Weathering

(the decay and disintegration of rocks in situ - without movement)

Importance
-provide nutreints for plants
-formation of most of the soil
-problems:damage buildings

Physical Chemical Biological

● Freeze-thaw action ● Carbonation ● Wedging effect of tree roots

- at night : water freezes and
expand, daytime : water thaw
- repeated freezing and thawing
of water that trickles into cracks
in the rocks causes the rocks to
expand
● Exfoliation
- onion skin effect : thick layers - opposite of oxidation is reduction
of rocks peel off due to diurnal
temperature range and
eventually form exfoliation dome
- seen on crystalline rocks like
granite
How rock type affects weathering
- weak acid form from rainwater
and carbon dioxide dissolves the
limestone(calcium carbonate) and
washed away as solution
● Oxidation
- additional of oxygen to a mineral
in dry areas(oxic condition)
which occurs in anoxic condition
- repeated oxidation and reduction
cause the rocks to disintegrate
- seeds and roots of tree find
their way into natural cracks in
bedrock
- the cracks widen and deepen
when the seeds germinate and
roots get bigger
● Release of acid and carbon
dioxide to produce chemical
weathering
- decaying plant matter produces
chemical (humic acid and carbon
dioxide)
- chemical effect: carbonation
● Vegetation trapping water to
encourage chemical
weathering
- presence of water under a
vegetation speed up the rate of
chemical reaction

The presence of lines of Mineral composition

Grain size of the rock
weakness

- natural cracks in rocks
( joints, bedding planes and
cleavage)
- allows water to penetrate
the rocks and increase the
effect of weathering
- control the size and shape
of the weathered fragments
- bigger grains or crystals,
faster the rate of weathering
- crystalline rocks (igneous
and metamorphic) have
greater resistance to physical
weathering than sedimentary
rocks due to greater strength
of interlocking
- minerals are chemicals that form rocks
- limestone: susceptible to carbonation
- rocks (sandstones,shales):oxidation
- quartz: do not weather chemically
- granite: breakdown easily in hot and
wet climates