Processes influencing the formation of the earth's crust. Internal process that affects the formation of relief

External forces smooth out those created by the internal forces of the Earth. Destroying protruding surface irregularities, they fill depressions with sedimentary rocks. Flowing waters, glaciers, and humans create a variety of smaller landforms on land.

Weathering

One of the main external processes is weathering- the process of destruction and transformation of rocks.

Weathering itself does not lead to the formation of relief forms, but only turns hard rocks into loose ones and prepares the material for movement. The result of this movement is various shapes relief.

Effect of gravity

Under the influence of gravity, rocks destroyed by weathering move across the Earth's surface from elevated areas to lower ones. Blocks of stone, crushed stone, and sand often rush down steep mountain slopes, causing landslides and screes.

Under the influence of gravity there are landslides and mudflows. They carry huge masses of rocks. Landslides are the sliding of rock masses down a slope. They form along the banks of reservoirs, on the slopes of hills and mountains after heavy rains or melting snow. The upper loose layer of rocks becomes heavier when saturated with water and slides down the lower, water-impervious layer. Heavy rains and rapid snow melting also cause mudflows in the mountains. They move down the slope with destructive force, demolishing everything in their path. Landslides and mudflows lead to accidents and loss of life.

Activity of flowing waters

The most important transformer of relief is moving water, which performs great destructive and creative work. Rivers cut wide river valleys on the plains and deep canyons and gorges in the mountains. Small water flows create gully-gully relief on the plains.

Flowing bottoms not only create depressions on the surface, but also capture rock fragments, transport them and deposit them in depressions or their own valleys. This is how flat plains are formed from river sediments along rivers

Karst

In those areas where easily soluble substances lie close to the earth's surface rocks(limestones, gypsum, chalk, rock salt), amazing natural phenomena are observed. Rivers and streams, dissolving rocks, disappear from the surface and rush deep into the bowels of the earth. Phenomena associated with the dissolution of surface rocks are called karst. The dissolution of rocks leads to the formation of karst landforms: caves, abysses, mines, funnels, sometimes filled with water. Beautiful stalactites (multi-meter calcareous “icicles”) and stalagmites (“columns” of limestone growths) form bizarre sculptures in the caves.

Wind activity

In open treeless spaces, the wind moves giant accumulations of sand or clay particles, creating aeolian landforms (Aeolus is the patron god of the wind in ancient Greek mythology). Most of the world's sandy deserts are covered with sand dunes and hills. Sometimes they reach a height of 100 meters. From above the dune has the shape of a sickle.

Moving with high speed, particles of sand and crushed stone process stone blocks like sandpaper. This process goes faster at the surface of the earth, where there are more grains of sand.

As a result of wind activity, dense deposits of dust particles can accumulate.
Such homogeneous, porous, grayish-yellow rocks are called loess.

Glacier activity

Glaciers form a special glacial topography. Moving along the surface of the land, they smooth out rocks, plow out basins, and move destroyed rocks. The deposits of these rocks form moraine hills and ridges. When glaciers melt, sandy plains - outwash - are formed from sand brought by water. Basins formed by glaciers often fill with water, turning into glacial lakes.

Human activity

Humans play a major role in changing the relief. The plains are especially strongly changed by its activities. People have been settling on the plains for a long time; they build houses and roads, fill up ravines, and construct embankments. Man changes the relief during mining: huge quarries are dug, heaps of heaps are piled up - dumps of waste rock.

Scale human activity can be compared with natural processes. For example, rivers carve out their valleys, carrying out rocks, and humans build canals of comparable size.

Landforms created by humans are called anthropogenic. Anthropogenic changes in relief occur with the help of modern technology and at a fairly fast pace.

Moving water and wind do a huge amount of destructive work called erosion (from Latin word erosio corrosion). Land erosion is a natural process. However, it intensifies as a result economic activity people: plowing slopes, deforestation, excessive grazing, building roads. In the last hundred years alone, a third of all the world's cultivated land has been eroded. These processes reached their greatest scale in large agricultural regions of Russia, China and the USA.

Formation of the Earth's relief

Features of the Earth's relief

Over time it changes under the influence various forces. Places where there were once great mountains become plains, and in some areas volcanoes arise. Scientists are trying to explain why this happens. And already a lot modern science known.

Reasons for transformation

The Earth's topography is one of the most interesting riddles nature and even history. Because of the way the surface of our planet changed, the life of mankind also changed. Changes occur under the influence of internal and external forces.

Among all landforms, large and small ones stand out. The largest of them are continents. It is believed that hundreds of centuries ago, when there was no man yet, our planet had a completely different appearance. Perhaps there was only one continent, which over time was split into several parts. Then they separated again. And all those continents that exist now appeared.

Another major form was the oceanic trenches. It is believed that there were also fewer oceans before, but then there were more. Some scientists argue that hundreds of years later new ones will appear. Others say that the water will flood some areas of the land.

The relief of the planet has been changing over many centuries. Even though people sometimes greatly harm nature, their activities are not capable of significantly changing the relief. For this you need such powerful forces that only nature has. However, man cannot not only radically transform the planet’s topography, but also stop the changes that nature itself produces. Despite the fact that science has made great strides forward, it is not yet possible to protect all people from earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and much more.

Basic information

The Earth's topography and major landforms attract the close attention of many scientists. The main varieties include mountains, highlands, shelves and plains.

The shelf is those areas of the earth's surface that are hidden under water. Very often they stretch along the banks. A shelf is a type of landform that is found only underwater.

Highlands are isolated valleys and even systems of ridges. Much of what is called mountains is actually highlands. For example, the Pamir is not a mountain, as many people believe. Also, the Tien Shan is a highland.

Mountains are the most ambitious landforms on the planet. They rise above the land by more than 600 meters. Their peaks are hidden behind the clouds. It happens that in warm countries you can see mountains whose peaks are covered with snow. The slopes are usually very steep, but some daredevils dare to climb them. Mountains can form chains.

The plains are stability. Residents of the plains are least likely to experience changes in relief. They hardly know what earthquakes are, which is why such places are considered the most favorable for life. A true plain is the flattest possible surface of the earth.

Internal and external forces

The influence of internal and external forces on the Earth's topography is enormous. If you study how the surface of the planet has changed over several centuries, you will notice how what seemed eternal disappears. It is being replaced by something new. External forces are not capable of changing the Earth's topography as much as internal ones. Both the first and second are divided into several types.

Inner forces

The internal forces that change the Earth's topography cannot be stopped. But in modern world scientists from different countries they are trying to predict when and in what place there will be an earthquake, where a volcanic eruption will occur.

Internal forces include earthquakes, movements and volcanism.

As a result, all these processes lead to the appearance of new mountains and mountain ranges on land and on the ocean floor. In addition, geysers, hot springs, chains of volcanoes, ledges, cracks, depressions, landslides, volcanic cones and much more appear.

External forces

External forces are not capable of producing noticeable transformations. However, you should not lose sight of them. Those that shape the Earth's topography include the following: the work of wind and flowing water, weathering, melting glaciers and, of course, the work of people. Although man, as mentioned above, is not yet capable of greatly changing the appearance of the planet.

The work of external forces leads to the creation of hills and ravines, basins, dunes and dunes, river valleys, rubble, sand and much more. Water can very slowly destroy even a great mountain. And those stones that are now easily found on the shore may turn out to be part of a mountain that was once great.

Planet Earth is a grandiose creation in which everything is thought out to the smallest detail. It has changed over the centuries. Cardinal transformations of the relief have occurred, and all this is under the influence of internal and external forces. In order to better understand the processes occurring on the planet, it is imperative to know about the life it leads, not paying attention to humans.

Questions for students:

Teacher's story.

Land relief

Plains

Lowlands - up to 200 m

Hills - 200-500 m

Plateau - more than 500 m

Mountains

Low - 500-1000 m

Medium – 1000 – 2000 m

High – 2000 – 5000 m

The highest - more than 5000 m

Ocean relief

2. Formation of plains and mountains

Rice. 2. Formation of plains

Rice. 4. Ural Mountains

Fig.7. Young Mountains

Rice. 8. Caucasus. Dombay.

Questions for students:

Rice. 11. Coral atoll is the result of the activity of marine organisms

Sovereign owner open spaces is the wind. Encountering obstacles on its way, it forms majestic hills - dunes and dunes. In the Sahara Desert, the height of some of them reaches 200 - 300 meters. In mountain ranges located in the desert, there is almost never loose material filling the depressions and cracks. This is why aeolian landforms arise that resemble towers, pillars and quaint castles.

Rice. 16. Sand dunes.

Rice. 17. Barkhan

SEE MORE:

External processes shaping the Earth's topography include:

INTERNAL FORCES OF THE EARTH

The movement of lithospheric plates leads to the formation of folded areas, deflections, and stretches in the earth's crust. Tectonic movements lead to splits earth's crust, the appearance of discontinuities in its layers and the formation of folds. Sections of the surface rise and fall along fault lines. Volcanism creates its own special forms of relief. Earthquakes can catastrophically change the already created relief.

EXTERNAL FORCES OF THE EARTH

The activity of external forces generally leads to the destruction of rocks that make up the earth's surface and the removal of destruction products from high places to lower ones. This process is called denudation. The demolished material accumulates in low places - valleys, basins, depressions. This process is called accumulation - approx. from geoglobus.ru. Destruction of rocks near the Earth's surface under the influence of various factors- weathering prepares material for movement.

The role of water that gets into cracks, which are almost always present in rocks, is especially important. Freezing, it expands and pushes the edges of the crack apart; thawing, it flows out of it, taking with it the destroyed particles.

The wind, carrying sand from place to place, not only widens the cracks, but also polishes them, grinds the surfaces of the rocks, creating bizarre shapes. Where the wind subsides, in the wind “shadow”, for example behind a rock or behind a bush, sand accumulates. A new relief form is being created, which will eventually give rise to a dune - a sand hill. Such formations are called aeolian landforms, named after ancient Greek god Aeolus, lord of the winds.

They contribute to the change in relief sea ​​waves and tides. They destroy the coast, carry away the destroyed material and move it to different distances along the coast, forming coastal levees and beaches, constantly changing coastline.

On the surface of mountain glaciers and in their thickness, rock fragments, sand, and dust from surrounding rocks and valley slopes move. When a glacier melts, all this material falls on the earth's surface - approx. from geoglobus.ru. The ice mass itself can have a strong shaping effect on the relief. Under its influence, trough-shaped glacial valleys are formed - troughs, pointed peaks - carlings, huge embankments - moraines.

In recent centuries, man has so actively influenced the environment natural environment, which itself becomes a powerful external force. Harmful emissions into the atmosphere industrial enterprises lead to acid rain.

Lesson topic : External processes that shape the relief and

associated natural phenomena

Lesson Objectives : to generate knowledge about changes in landforms as a result of erosion,

weathering and other external relief-forming processes, their role

in shaping the appearance of the surface of our country. Let students down

to the conclusion about the constant change and development of the relief under the influence of

only internal and external processes, but also human activities.

1. Repetition of the material studied.

1. What causes the Earth's surface to change?

2. What processes are called endogenous?

2.Which parts of the country experienced the most intense uplifts in the Neogene-Quaternary times?

3. Do they coincide with the areas where earthquakes occur?

4. Name the main active volcanoes in the country.

5. In what parts Krasnodar region Do internal processes appear more often?

2. Studying new material.

Activities of any external factor consists of the process of destruction and removal of rocks (denudation) and deposition of materials in depressions (accumulation). This is preceded by weathering. There are two main types of deposition: physical and chemical, which results in the formation of loose deposits that are convenient for movement by water, ice, wind, etc.

As the teacher explains new material, the table is filled out

Examples individual species external processes - pp. 44-45 Ermoshkina "Lessons of Geography"

3. CONSTRUCTION OF NEW MATERIAL

external processes that shape the relief of the earth include:

Name the main types of exogenous processes.

2. Which of them are most developed in the Krasnodar region?

3. What anti-erosion measures do you know?

4. HOME TASK: prepare for a general lesson on the topic “Geological structure,

relief and minerals of Russia" pp. 19-44.

1. Relief of the earth

   Lesson

   - on what tecton structure are the following landforms located: East European Plain, Middle Siberian Plane, Amazonian Lowland, Great Plains, Andes, Himalayas,

2. Resolution of the Administration of the Altai Territory No. 551 dated 12/14/10 approved the departmental target program

   Program

   Main educational program general education developed by the teaching staff of Municipal Educational Institution Secondary School No. 102 in Barnaul, taking into account the recommendations of the Approximate Basic educational program educational institution,

3. Work program of teacher Svetlana Viktorovna Krovyakova, Category I Full name, Category Geography, 6th grade Subject, class, etc. Considered at the meeting

   Working programm

   1.Organization and training in techniques academic work: observation of weather, phenological phenomena; measuring the height of the Sun above the horizon, orienting to the Sun.

4. Kucheryavenko Lyubov Nikolaevna. St. Petersburg 2008 lesson

   Lesson

   State educational institution average comprehensive school No. 389 “Center for Environmental Education” of the Kirovsky district of St. Petersburg.

5. Lithosphere and land relief

   Lesson

   Physical map of the hemispheres, map of the structure of the earth’s crust, collections of rocks and minerals, contours of modern continents, allowing to simulate their movement; diagrams, pictures, etc.

Other similar documents...

BASICS OF GEOLOGY. GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE EARTH.

Geology is the science of the Earth. She studies the composition, structure and patterns of development of the Earth. Modern geology - complex science, combining several interrelated disciplines (branches of geology). All disciplines that make up modern geology have their own objects and methods of studying the Earth.

Currently, the level of development of this discipline is such that it is divided into a number of independent scientific branches.

Relief of the Earth

Geochemistry- studies chemical composition earth's crust, laws of distribution and movement chemical elements and their isotopes.

2. Mineralogy- examines natural chemical compounds - minerals, studies physicochemical characteristics and processes associated with their formation in the earth's crust.

3. Petrography- describes the composition and structure of rocks - regular accumulations of minerals that make up the earth’s crust, the forms of their occurrence, origin and placement.

4. Dynamic geology— examines the processes occurring in the interior of the planet and on its surface (earthquakes, volcanism, activity of the wind, sea, rivers, glaciers, etc.)

5. Historical geology— restores the past, which is very important for searching for various minerals.

6. Geophysics- a science that uses various physical methods for studying the deep interior of the Earth.

7. Hydrogeology— studies the underground waters contained in the depths of our planet.

8. Engineering geology– a science that studies soils, geological and engineering-geological processes that influence the conditions of construction and operation of structures and reclamation systems.

The surface layers of the Earth are currently most fully studied. One of the main methods for studying the upper surface of the earth's crust is the method of field geological surveys. The essence of the method is thorough field research of modern geological processes, natural rock outcrops, slopes of river valleys, ravines, etc. The composition of rocks, the nature of their occurrence, fossil remains of organisms, etc. are studied. When studying the earth's crust, it is necessary to take into account what it was like before and what changes it has undergone. For this purpose, scientists have proposed a comparative lithological method based on the idea of ​​an irreversible and directed process of development of the Earth, on the idea of ​​the evolution of sedimentation conditions in the history of the Earth.

The deeper layers of the earth's crust and the Earth as a whole are studied mainly by indirect methods - geophysical.

To geophysical methods include: seismic, gravimetric, magnetometric and others.

Seismic method allows us to study the composition and properties of the deep layers of the Earth by changing the speed of passage of seismic waves arising during earthquakes.

Gravimetric method based on the study of the distribution of gravity on the Earth's surface. In theoretical calculations, the Earth's gravity is assumed to be uniform.

Magnetometric method based on the study of change magnetic field The earth in its various parts, depending on the composition and structure of the earth's crust.

Relief of the Earth

Questions for students:

— Who remembers from the 6th grade course what relief is? (Relief is a set of irregularities on the earth's surface). Students write down this definition in the dictionary, which is located on the back of the notebook.

- Remember what landforms you know and fill in the diagram on the board. On the board, the teacher hangs a diagram of upside-down cards with terms:

Fig.1. Block diagram “Earth Relief”

Students fill out the diagram in their notebook.

Teacher's story.

Relief - the totality of all the irregularities of the earth's surface

The surface of the Earth, of course, is not completely flat. The elevation differences on it from the Himalayas to the Mariana Trench reach two tens of kilometers. The topography of our planet continues to form even now: lithospheric plates collide, crushing into folds of mountains, volcanoes erupt, rivers and rains erode rocks. If we were on Earth in a few hundred million years, we would no longer recognize the map of our home planet, and all the plains and mountain systems would have changed beyond recognition during this time. All processes that shape the Earth's topography can be divided into two large groups: internal and external. Otherwise, internal ones can be called endogenous. These include subsidence and uplift of the crust, volcanism, earthquakes, plate movement. External ones are called exogenous - this is the activity of flowing waters, winds, waves, glaciers, as well as animals and plants. The surface of the planet is also increasingly influenced by man himself. The human factor can be divided into another group, calling it anthropogenic forces.

Land relief

Plains

Lowlands - up to 200 m

Hills - 200-500 m

Plateau - more than 500 m

Mountains

Low - 500-1000 m

Medium – 1000 – 2000 m

High – 2000 – 5000 m

The highest - more than 5000 m

Ocean relief

Basins - depressions in the ocean floor

Mid-ocean ridges are faults that form a single mountain system at the bottom of all oceans with total length more than 60 thousand km. In the middle part of these faults there are deep gorges reaching all the way to the mantle. On their bottom goes constant process spreading - outpouring of the mantle with the formation of new earth's crust.

Deep-sea trenches are long, narrow depressions on the ocean floor that are more than 6 km deep. The deepest in the world is the Mariana Trench, 11 km 22 m deep.

Island arcs are elongated groups of islands rising from the ocean floor above the surface of the water. (For example, the Kuril and Japanese islands) They can be adjacent to a deep-sea trench and are formed as a result of the fact that the oceanic crust next to the trench begins to rise above sea level due to the subduction processes occurring in it - the immersion of one lithospheric plate in this place under another.

2. Formation of plains and mountains

The teacher builds an explanation according to this scheme. As the teacher tells the story, students transfer the diagram to their notebooks.

Rice. 2. Formation of plains

Planation. The oceanic crust (soft and thin) easily folds into folds, and mountains can form in its place. Then the rocks composing it rise to a height of several kilometers above sea level. This happens as a result of intense compression. The thickness of the earth's crust increases to 50 km.

As soon as they are born, mountains begin to slowly but steadily collapse under the influence of external forces - wind, water flows, glaciers, and simply temperature changes. Accumulates in foothill and intermountain troughs a large number of clastic rocks, with smaller ones at the bottom and increasingly coarser ones at the top.

Old (blocky, revived) mountains. The oceanic crust was crushed into folds, they were destroyed to the state of plains, then the Alpine era of folding revived the mountainous relief in place of the destroyed mountain structures. These low mountains have a small height and a blocky appearance. Next, students, working with tectonic and physical cards, give examples of ancient mountains (Urals, Appalachians, Scandinavian, Drakensberg, Great Dividing Range, etc.)

Rice. 3. Formation of old (block, revived) mountains

Rice. 4. Ural Mountains

The middle (folded-block) mountains were formed in the same way as the ancient ones, but destruction did not bring them to the state of plains. Their block formation began on the site of dilapidated mountains. This is how the medium block-folded mountains were formed. Next, students, working with tectonic and physical maps, give examples of medium-sized mountains (Cordillera, Verkhoyansk Range).

Rice. 5. Middle (block-folded and folded-block renewed) mountains.

Rice. 6. Northern Santiago. Cordillera

Young mountains are still being formed. Being young mountains, they show no signs of destruction. Basically, these mountains are high and have the appearance of folds. Often their peaks are sharp and covered with snow caps. Vivid examples young mountains are the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Caucasus, etc.

Fig.7. Young Mountains

Rice. 8. Caucasus. Dombay.

3. Internal and external forces of the Earth

Questions for students:

— Tell me, why does the oceanic crust turn into mountains? (act internal forces Earth)

— Why do mountains turn into plains? (external forces of the Earth act).

— So, what forces of the Earth influence the appearance of the topography of our planet? (internal and external).

For a long time, granite has been the personification of durability and strength. A strong-willed, unbending person and an unbreakable, faithful friendship can be equally compared to granite. However, even granite will crumble into fine crushed stone, crumbs and sand if it experiences temperature changes, wind influences, and the activity of living organisms and humans for a long time.

Temperature changes. With the first rays of the Sun, snow and ice begin to melt high in the mountains. Water penetrates into all cracks and cavities of rocks. At night, the temperature drops several degrees below zero and the water turns to ice. At the same time, it increases in volume by 9% and pushes the cracks apart, widening and deepening them. This continues day after day, year after year, until some crack separates a piece of rock from the main mass and it rolls down the slope. Rocks also undergo heating and cooling. The minerals they contain different thermal conductivity. Expanding and contracting, they break strong connections between themselves. When these bonds are completely destroyed, the rock turns into sand.

Rice. 10. Destruction of rocks in the mountains under the influence of temperature changes.

The active influence of plant and animal organisms on rocks causes biogenic weathering. Plant roots undergo mechanical destruction, and the acids released during their life activity cause chemical destruction. As a result of many years of activity of living organisms, coral reefs and a special type of islands arise - atolls, formed by the calcareous skeletons of marine animals.

11. Coral atoll is the result of the activity of marine organisms

Rivers and the World Ocean also leave their mark on the Earth's topography: a river forms a channel and a river valley, ocean waters form a coastline. Surface water leave scars of ravines on the surface of hills and plains. As the ice moves, it furrows the surrounding areas.

Fig. 12. Bryce Canyon in the USA, formed as a result of the activity of flowing waters

Rice. 13. The road in Abkhazia to Lake Ritsa, laid along the bottom of a mountain river gorge

Rice. 14. Sand and pebble beach in Crimea, formed as a result of wave activity

The wind is the absolute master of open spaces. Encountering obstacles on its way, it forms majestic hills - dunes and dunes.

How the relief is formed

In the Sahara Desert, the height of some of them reaches 200 - 300 meters. In mountain ranges located in the desert, there is almost never loose material filling the depressions and cracks. This is why aeolian landforms arise that resemble towers, pillars and quaint castles.

Rice. 15. Remains in the desert resemble fairy-tale castles

Rice. 16. Sand dunes.

Rice. 17. Barkhan

Human economic activity also causes changes in relief. Man extracts minerals, resulting in the formation of quarries, builds buildings, canals, makes embankments and fills up ravines. This is all direct impact, but it can also be indirect, representing the creation favorable conditions for relief-forming processes (plowing slopes causes rapid growth of ravines).

SEE MORE:

Relief of the Earth

Relief is a collection of irregularities on the Earth's surface that differ in height above sea level, origin, and other characteristics. The presence of such irregularities determines the unique appearance of various regions of our planet. The formation of relief occurs under the influence of both internal (tectonic) and external forces. Tectonic processes provoke the appearance of large surface irregularities, such as mountains, plateaus, etc., and external forces, on the contrary, destroy them and create smaller landforms, for example, river valleys, dunes, ravines, etc.

Landforms

All existing landforms are conventionally divided into convex(mountain systems, volcanoes, hills, etc.) and concave(river valleys, beams, depressions, ravines, etc.), as well as horizontal and inclined surfaces.

Their sizes vary widely: from several tens of centimeters to hundreds and thousands of kilometers.
Depending on the size, scientists distinguish planetary, macroforms, meso- and microforms of the relief of the earth's surface. Planetary forms include continental ridges and ocean trenches. In this regard, continents and oceans act as antipodes. For example, Antarctica is located opposite the Arctic Ocean, Australia is located opposite the Atlantic Ocean, North America is located opposite the Indian Ocean.

The depths of oceanic depressions vary significantly. The average depth is 3.8 km, and the maximum in the Mariinsky Trench is 11,022 km. Knowing that the height of the highest point of land (Mount Chomolungma) is 8.848 km, one can easily determine that the amplitude of heights on Earth reaches approximately 20 km.

The depth of most of the ocean is between 3 and 6 km, and the height of land is usually less than 1 km. Deep-sea depressions and high mountains make up no more than 1% of the Earth's surface.

Also very different average height continents above sea level: Eurasia - 635 m, North America– 600 m, South America– 580 m, Africa – 640 m, Australia – 350 m, Antarctica – 2300 m. Thus, the average land height is 875 m.

The relief of the ocean floor includes a continental shelf (shelf), a continental slope, and an ocean floor. The main components of the land relief are plains and mountains, which form the macrorelief of the earth's surface.

Related materials:

Lithosphere

Internal structure of the Earth

Continental landforms
Relief of the ocean floor

From geography lessons, I learned a lot of interesting things about the continuous formation of relief and the forces that can change the appearance of our planet. Surprisingly, now external processes have almost the same impact on the Earth's topography as internal ones.

External processes affecting the relief

First of all, I want to say that the relief is the profile of our planet, combining all the surface irregularities. It is studied by the science of geomorphology. It is she who divides the processes that form the relief into internal (exogenous) and external (endogenous).

External forces seek to level the Earth's topography. Destroy all the ledges and move rock fragments to the depressions.

External processes include:

Weathering occurs in two ways. It can destroy rock, or, on the contrary, it can accumulate it in a certain place. Then water becomes a fixing material. Thanks to these processes, rocks located directly on the surface change.

Internal processes affecting the relief

They are based on the force of pressure and the power of enormous temperatures inside the planet. These processes include:

• movement of lithospheric plates;
• seismic activity (earthquakes and volcanic eruptions);
• magmatism (changes in the viscosity of materials under the influence internal heat Earth);
• metaphorism (changes occurring in rocks due to heat inside the planet).

As a result of these processes, relief elements such as mountain ranges, new ridges of volcanoes, various ledges and deep depressions appear.

Currently, the appearance of our planet is the result joint activities not only internal, but also in many ways external processes. All these forces entail serious changes in the nature of the relief.

While enjoying the beauties of nature, we notice how different they are depending on the terrain. Heart-tugging plains with undulating hills and ravines, endless steppe to the horizon or snow-covered tundra, stunning majestic mountains.

All the diversity of the earth's surface was formed from the influence of forces of external and internal origin. Endogenous and exogenous, as they are called in geology. People's ideas about the world, the formation of behavioral stereotypes, and self-identification in the surrounding reality depend on landscape and geographical conditions. Everything in the world is interconnected.

These powerful forces interact with each other, with everything that exists on Earth, with the cosmos, creating the external spatial environment of existence on the planet.

Brief description of the structure of the Earth

Isolating only the large structural elements of the Earth, we can state that it consists of three parts.

• Core. (16% volume)
• Mantle(83%)
• Earth's crust. (1%)

Destructive and creative processes occurring in the core, mantle, at the boundary of the upper layer of the mantle and the earth's crust determine the geology of the planet's surface, its reliefs due to the movement of matter in the earth's crust. This layer is called the lithosphere, its thickness is 50-200 km.

Lithos is the ancient Greek word for stone. Hence the monolith ─ a single stone, the Paleolithic ─ ancient stone Age, Neolithic ─ Late Stone Age, lithography ─ drawing on stone.

Endogenous processes of the lithosphere

These forces form large forms of landscapes, are responsible for the distribution of oceans and continents, the height of mountain ranges, their steepness, pointed peaks, the presence of faults and folds.

The necessary energy for such processes is accumulated in the bowels of the planet and is provided by:

• Radioactive decay of elements;
• Compression of matter associated with Earth's gravity;
• The energy of the planet's rotational motion around its axis.

Endogenous processes include:

• tectonic movements of the earth's crust;
• magmatism;
• metamorphism;
• earthquakes.

Tectonic shifts. This is the movement of the earth's crust under the influence of macroprocesses in the depths of the Earth. Over millions of years, they form the main forms of the earth's relief: mountains and depressions. The most common oscillatory movement is the gradual long-term uplift and lowering of sections of the earth's crust.

Such a secular sinusoid increases the level of land, comprehensively changes the formation of soils, and determines their erosion. New surface relief, swamps, and sedimentary rocks appear. Tectonic movement participates in the division of the Earth into geosynclines and platforms. Accordingly, the locations of mountains and plains are associated with them.

Separately, the secular oscillatory movements of the earth's crust are considered. They are called orogenesis (mountain building). But they are also linked to the rise (transgression) and fall (regression) of sea levels.

Magmatism. This is the name for the production of melts in the Earth’s mantle and crust, their rise and solidification at various levels inside (plutonism) and penetration to the surface (volcanism). It is based on heat and mass transfer in the depths of the planet.

During an eruption, volcanoes release gases from their depths, solids, melt (lava). Emerging through the crater and cooling, the lava forms effusive rocks. These are diabase and basalt. Part of the lava crystallizes before reaching the crater, and then deep rocks (intrusive) are obtained. Their most famous representative is granite.

Volcanism occurs due to local decreases in pressure on the liquid magma of crustal rocks when thin sections of it rupture. Both types of rocks are combined with the term primary crystalline.

Metamorphism. This is the name given to the transformation of rocks due to changes in thermodynamic parameters (pressure, temperature) in the solid state. The degree of metamorphism can be either almost imperceptible or completely changing the composition and morphology of rocks.

Metamorphism covers large areas when areas of the surface sink for a long time from the upper levels to the deep. As they make their way, they are exposed to slowly but constantly changing temperatures and pressures.

Earthquake. Shifts of the Earth's crust from shocks under the influence of internal mechanical forces occurring when the balance in the crust is disturbed is called an earthquake. It manifests itself in wave-like tremors transmitted through solid rocks, ruptures, and vibrations of the soil.

The amplitude of the oscillations varies widely from those detected only by sensitive instruments to those that change the terrain beyond recognition. The place in the depths where the lithosphere shifts (up to 100 km) is called the hypocenter. Its projection on the surface of the Earth is called the epicenter. The strongest vibrations are recorded at this location.

Exogenous processes

External processes occur on the surface, in as a last resort at an insignificant depth of the Earth's crust under the influence of:

• solar radiation;
• gravity;
• vital activity of flora and fauna;
• activities of people.

As a result, water erosion (changes in the landscape due to flowing waters) and abrasion (destruction of rocks under the influence of the ocean) occur. The winds make their contribution, underground part hydrosphere (karst waters), glaciers.

Under the influence of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere, the chemical composition of minerals changes, mountains are modified, and a soil layer is formed. These processes are called weathering. A fundamental correction of the material of the earth's crust is taking place.

Weathering is divided into three types:

• chemical;
• physical;
• biological.

Chemical weathering is characterized by the interaction of minerals with those in external environment water, oxygen, carbon dioxide. As a result, the most common quartz, kaolinite, and other stable rocks are formed. Chemical weathering leads to the production of highly soluble aquatic environment inorganic salts. Under the influence of precipitation, they form calcareous and siliceous substances.

Physical weathering is diverse and mainly depends on temperature fluctuations leading to fragmentation of rock material. Winds lead to changes in the relief; under their influence, peculiar shapes are formed: pillars, often mushroom-shaped, stone laces. Dunes and dunes appear in deserts.

Glaciers, sliding down the slopes, expand valleys and level ledges. After they melt, clusters of boulders, formations of clay and sand (moraines) are formed. Flowing rivers, melt streams, underground currents, transporting substances, leave ravines, cliffs, pebble and sand massifs as a result of their activity. In all these processes, the role of Earth's gravity is great.

Weathering of rocks leads to their acquisition of characteristics favorable for the development of fertile soils and the emergence of a green world. However, the main factor transforming parent rocks into fertile soils is biological weathering. Plant and animal organisms, through their vital activity, contribute to the acquisition of new qualities by land areas, namely fertility.

There is weathering the most important process among a complex of causes, loosening rocks and forming soils. Having understood the patterns of weathering, one can understand the genesis of soils, their characteristics, and assess the prospects for productivity.