Landforms are produced by the interaction of constructional and destructional processes, most of which operate at imperceptible rates. For the last 3 hundred million years or so, following the last Appalachian orogeny, processes carving the New England landscape have been largely degradational. Weathering, mass-wasting and erosion have been steadily attacking the lithology and structure forming the Appalachian framework.  The purpose of this field exercise is for you to recognize and understand the various destructional processes responsible for degradation and to develop an awareness their importance in the evolution of the surrounding landscape.

Additional Goals: Cooperative learning, field observations and note taking, organization, and writing.

You will be working in groups of two.  If a threesome is required then you will complete three examples of each process instead of two.

Your will:

1. Write an introduction summarizing the processes of denudation.  What are the basic processes? How do they operate? What are the driving forces behind them? Why are they significant? Length will be approximately one page.

2. Explain and discuss the significance for each of the six processes listed below.

3. Find, photograph, research, and discuss two examples of each of process. I expect you to use examples from field trips, but you are not limited to these. You'll have at least four weeks to complete this exercise.  I will expect to see all details of your field observations in your field notebook when I grade it.

List of Processes

1. Chemical weathering

Example: oxidation, hydrolysis, solution, etc.

2. Mechanical weathering
Examples:

• fracturing
  • unloading
  • tectonic
  • glacial/periglacial/frost wedging
• plant wedging (grass in cracks doesn't count)
• by man
• abrasion (agents: waves, glaciers, stream, etc.)

3. Differential Weathering

• related to mineral stability or lithology
• or in association with faults, fracture zones dikes etc.

4. Mass-Wasting

• creep
• slump
• slide
• flow
• fall

5. Erosion by

• water (waves or streams)
• glaciers
• wind

6. Styles of Disintegration

• granular
• spheriodal weathering
• exfoliation
• joint block separation
• other

Write an 8-20 page report that includes an Introduction to the processes of degradation, a writeup for each process, and discussion of your chosen examples. The paper should have the following organization:

1. Paper Heading : State the title of the project, your name(s), and date at the top of the first page that includes the Introduction. Do not have a separate title page. The title of your paper could be  Processes of Degradation in New England.

2. Introduction: Discuss the range and significance of denudation processes.

For each of the 6 processes:

3. Type a heading (i.e. Chemical Weathering) followed by a brief half-page discussion of the process.

4. Each example should have a subheading (i.e. Oxidation) followed by a discussion.

Each discussion must include:

1. a brief explanation of the process, what causes it, and its significance
2. an explanation of your example
3. an image with a figure caption that:
   • identifies process shown and
   • states its location

5. Bibliography: List all sources from which you gathered information.

Basic reference format:

1. Text: author(s), (date), title: Book, publisher, location, pages.
2. Journal: author(s), (date), title: journal, vol., no., pages.
3. Internet Source: creator (if available), (date-if available) title of page, URL: of page.

Formatting requirements for paper:

Type: Use 10 or 12 point type and 1-1.5 spacing, and paginate.

Figures: Figures must be neatly incorporated into your report. The margins of the caption should align with the margins of the photo as shown below. Make sure you describe the feature and its location in the caption.  Left justify the caption. Don't center it.

Use the format shown here:

 

Submission: Submit as an attached word document through webct.