Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Geotechnology and
Geoinformatics
e-Learning Material
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
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.
References:
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.
11. David Paine, Aerial Photography & Image Interpretation for Resource Management, John
Wiley & Sons, 1981.
13. Chouhan. T.S., Applied Remote Sensing and Photo Interpretation, Vigyan Prakashan,
1996.
15. Chouhan, T.S., Readings in Remote Sensing Applications, Scientific publishers, 1992.
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.
Landform Controls
Driving forces
•solar radiation
•gravity
Resisting forces
•lithology
•geologic structure
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"
GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
Depending upon their individual nature and mode of
operation, the natural agencies may be classified broadly into
two categories
Groundwater Groundwater
Wind Wind
Glaciers Glaciers
The factors which are influence the weathering are structure of the rock,
the topography, vegetation of the terrain, climate, etc.
Activities of organisms
Running water
Groundwater
Waves & currents
Wind and
Glaciers
Geomorphic Equilibrium
DENUDATIONAL GEOMORPHOLOGY
Definition
Groundwater targetting
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
mountain building /
Upwarping,
downwarping, grabening,
etc
Temperature Variations
Day time - 700 - 800
Source: T om Bean
Evidence of
Frost
Wedging in
Wheeler
Park,
Nevada
Erosion
HORIZONTAL
Deforestation Ex cessive soil SHEETING
erosion
Doming Horizontal
Arching Sheeting
Exfoliation of Granite
Unloading =
Exfoliation
BURROWING
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
doming and
fracturing in upper
reaches
Mass Wasting
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
Oxidation
4 Fe + 3 O2 2Fe2 O3
REDUCTION
FE+++ -- O FE++
(red) (black)
Ferric to Ferrous
Olivine/pyroxene to clay
+ H2CO3 (acid)
+ H2CO3 (acid)
48
O rthoclase next
Q uartz next
DENUDATIONAL
LAND FORMS
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
SUMMIT ZONE
Hill
complexes
Size less,
shapeless,
pattern less &
relief less 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.
PLATEAU
ESCARPMENT
b) Signatures
normally boat like
rims / slopes prolific with vegetation
Sheet Joints
(Exfoliation)
ESCARPMENTS
RESOURCE:
Erosion prone
removed zone
Inselberg
isolated conical hills
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
DEBRIS SLOPE
ROCK SLUMP
Rockfall zone
Composite slope
(III) FOOT HILL ZONE:
if the slope is steeper then rocks will fall like a water fall
> 15 0 - cone
< 15 0 - fan
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
Dissected Pediment
WEATHERED
PEDIMENT MODERATE
PEDIMENTS WEATHERED
PEDIMENT DEEP
WEATHERED
PEDIMENT
SHALLOW
WEATHERED
PEDIMENT
MODERATE
PEDIPLAIN
COLLUVIAL FILL
MODERATE
ROCKY
PEDIMENTS
PEDIPLAIN MODERATELY
WEATHERED
PEDIPLAIN DEEPLY
WEATHERED
(TECTONIC LANDFORMS)
Bauxites in plateau
Copper in escarpments ( Vindhyans )
Minerals in Strain maxima zones in folds
Remobilised deposits in fractures / maximas
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
Horizontal Landforms
Tectonic Plateau
Highly Dissected
Moderately dissected
Poorly dissected
Tectonic Mesa / Butte
Highly Dissected
Moderately dissected
Poorly dissected
Structural Hills:
PLATEAU
ESCARPMENT
b) Signatures
normally boat like
rims / slopes prolific with vegetation
Mesa
Plateau
• Plateau>mesa>butte>chimney
• Ratio surface area of top to height
e-learning Material – Geomorphology and Modern Geodynamics
Dr.J.Saravanavel, Assistant Professor, Centre for Remote Sensing,
Bharathidasan University. drsaraj@gmail.com 100
Dry Climate, intermittent strong storms
PLATEAU - HIGHLY
DISSECTED
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
Cuesta
Hogback
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
Anticline = oldest
rocks exposed in
the center.
Syncline =
youngest rocks
exposed in the
center
Up
End Down
End
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
Synclinal mountains
may vary from
elongate narrow
ridges to broad
plateau like
expanses, but
typically they are
broader than aticlinal
mountains
Low density
Buoyant
Diapirs
Surrounding
sediments
upwarped
Petroleum exploration
A B
no debris slope
least erosion
Dip-Slip
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
http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect2/05-01_reverse_fault-j yougashima_DSC8766.jpg
Same layer
http://www.pbase.com/dougsherman/image/93469147
Chief Mountain, a klippe outlier of the Lewis Thrust, Glacier National Park, MT
Strike-slip fault
http://epod.usra.edu/archive/images/wallace_creek_aerial.jpg
Transform
Fault scarp
Fault-line scarps
Triangular facets
Horst and Graben
Fracture valleys
Filled
Barren
Fault valleys
Rift valleys
Flatirons
• Dissection of scarp by many gullies forms
triangular facets
http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/File:Flatirons.jpg
Extensional Feature
w/ Normal Faults
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
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
Same layer
http://www.pbase.com/dougsherman/image/93469147
Chief Mountain, a klippe outlier of the Lewis Thrust, Glacier National Park, MT
seismic prone
metallogeny
erosion prone
groundwater flow
pollutant migration
Tectonic Pediments
If pediments
dissected by the
fractures are
called tectonic
pediments
http://www.pbase.com/dougsherman/image/93468807
FLUVIAL GEOMORPHOLOGY
Definition:
SOURCES OF RIVER
Rainfall
Snow melt
Water Table
Terrain
Stream
“effluent streams”
Water Table
Stream Systems
– Erosion
– Transportation
– Deposition
• 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.
CHARACTERISTICS OF STREAMS
Permanent streams
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
Consequent Streams
s c
S O
O C
} indicates cuesta or
asymmetrical anticline
Subsequent drainage
Drainages orthogonal to consequent drainage (or)
drainages parallel to strike (or) drainages
perpendicular to dip.
Dendritic drainage
Hapzardly flowing drainages without any
strong tectonic control
Dendritic drainage
Parallel Drainage
Parallel
Trellis
• Rectangular arrangement of
channels in which main
tributaries are parallel and very
long
Radial drainages
(a) Radial centrifugal - domes
(b) Radial centripetal - basin
(c) Annular and radial - domes/ basins with
alternating hills and valleys
PIRATED DRAINAGES
Yamuna
Saraswathi
Ponded Streams
Old stage
Matured stage
Youthful stage
Youthful Stage
Youthful stage
Youthful stage
MATURE STAGE
Mostly controlled by
geological structures
Mature stage
OLD STAGE
Coastal zone
Sluggish movement
Terrain is flat
Kalveli Tank
Delta Development
Old Stage
Mio-Pliocene sandstone
Ponnaiyar delta
Beach Ridges
(Gullies) (Valleys)
(Ravines)
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.
i) Glacial valleys
c) Limit of valleys
i) Depth of valleys
Height of valleys above base level of
erosion
IG4e_16_05
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
Gully. Larger
channels,
Rill Erosion. Individual they persist, grow
Channels do not persist headward and widen.
Gullied Plateau
Main River
Tributary
Niagara Falls
due to faulting
Waterfalls Rapids
Cascade
abrasion by
stones on a
bedrock riverbed
can create deep
depressions
known as potholes
Finer material on
top coarser in the
bottom
Fluvial Landscapes
Alluvial Fans
IG4e_16_30a
Valley fills
Colluvial fills
PEDIPLAIN
COLLUVIAL FILL
MODERATE
ROCKY
PEDIMENTS
Rise of land
Unpaired Terraces
Stream Terraces
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.
F.P
FP Stream
FP River
Shifting river
River
Younger F.P
Older F.P
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
Natural Levees
Back swamp
Backswamp
Unpaired Flood
Plain
BRAHMAPUTRA R
showing Braided
streams
BRAHMAPUTRA R
showing Braided
streams
BRAIDED CHANNELS
Braided Channels
Himalayan rivers
Isostatic Movements
Eustatic Changes
Frequent Flooding
Climatic Changes
OLD STAGE
Lobate delta
Cuspate Delta
Triangle shaped
deposits accumulate
on either side of the
main channel. (e.g.
Brazos river delta,
Texas, Tiber river
delta
Digitate delta indicates that the delta might have been in the
process of subsidence inviting the tidal waters since its
inception
Estuarine Delta
Mackenzie
Meandering channels
Meandering channels
Cut Banks
Point Bars
Oxbow lake
Meander belt
Meander belt
Point
bar
deposits
Meanders get more extreme with time. Note the THALWEG (blue arrows)
Meandering
Stream
Oxbow
Floodplain
http://hays.outcrop.org/gallery/rivers/arid_meander?full=1
Meander plain:
Meander Plain
SWIR
Definition:
inducing processes
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
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
COASTAL ZONE
1. Wave action
2. Littoral current Action
3. Rip currents
4. Tide Rips
5. Tides Action
6. Organisms and their Action
W.L
A – DESTRUCTIVE WAVES
B – CONSTRUCTIVE WAVES
WAVE MOTION
wave base
Shoreline
Tide Rips
NEAP TIDE: The lowest high tides occur when the Sun and the
Moon are not opposed relative to the Earth (quarter Moons)
SHALLOW SHELF
(Rocks Islands, Palau)
(1) Coast.
(2) Shore.
(3) Near shore
(4) Off shore.
Compound coast
Some emerging coast has the some
submergent coastal features
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
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
Raised Shorelines and Marine Terraces
Marine terrace: former abrasion platform elevated to become a step-like
coastal landform
Wave approaches the cliff. Note cracks exaggerated In Wave reaches the cliff & the air trapped by
size the wave is compressed into the crack.
HYDRAULIC ACTION
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.
EROSIONAL LANDFORMS
or
DESTRUCTIONAL LANDFORMS
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
• On a larger
scale
geological
differences
influence the
whole shape
of the
coastline, as
here in N.
Devon.
Fairlight Head, E.
Sussex
• Fairlight head, E.
Sussex.
• Fairlight Head, E.
Sussex
• Fairlight Head, E.
Sussex
Natural Arch
• 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
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
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.
BEACH RIDGES
Palaeo Swales
Salt flats
Mud flats
Backwaters / Lagoons
Seawater comes through creeks, swales,
fractures and fill the adjoining lowlands areas are
called backwater
Beaches
Loose material deposited on
the shore by wave action
Protruding Delta
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.
Fringing reef
Atoll
Definition
WIND ACTION
Wind erosion
Wind transportation
Wind deposition
Processes :
Deflation :
Blowing of fine sand particles leaving the coarser
material
This process scoop out the material and cause depressions
These depressions cause „lakes‟
Collision : Wind with sands collide with rocks and cause wind sculptured
features
Mushroom rock
Desert Varnish
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
Deflation hollow
(Death Valley, California)
Desert Pavement
Source: Martin Miller
Wind Transportation
Sahara to Caribbean
Effect on Hurricanes
Surface creep
e-learning Material – Geomorphology and Modern Geodynamics
Dr.J.Saravanavel, Assistant Professor, Centre for Remote Sensing,
Bharathidasan University. drsaraj@gmail.com 302
Landforms of Wind Transportation
Dust Storm
(Death Valley, California)
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
(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 )
RIPPLES
LOESS
Loess
it is a fine, silty,
windblown type of
unconsolidated deposit.
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
SAND DUNES
LONGITUDINAL DUNES
Longitudinal Dunes
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.
Transverse dunes
(Mesquite Flat, Death Valley, California
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.
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
Barchanoid dunes
(White Sands National
Monument, New Mexico)
Seif Dunes
Seif dunes
Parabolic Dune
Parabolic Dunes
Parabolic Dunes
• Stabilized “horns" point upwind
Star Dunes
Star Dune
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.
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
Sand Sea
in the Central Namiba,
Western Africa
Water-Carved Canyon
Alluvial fan
(Death Valley, California)
IN RAJASTHAN
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
the magma
continues to rise,
and erupts mainly
as basaltic lava
flows
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
DISTRIBUTION OF VOLCANOES
CIRCUM-PACIFIC BELT
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.
e-learning Material – Geomorphology and Modern Geodynamics
Dr.J.Saravanavel, Assistant Professor, Centre for Remote Sensing,
Bharathidasan University. drsaraj@gmail.com 343
VOLCANO, AUGUSTINE ISLAND, ALEUTIAN ISLAND ARC
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
Extinct volcanoes
- these are geologically ancient and have totally
stopped all their activities.
2. FISSURE TYPE :
Lava eruption takes place through fractures and fissures.
This is a basalt
lava flow in a
channel
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
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
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
Mainly flood
basalts
Unzen began
growing a lava dome
in mid-1991. The
dome complex
continued to grow
until 1995
• Thus it tends to
form steep-sided
domal structures
• As pieces of the
dome broke off,
they would
fragment, creating
pyroclastic flows
• During explosive
volcanic eruptions,
ash falls downwind
of the volcano
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
• Lahar is an Indonesian
word for volcanic
debris flow
She is completely
coated in the mud
of the lahar
In general,
survivors had great
difficulty extricating
themselves
• 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
• Major constituents
include H2O, CO2, HCl,
SO2, and HF
• About 15 km
downwind from
Masaya, the
coffee crop is
adversely
affected by the
acid gases
Volcanic Landforms
»Ex. Mauna Loa in Hawaii is 9170 m tall (4170 m above sea level & 5000 m below
sea level)
Red = Hawaiian
chain, which is
superimposed on
Olympus Mons
Cinder cones
The region
contains many
cinder cones
Parícutin
Here is a photo of
the volcano
showing the classic
form of cinder
cones
Crater Lake
caldera
Crater lake is a
medium-sized caldera,
about 10 km in
diameter
Yellowstone caldera
Yellowstone is a good
example of a big
continental caldera
It is rhyolitic in
composition and formed
about 600,000 years
ago
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.
RED BOLE
Columnar
Massive
COLUMNAR
MASSIVE
VESICULAR
AMYGDALOIDAL
Massive Flow
5TH FLOW
ESCARPMENT
4TH FLOW
ESCARPMENT
3RD FLOW
2ND FLOW
1ST FLOW
860-900
800-860
760-800
700-760
660-700
600-660
560-600
<560
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
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
Periods of…
• ADVANCING (cold temps + moisture =
accumulation)
Zone of Ablation
Area where glacier is melting
Downslope–lower elevations
Sublimation
Occurs when ice is directly
changed into water vapor
Movement of Glaciers
To be called “glacier”, mass of ice must be capable
of MOVEMENT
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:
Mountain/Alpine Glacier
Occupies a U-shaped valley on a mountain
2 MYA (Pleistocene), max extent: 1/3 land covered
Continental Glaciers
Greenland & Antarctica
3. Glaciofluvial
Scouring
• Abrasive action of rocks within
glacier as glacier moves over
surface
Glaciofluvial
Meltwater deposit materials far away from the
glacier
Cirque
Tarn
Horn
Arete
Glacial Valley
Hanging Valley
Paternoster Lakes
Bowl-shaped depression
U-Shaped
Moraines
Kames
Esker
Kettles/Kettle Ponds
1. Terminal Moraine
marks the maximum
extent of the glacier
2. Recessional Moraine
develops behind the
terminal moraine as the
glacier retreats
Glacial Till
Poor sorting
bimodal: fines from abrasion; coarse grains
from plucking
Drumlins
Elliptical hills oriented in the direction of ice movement
Created when a glacier overrides and reshapes preexisting glacial drift
Eskers
meandering ridges of stratified drift deposited in tunnels in the ice
Permeability
• Ability to transmit water through connected
pore spaces
Secondary porosity
Aquifers
Aquifers
Aquitards
Aquifers
Aquifers - types
Unconfined
Confined
Discontinuous aquitards
Aquitards can form perched
water tables
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
Artesian wells
generally in confined,
tilted aquifers
Geysers
• a type of hot spring that periodically
erupts hot water and steam
geyser in Yellowstone National Park
Mud Pot
Sinter Travertine
Trav ertine (CaCO3) f ormed by the warm spring water cooled and ev aporated
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 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
perspective view of Jamaican cockpit karst using IKONOS and DEM inputs
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
4. Glaciokarst
Glaciokarst seen in periglacial, glacial and permofrost
regions are with limestone pavements, dolines and
potholes
Karst topography
Generally associated with
Numerous caves, springs, solution valleys,
sinkholes, and disappearing streams
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
Sinkhole
Flooding
Cave Patterns
Speleothems
• Stalactites
• Stalagmites
• Columns
• Flowstone
• Cave popcorn
• Helictites
Speleothems
deposits in caves
Stalacmite
‘Column’
Stalactites hanging from
the cave ceiling and
stalagmites growing
upward from the floor
merge to form a column
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
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
‘Helictites’
Cave „Popcorn‟
Bidirectional
RO OT WE DGING
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.
e-learning Material – Geomorphology and Modern Geodynamics
Dr.J.Saravanavel, Assistant Professor, Centre for Remote Sensing,
Bharathidasan University. drsaraj@gmail.com 476
Coral reef
Fringing reef
Atoll
Channel Modifications
Erosion
Horizontal
sheeting
Groynes:
ROCK REVETMENTS
Sand bags