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Oct 1, 2018 · Weathering is the gradual destruction of rock under surface conditions, dissolving it, wearing it away or breaking it down into progressively smaller pieces. Think of the Grand Canyon or the red rock formations scattered across the American Southwest. It may involve physical processes, called mechanical weathering, or chemical activity, called ...
Weathering, needless to say, is an important environmental process that bridges all elements of our physical environment and sustains the notion of a changing Earth. Figure 12.1.1 12.1. 1: Talus slopes created by physical weathering. (Courtesy USGS DDS21) Weathering occurs in two ways.
Physical Weathering. Physical weathering is caused by the effects of changing temperature on rocks, causing the rock to break apart. The process is sometimes assisted by water. There are two main types of physical weathering: Freeze-thaw occurs when water continually seeps into cracks, freezes and expands, eventually breaking the rock apart.
The meaning of WEATHERING is the action of the weather conditions in altering the color, texture, composition, or form of exposed objects; specifically : the physical disintegration and chemical decomposition of earth materials at or near the earth's surface.
Erosion is a mechanical process, usually driven by water, wind, gravity, or ice, which transports sediment (and soil) from the place of weathering. Liquid water is the main agent of erosion. Gravity and mass wasting processes (see Chapter 10, Mass Wasting) move rocks and sediment to new locations.
Physical weathering occurs when physical processes affect the rock, such as changes in temperature or when the rock is exposed to the effects of wind, rain and waves. Water can get into cracks in a rock and, if it freezes, the ice will expand and push the cracks apart. When the ice melts, more water can get into the larger crack; if it freezes ...
CHAPTER 10: Introduction to the Lithosphere. (r). Weathering. Introduction. Weathering is the breakdown and alteration of rocks and minerals at or near the Earth's surface into products that are more in equilibrium with the conditions found in this environment. Most rocks and minerals are formed deep within the Earth's crust where temperatures ...
