Geological processes on the Earth's surface

The various effects of the dynamics generated by the atmosphere, water, and organisms under the influence of solar radiation, gravity, and the gravitational forces of the sun and moon on the surface of the Earth's crust are called surface geological processes.

The main sources of solar radiation and gravitational energy from outside the Earth, such as the sun and moon, promote the movement and circulation of the Earth's outer spheres - the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere - making them direct driving forces (i.e. geological forces) for transforming the surface of the Earth's crust. At the same time, the gravity inside the Earth and its rotation also play an important role in the movement of the outer layers of the Earth.

Geological forces transform the Earth through certain media, which are generally divided into three types based on their physical states: liquid, solid, and gaseous media. Liquid media mainly include surface water, groundwater, lakes, and oceans; Solid media mainly include glaciers; Gaseous media mainly include atmosphere and wind. Although there are many types of geological agents with significant differences, each type of agent generally follows a process of weathering, erosion, transportation, sedimentation, and diagenesis.

Weathering refers to the process in which rocks and minerals in the Earth's crust or lithosphere are decomposed or destroyed in situ due to factors such as temperature, atmosphere, water, and biology in the surface or near surface environment. Weathering causes the surface rocks to become fragmented, creating conditions for later erosion and transportation.

Erosion refers to the action of various external forces such as gravity, wind, surface water, groundwater, glaciers, lakes, oceans, and organisms that damage the materials that make up the surface of the Earth's crust and move them away from their original location. The erosion process continuously destroys and peels off surface materials, causing changes in surface morphology and forming new terrains. Erosion is very common on the surface of the earth, shaping various landforms. For example, wind erosion can form mushroom stones, while water erosion can form ditches, valleys, and so on.

Transport action: refers to the process in which weathered and eroded debris, colloids, molecules, or ions in different states are transferred to other places through various geological external forces such as displacement, jumping, suspension, or solution transport.

Sedimentation: refers to the phenomenon in which the transported material deposits and accumulates in a regular manner due to changes in the physical and chemical conditions of the transport medium. The place of sedimentation is often where the kinetic energy of the medium decreases or the physical and chemical conditions change, such as at the foot of mountain slopes, at the mouth of gullies, in areas where rivers enter the sea or lakes, as well as in oceans and lakes.

Diagenesis: refers to the process of consolidating loose sediments to form sedimentary rocks. Surface geological processes are the most common geological processes on the Earth's surface, often forming the most spectacular landforms, as shown in the figure:

Geological relics formed by surface geological processes

Geological landforms formed by surface geological processes