27/03/2024

Physical Geology

5.1 Introduction, Definition, different geological agents (River,

groundwater, Glacier, wind and sea water)
5.2 Weathering and Erosion, different geomorphological features
produced by geological agents
5.3 Volcanism

Groundwater

Basanta Raj Adhikari

Assistant Professor: Department of Civil Engineering, Pulchowk Campus,
Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Email: [email protected]
Web-page: http://bradhikari.com.np/

Groundwater Groundwater
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in • Sinkhole
the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the
world is groundwater.
• Uvala

• Caverns

• Natural Bridges

• Blind Valleys

• Karst valley

1
 27/03/2024

Groundwater Groundwater
Uvala
Sinkhole
• Uvala is originally a local
• A sinkhole is a depression or hole in toponym used by people in
the ground caused by some form of some regions in Slovenia,
collapse of the surface layer. Croatia, Bosnia and
• The term is sometimes used to refer
Herzegovina, Montenegro and
to doline, enclosed depressions that
are also known as shakeholes, and to Serbia.
openings where surface water enters • In geosciences it denotes a
into underground passages known as closed karst depression, a
ponor, swallow hole or swallet. terrain form usually of elongated
or compound structure and of
larger size than that of sinkholes

Groundwater Groundwater
Caverns Natural Bridge
• Caves are formed by the dissolution of
limestone. Rainwater picks up carbon • Natural bridge, naturally created arch
dioxide from the air and as it formation resembling a bridge.
percolates through the soil, which • Most natural bridges are erosion
turns into a weak acid. features that occur in massive,
• This slowly dissolves out the horizontally bedded sandstone or
limestone along the joints, bedding limestone.
planes and fractures, some of which
become enlarged enough to form
caves.

2
 27/03/2024

Groundwater Groundwater
Blind valley Karst valley
• Blind valleys end abruptly at a point • Karst comprises some of the most unique
where its stream sinks, or once sank, landscapes in the world, but it is also
underground. Blind valleys characterized by distinctive landforms.
are completely enclosed valleys that • These characteristic landforms can be
water cannot flow out of on the surface. found both on the surface and below
• Disappearing streams are surface streams ground.
that run into holes in the ground and • Surface landforms commonly include
partially or completely cease flowing on enclosed depressions, sinkholes, sinking
the surface. streams and springs.

Sea Water
• Transition zone
• Continental Shelf
• Continental Slope
• Continental Rise
• Abyssal Plain

• Coral Reef
• Fringing reef: close to the main islands or volcanic cones
Sea water • Barrier reef: far from the mainland and separated by a lagoon
• Atoll: circular coral reef without and land inside

• Spits
• Debris are heaped up parallel to the shore

• Bars
• If the spits are connected with the coast, they are called as bars.

3
 27/03/2024

Sea Water Sea Water

• Continental Shelf- gently (0.1 ) seaward- • Continental rises – gently seaward-sloping
sloping shallow submarine platforms at the (0.5) wedges of sediments extending from
edges of continents base of continental slope to deep sea floor
- Range in width from few km to • Sediment deposited by turbidity and contour
>500 km currents
• End at abyssal plain at depth of about 5 km
- Typically covered with young
• Lie upon oceanic crust
sediments
• Continental slope – relatively steep slopes • Abyssal plains- extremely flat regions beyond
( typically 4-5, but locally much steeper) the base of the continental rise
that extend down from the edge of the • Flattest features on earth, with slopes<0.01
continental shelf to the abyssal plain • Form where sufficient turbidity currents
exist to completely bury rugged topography

Sea Water Sea Water

• Submarine canyons – V-shaped valleys that run Coral Reef:
across continental shelves and down continental • Fringing reef: close to the main islands or volcanic cones
slopes
• Deliver continental sediments to abyssal fans on deep
• Barrier reef: far from the mainland and separated by a lagoon
sea floor, sometimes by turbidity currents • Atoll: circular coral reef without and land inside

• An oceanic trench is a narrow, trough parallel to

the edge continent or an island arc
• Deepest parts of the oceans
• Benioff zone earthquake foci begin at trenches and dip
landward under continents or islands arcs
• Volcanoes found above upper part of Benioff zone
arranged in long belts parallel to trenches
• Marked by very low heat flow and large negative
gravity anomalies

4
 27/03/2024

Sea Water Sea Water

Barrier Reef: Fringing Reef:
A barrier reef forms as the oceanic A fringing reef forms along the
island begins to sink into Earth's shoreline of most new tropical
crust due to the absence of islands. This is because the reef
volcanic island building forces, the building coral animal is one of the
added weight of the coral reef, and few marine organisms that can
erosion at the surface of the island. survive in the warm, nutrient-poor
As the island sinks, the coral reef surface tropical waters. In fact, the
continues to grow upward. The reef building coral (hermatypic) can
coral animals lay down tremendous only survive in warm, clear ocean
amounts of calcium carbonate (in waters (such as would be common
part due to their symbiotic around a new oceanic island).
zooxanthellae) in the form of their
skeletons (called corallites).

Sea Water Sea Water

Atoll: Spit:
An atoll forms when the oceanic A spit or sandspit is
island sinks below the surface of a deposition bar or beach landform
the ocean but the coral reef found off coasts. It develops in
continues to grow upward. The places where re-entrance occurs,
atoll is usually circular in shape but such as at a cove's headlands, by
a broken circle (due to the history the process of longshore drift and
of storms). Eroded reef material longshore currents. The drift occurs
may pile up on parts of the reef, due to waves meeting the beach at
creating an area above sea level, an an oblique angle, moving sediment
island called a 'cay.' Cays may down the beach in a zigzag pattern.
become stabilized enough (often This is complemented by longshore
through plants) to provide a currents, which further transport
permanent island for buildings. sediment through the water
Cays may also be unstable and alongside the beach.
move across the reef or disappear

5
 27/03/2024

Sea Water
Bars:
If the spits are connected with the coast, they are called as bars

Arid Landform

Wind landform Wind landform

Erg - sea of sand
• largest are in Sahara and Arabian
Deserts, sand covers about 20% of
world’s deserts
• vegetation rare
• sand probably formed during more
humid climate

6
 27/03/2024

Wind landform Wind landform

Reg - desert “pavement” of pebbles and stones Hamada:
• all small materials and sand removed by wind A hamada is a type
• may be very thin coating of stones
of desert landscape
consisting of high, largely
barren, hard rocky plateaus,
where most of the sand has
been removed by deflation.
The majority of the Sahara is
in fact hamada.

Wind landform Wind landform

Messa and Butte
Rock pedestals/Mushroom
•Mesa is a Spanish word
rocks:
meaning ‘table’. It is a flat,
• Formed by the sandblasting
table-like landmass with a
effect of winds against any
very resistant horizontal top
projecting rocks masses
layer and very steep sides.
• Grooves and hollows cut in
The hard stratum on the
the rock surfaces, carve
surface resists denudation by
them into grotesque-
both wind and water, and
looking pillars known as rick
thus protects the underlying
pedestals.
layers of rocks from being
eroded away.

7
 27/03/2024

Wind landform Wind landform

Yardangs: Dunes: Dunes are accumulations in the lee of local obstructions,
•Rocks are aligned in the possibly an upwind dune.
direction of prevailing winds.

•Winds abrasion excavates

the bands of softer rocks into
long, narrow corridors,
separating the steep-sided
over handing ridges of hard
rock called Yardangs.

Wind landform Wind landform

Dune Migration: Star dune:

8
 27/03/2024

Wind landform Wind landform

Star dune: Longitudinal dunes:

Constant wind direction, no vegetation

Wind landform Wind landform

Longitudinal dunes: Transverse dunes:

Massive volumes of sand, slow but consistent winds

9
 27/03/2024

Wind landform Wind landform

Barchan dunes: Transverse dunes:
migrating crescent dune Parallel waves of
with horns pointing crescent dunes
downwind; form where perpendicular to
strong winds blow in a
consistent direction.
wind direction;
Move fast. Common in migrate downwind.
central Asia and Sahara. Found in areas with
Can reach hundreds of large supply of sand.
feet in height.

Isolated Dunes, low sand supply, migrating across rock

Wind landform Wind landform

Barchan dunes: Parabolic dunes:

10
 27/03/2024

Wind landform
Seif:
multiple very long
narrow, parallel
dunes. May be
caused in areas
with at least two Volcano
dominant wind
directions. Can be
tens of miles long.

Volcano: Volcano:
Volcano is the vent
through which molten
rock material and
associated gases pass
upward from the Earth´s
interior onto the Earth´s
surface.

11
 27/03/2024

Causes of Volcano
1. Release of high-pressure, which build-up within magma chambers below
the ground surface.
2. Accumulation of radio-active heat produces magma, frictional shear and
the increase of heat with depth causes the formation of magma and their
eruption on the earth´s Surface causes volcanism.

Types of Volcano Product of Volcano

1. Based on mode of eruption

• Central type: where products escape through a single pipe 1. Volcanic Gases: volcanic gases consists of water vapor.
• Fissure type: where ejection of lava takes place from a long fissure or group of parallel
fissures. 2. Volcanic liquids: Lava ejected by volcano is a molten melt of silicates Mafic lava (containing
Mg and Fe)(1000-1200°C). And Felsic lava (Small amount of Mg and Fe) ( 800-1000°C).
1. Pahoehoe lava: twisted, ropy-looking lava
2. Aa lava: More viscous than pahoehoe with uneven surface
2. Based on nature of eruption 3. Block Lava: rich in Silica and very viscous, can move only a few meters in a day.
• Explosive type: Explosive eruptions (acidic lava) 4. Pumice: Rock full of open spaces
• Quite type: Quite and lava can travel long distance to spread out in thin layers (Basaltic
composition) 3. Volcanic Solid: Solid materials from the Volcano
1. Tephra: solids ejections from the vent including cystals of minerals
2. Volcanic bombs: large (more than 32 mm) and angular solids

12
 27/03/2024

Pahoehoe

Pumice
Block Lava

Volcanic Landforms
1. Volcanic plains and volcanic plateaus: Flat sheets of extrustive igneous rocks.

2. Volcanic Shield: Repeated, quite eruptions of highly fluid mafic lava from a circular vent
or from a rift one may create a borad gently sloping conical mound of volcanic rock.

3. Volcanic Cone: Circular volcanic vent.

1. Tephra cone: Fine-grained usually uniformly sized tephra that were ejected from a
circular volcanic vent, fell back as solids and were piled up surrounding the vent.
2. Spatter cone: Eruption of small clots of liquid lava may build small, steep-sided spatter
cone.
3. Composite volcanic cone: Combination of complex cones built atop volcanic shield.

4. Crater: Circular volcanic surface having a diameter less than 1.5 km.

5. Calderas: Circular feature having a diameter greater than 1.5 km.

13
 27/03/2024

Volcanic Cone

Calderas

Prediction of Volcano

1. Sufficient Monitoring of geophysical properties

2. Topographic changes
3. Seismic activities
4. Recent geological history of volcanoes

14
27/03/2024

15
 27/03/2024

Thank you
Email: [email protected]; Web-page: http://bradhikari.com.np/

16