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Endogenic and Exogenic Forces
The term “geomorphic processes” refers to the processes that cause changes to the surface of the earth. Exogenic and Endogenic Forces are the two categories into which these processes fall. Exogenic forces, often known as external forces, are those that originate in or draw power from the earth’s atmosphere or outer atmosphere. While the term “endogenic forces,” sometimes known as “internal forces,” refers to pressure that originates inside the earth.
Exogenic Forces Meaning
Exogenic forces, often known as external forces, are those that originate in the earth’s atmosphere or derive their energy from the outside of the planet. Exogenic forces are also known as land wearing forces since they wear down the land as a result of their operation. Moon tides, erosion, and other exogenic processes are examples.
Endogenic Forces Meaning
Endogenic forces can be divided into abrupt and catastrophically slow processes. Slow motion results in changes that happen very gradually and may not be apparent over a person’s lifespan. An illustration of endogenic factors is the creation of mountains and earthquakes.
Difference between Exogenic and Endogenic Forces
| Endogenic Forces | Exogenic Forces |
| These are internal forces that are present in the Earth’s interior. | On the Earth’s surface, these are the external forces that are active. |
| The fact that these forces produce relief features on the Earth’s surface gives them the name “constructive forces.” | Because they can cause existing landforms to be destroyed by weathering and erosional processes, these forces are often called as “destructive forces.” |
| The heat generated by the interior of the earth is the primary energy source for forces that propel endogenic movements. | The principal exogenic processes include wasting, erosion, deposition, and weathering. |
| Different layers of the ground have different temperatures and pressures, which results in density variations and conventional currents. These density differences are caused by temperature gradients or geothermal gradients and pressure gradients. | Gradients—from higher levels to lower levels, from high pressure to low pressure, etc.—cause all motions on the earth’s surface as well as movements within the planet. |
| Endogenic movements are caused by the movement of the lithospheric plates (crust and upper mantle), which are driven by convection currents in the mantle. | The atmosphere, which is influenced by the sun’s primary energy as well as the gradient that tectonic forces create, provides the exogenic forces with their energy. Tectonic forces or earth movements caused by endogenic forces are primarily responsible for the slopes on the earth’s surface. |
| Only when endogenic forces create sudden harm do their effects become apparent. | Over the course of hundreds or millions of years, exogenic factors produce changes that are discernible. |
| Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are two examples. | Examples include winds, rivers, and glaciers |
Types of Endogenic Forces
Slow Movements (Diastrophic forces)
The movement of the solid components that make up the earth’s crust can produce forces known as catastrophic forces. The term “disaster” refers to any process that alters, raises, or constructs a piece of the earth’s crust. Diastrophism includes:
Orogenic Processes
As in plate tectonics, orogenic or mountain-forming processes act tangentially to the earth’s surface. The best example of this is the Himalayan-Alpine orogeny. Tension and compression are two other categories for these operations. Tension, or when force is acting away from a point in two directions, is what causes fissures. The Sierra Nevada mountain range in the United States is the best illustration of a tension-formed mountain. Folds originate from compression, or when a force is directed toward a point. The best illustration of a mountain created by compression is the Himalayas.
Epeirogenic Processes
Epeirogenic or continent-forming movements are those that create continents. Because they move along the radius of the earth, they are often referred to as radial movements. They can migrate in one of two directions: uplift or sinking toward the centre. With little folding and long-wavelength undulations (wavy surfaces), they produce land upheavals or depressions. A well-known example of this type is the current drainage split between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers in southern Africa. Epeirogenic movements can also be divided into upward and downward motions. When movement is downward-moving, subsidence happens. When it is away, it is lifted from the centre. Examples of uplift include elevated beaches, terraces cut into the waves, sea caves, and more.
Sudden Movements
Sudden geomorphic motions are common at lithospheric plate borders. The plate borders are quite unstable because of the pressure brought on by the mantle’s magma’s pushing and tugging. The two best examples of abrupt motions that significantly modify an area in a short period of time are earthquakes and volcanoes.
Types of Exogenic Forces
Weathering
It can happen physically by the rocks breaking down owing to pressure release, abrasion, animals, and plant development as well as chemically by the rocks finally being broken by water, carbon dioxide, living things, and acid rain. Weathering is an in-situ or on-site process since very little to no mobility of the materials occurs. Erosion carries the weathered material further from the source.
Erosion
Natural forces like the wind, water, ice, and gravity transport the clay materials away. Weathering is the first stage of erosion.
- Surface water that is moving: This type of landscape is referred to as river terrain.
- Wind – These terrains develop in arid and dry regions where wind’s influence are predominant. These landscapes are known as aeolian.
- Glaciers – Alpine glaciers carved out these landscapes.
- Waves – Waves at the margins of the continent act to create them.
- Karst: Groundwater in karst or limestone regions creates these terrains..
Mass Movements
The shallow to deep columns of material and works creep, flow, slide, and fall as a result of gradual and rapid mass motions, sometimes referred to as slope movement or mass wasting. Gravitational attraction is exerted on the bedrock as well as the results of weathering. Mass movement isn’t required for weathering, but it surely helps. Since mass wasting is purely driven by gravity and is unaffected by geomorphic forces like waves, currents, glaciers, water, or wind, erosion does not apply to it. It is caused by overly steep slopes, floods, earthquakes, and the elimination of vegetation.
Erosion and Deposition
Erosion is the collection and movement of rock fragments by geomorphic forces such as flowing water, the wind, waves, etc. Although weathering facilitates erosion, it is not a need for erosion to occur. (That is, erosion can occur in unweathered situations as well.) The erosion leads to the deposition. On moderate slopes, the erosional agents lose speed and energy, and the materials they are carrying begin to settle.
Endogenic and Exogenic Forces UPSC FAQs
Q) What are Exogenic and Endogenic Forces?
Ans. The two main geomorphic pressures that cause Earth to move and shape the crust or surface of the planet is endogenic and exogenic forces. Due to the ongoing development and deformation of landforms brought on by these internal and external tensions, the land’s surface is flat.
Q) What is the Difference between Endogenic and Exogenic Forces?
Ans. Endogenic forces are different from exogenic forces in that they come from within Earth, and their impacts are immediately observable since they inflict harm. Exogenic forces, on the other hand, are what affect the surface of the Earth, and their impacts can still be seen thousands or millions of years later.
Q) What are exogenic forces?
Ans. Exogenic forces, often known as external forces, are those that originate in the earth’s atmosphere or derive their energy from the outside of the planet. Exogenic forces are sometimes known as “land wearing forces” since they wear down the ground as a result of their actions.
Q) What are the effects of endogenic forces on the earth?
Ans. Internal forces, also referred to as endogenic forces, are the pressure within the earth. Such internal forces contribute to both vertical and horizontal motions and cause earthquakes, volcanism, faulting, and land uplift, among other things.
Q) What is the example of Endogenic forces?
Ans. Earthquakes and mountain development are two instances of endogenic forces. The moon’s tidal force and erosion are examples of exogenic forces.
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