminum and is commonly considered to have
formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide
content. They develop by intensive and prolonged weathering of the underlying parent rock. ropical
weathering (laterization) is a prolonged process of chemical weathering which produces a wide variety in
the thickness, grade, chemistry and ore mineralogy of the resulting soils. The majority of the land area
containing laterites is between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.

Loess: - Loess is a sedimentary deposit composed largely of silt-size grains that are loosely cemented
by calcium carbonate. It is usually homogeneous and highly porous and is traversed by vertical capillaries
that permit the sediment to fracture and form vertical bluffs.
Loess is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown
dust. Ten percent of the Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits.

Residual deposits of clay: - Clay is a mineral 'stew' that is the result of the erosion of the earth's
crust over vast spans of time. Those clay deposits which remain at or near the site of the parent material
(granite) are called residual or primary clays. These so-called residual clays are grainy and lack the
smoothness necessary for workability. These clays are said to be non-plastic because they do not shape
easily. Those clays which have been transported by water, wind, and ice and deposited in locations
distant from the source material are called sedimentary or secondary clays. Compared to residual clays,
sedimentary clays are more plastic, and the particles are smaller, more uniform, and more mixed with
other materials.

The residual deposits are the insoluble products of rock weathering which have escaped distribution
by transporting agencies, and which still mantle the rocks from which they have been derived. Clay-
with-flint is defined as a formation in the category of alterite deposits.
The thickness of the Clay-with-flints deposit varies between 0 and 12 meters (Calembert,
1947). This layer is formed by angular, never rounded corroded flints with a greyish-yellow color
(Lohest, 1884). The space between the flints is predominantly filled by silt. The flints are macrofossil-
bearing in the upper part of the deposit, displaying belemnites echinoids (Indeherberge et al., 1993).
Clay-with-flints consists of residual deposits after partial or total dissolution of the carbonated Cretaceous
strata. Its components thus are insolubles (most conspicuously flint) and clayey weathering products
derived from the Cretaceous sediments but time of formation is mainly Cenozoic, largely pre-Oligocene
transgression. Its composition is variable, due to differences in the amount and composition in the
original Cretaceous deposits, and to post-depositional weathering and erosion under different
groundwater movement and climate regimes. Its main area of occurrence is the Hesbaye plateau, largely
corresponding to the Geer hydro-graphic basin, with discontinuous deposits east of the river Meuse in
Pays de Herve and Hautes Fagnes. Towards the north and west the Clay-with-flints Formation thins and
becomes indistinguishable from underlying and/or overlying strata. This constitutes a practical mapping
boundary. Towards the south and east, erosion has isolated remnant occurrences of Clay-with-flints
formation.

Solifluction Deposits: - Solifluction is a collective name for gradual processes in which a mass
moves down a slope ("mass wasting") related to freeze-thaw activity. Solifluction lobes and sheets are
types of slope failure and landforms. In solifluction lobes sediments form a tongue-shaped feature due to
differential downhill flow rates. In contrast, solifluction sheet sediments move more or less uniformly
downslope, thus being a less selective form of erosion than solifluction lobes.
Mudflows: - A mudflow or mud flow is a form of mass wasting involving "very rapid to extremely rapid
surging flow" of debris that has become partially or fully liquified by the addition of significant amounts
of water to the source material. Mudflows contain a significant proportion of clay, which makes them
more fluid than debris flows; thus, they are able to travel farther and across lower slope angles.
Mudflows are often called mudslides, a term applied indiscriminately by the mass media to a variety of
mass wasting events. Mudflows often start as slides, becoming flows as water is entrained along the flow
path; such events are often called flow slides.
Coastal Deposition:-
Deposition is when material that is being transported is dropped by constructive waves. It happens
because waves have less energy.
Deposition happens when the swash is stronger than the backwash and is associated with constructive
waves.
Where does deposition happen?
 Waves enter an area of shallow water;
 Waves enter a sheltered area, e.g. a cove or bay;
 There is little wind;
 A river or estuary flows into the sea reducing wave energy;
 There is a good supply of material and the amount of material being transported is greater
than the wave energy can transport.
The Landforms formed by Coastal Deposition:-
Beaches: - Beaches are the temporary deposition of sand and shingle along the coastline, and are
the most common depositional landforms. In general, these structures protect the coast from the
damaging effects of erosion.
Sandy beaches usually develop due to low energy, constructive waves, in sheltered bays. The action
of these constructive waves usually results in gentle and flat profiles.
Barrier beaches may be formed parallel to and at some distance from the shore due
to gradual removal of the material from the shore towards the sea by undertow and rip currents. The
material may accumulate at some distance from the shore where the undertow weakens and dies and
thus give rise to a beach.

Spits
Spits are another type of depositional landform that are unstable, narrow, long stretches of sand, that
extend out into the sea. These usually form due to the action of longshore drifts, which move
material obliquely along the coastline, and can sometimes result in these extended landforms. Sandy
spits usually form due to constructive waves, while shingle spits usually form due to destructive
waves. These structures are usually characterized by hooked ends due to the changing wind
directions, and wave refraction which carries material into more sheltered areas.
Bars
Bars form when spits grow across bays, where the spit joins two headlands on either side of a bay.
Like spits, these usually form due to the action of longshore drifts. Bars that enclose bays usually
form lagoons, which are low energy regions that have high rates of deposition.
Tombolos
Tombolos are depositional landforms that develop when spits or bars connect the mainland to an
island. Once attached, these islands are referred to as tied islands. Since these involve the formation
of spits and bars, tombolos are also formed through the action of longshore drifts.

Sand Dunes
Sand dunes are another depositional landform which are characterized by small mounds and ridges
of sand found at the top of beaches, above the reach of the waves. These landforms are formed due
to the forces of wind that cause build-up of sand. Obstacles that limit sand movement help give sand
dunes their mounds and hill-like characteristics.