Geological Processes

Geological Processes

1. Internal geological agents and processes

   • Occur normaly far away from the surface
   • Driven by the heat of the earth itself
   • The main agent is the movement of the lithospheric plates
   • The most comon catastrophic events are earthquakes and volcanic eruptions
   • The internal geological processes build earth relief
   • earthquakes and volcanoes around the earth
     • earthquakes are not random, they are distributed in the eartquakes belts, volcanoes are also situated there,
       • This is due to the lithosphere that lies in a thick liquid that forms the convection currents.
         • The lithospheric plates are the great blocks in what the lithosphere is divided. Depending on how they move they can make divergen boundaries or convergent boundaries

2. External geological agents and processes

   • Affect earth surface
   • Powered by solar energy
   • They shape the relief caused by the internal processes

3. The earth internal heat is what cause this kind of processes (internal)

   • Causes our planet to be geologicaly active
     • Comes from the collision of the plantesimals and desintegration of radioactive elements

4. Geothermal gradient is the increase of the temperature with depth

5. Solar energy is what drives the external agents to shape the surface of the earth

6. The gravity also has an important role in both internal and external processes as it helps to the formation of convention currents in the earth interior and in the surface