The document discusses weathering, which is the disintegration and decomposition of rocks at Earth's surface. There are two main types: physical weathering through mechanical breakdown and chemical weathering via chemical reactions. Weathering is influenced by rock properties, climate, topography, and biological factors. It produces sedimentary particles and soils through breakdown of minerals and rocks over time.
The document discusses weathering, which is the disintegration and decomposition of rocks at Earth's surface. There are two main types: physical weathering through mechanical breakdown and chemical weathering via chemical reactions. Weathering is influenced by rock properties, climate, topography, and biological factors. It produces sedimentary particles and soils through breakdown of minerals and rocks over time.
The document discusses weathering, which is the disintegration and decomposition of rocks at Earth's surface. There are two main types: physical weathering through mechanical breakdown and chemical weathering via chemical reactions. Weathering is influenced by rock properties, climate, topography, and biological factors. It produces sedimentary particles and soils through breakdown of minerals and rocks over time.
The document discusses weathering, which is the disintegration and decomposition of rocks at Earth's surface. There are two main types: physical weathering through mechanical breakdown and chemical weathering via chemical reactions. Weathering is influenced by rock properties, climate, topography, and biological factors. It produces sedimentary particles and soils through breakdown of minerals and rocks over time.
removal process What Controls Weathering? 1) Rock properties – Hardness, composition, solubility, zones of weakness What Controls Weathering? 2) Climate – Wide variations in temperature and moisture accelerate weathering What Controls Weathering? 3) Relief
4) Biological aspects
5) Length of exposure Two Types of Weathering 1. Physical Only physical changes Produces smaller particles from larger ones Two Types of Weathering 2. Chemical Involves chemical reactions in which new minerals or combinations of elements are formed Two Types of Weathering 2. Chemical Involves chemical reactions in which new minerals or combinations of elements are formed Two Types of Weathering 2. Chemical Involves chemical reactions in which new minerals or combinations of elements are formed Two Types of Weathering 2. Chemical Involves chemical reactions in which new minerals or combinations of elements are formed Theory Versus Reality In theory they are distinct processes
Theory Versus Reality
In reality they rarely operate separately Effects of one aids the operation of the other Large rock breaks into smaller pieces – increases total surface area – accelerates chemical attack Chemical weathering along microfractures – weakens rocks – helps physical processes Agents of Weathering 1. Gases in the atmosphere O2 , CO2 Natural and pollution Agents of Weathering 1. Gases in the atmosphere O2 , CO2 Natural and pollution Agents of Weathering 2. Plant roots and animal actions Agents of Weathering 3. Space and chemicals
4.Temperature changes Affects physical and chemical weathering
5. Water! Where Weathering Occurs
Surface of the earth
– Surface rocks altered by weathering to new materials which are in equilibrium with surface conditions
Below the surface
– Anywhere where rock is exposed to weathering agents – May extend 100’s of meters below surface Enter the Weathering Agent The more openings > the more surface area > the more exposure to weathering agents > the more weathering that can occur
Common Types of Openings
• Microscopic • Joints • Faults • Lava vesicles • Solution cavities Common Types of Openings • Joints and fractures and faults Common Types of Openings • lava vesicles
• solution cavities Weathering Changes Rock a. Size Breaks chemical bonds Separates grain from grain Fracturing massive solid rock b. Colour Oxidation ‘rusting’ iron– red, orange, yellow Copper – green c. Texture Usually looser than underlying rock Detached with little effort ‘rotten’ rock easily crumbled with finger pressure Degree, Rate and Nature of Weathering Depends On:
1a. Nature (lithology) of rock
Mineral stability varies according to pressure and temperature conditions during formation Degree, Rate and Nature of Weathering Depends On: 1b. Structure of rock Openings increase surface area
Crystal and grain sizes affect surface area
Cementation in sedimentary rocks
Porosity/permeability allows agents in or keeps them out Pumice vs. obsidian Spheroidal Weathering Degree, Rate and Nature of Weathering Depends On: 2. Prevailing climatic conditions a) Precipitation
Water important weathering agent
E.g. limestone
» Egyptian desert – 4,000 years later tool marks still
visible
» North American grave markers – 300 years later
corroded beyond legibility Degree, Rate and Nature of Weathering Depends On:
2. Prevailing climatic conditions
b) Temperature
Chemical reactions take place faster and more
readily in warmer climates
Range of temperatures Freeze-thaw Heating-cooling Temperature as a factor in weathering Chemical weathering • Promoted by high temperatures and abundant moisture
• Nearly all chemical reactions require moisture – ions
mobilized and interact vigorously
• High temperatures cause ions to move more rapidly and
collide more frequently
– Rate of many chemical reactions roughly doubles for every
10 C increase in temperature
– Keeps water in liquid form
Temperature as a factor in weathering Physical weathering:
• Promoted by low temperatures and water deficits
• Freezing – growth of ice crystals – expansive stress
• Dry climates – growth of salt crystals – expansive stress
• Water causes the oscillation in the volumes of substances –
volumetric increase in size (opening or mass) Degree, Rate and Nature of Weathering Depends On: 3. Surface configuration (topography) Flat or sloping Water runs off Weathered layer removed to allow weathering to continue Exposure of underlying rock
Abundance and size of openings
Surface area Depth of weathering General topographic character based on weathering in various climatic areas:
• Arid – Angularity and sharp breaks in slope – Steep cliffs with accumulations of loose debris at base of slope – Extensive bedrock exposure
• Humid – Smooth, rolling hills – Gently rounded slopes covered with deep accumulations of weathered material – Little exposure of bedrock Degree, Rate and Nature of Weathering Depends On:
4. Biological impacts on weathering
Biophysical Biochemical 1. Direct Root pressures Bacterial redox Growth stresses reactions Wetting and drying Chelation Mechanical boring Cation exchange 2. Indirect Solution – Soil mixing – Production of organic acids and CO2 – Organic layers protecting a surface – Vegetal cover protection from raindrop impact Micro-organisms and weathering of surface rocks Epiliths Euendoliths Chasmoendoliths
Cryptoendoliths A plant, fungus, or other organism that grows upon rock Euendoliths an organism (archaeon, bacterium, fungus, lichen, algae or amoeba) that lives inside rock, coral, animal shells, or in the pores between mineral grains of a rock.
Chasmoendoliths organisms that inhabit fissures and cracks of the rock
Cryptoendoliths Any organism that colonizes structural cavities within porous rocks Physical Weathering • Physical forces break rock into smaller pieces w/out changing mineral composition Physical weathering Process Force Frost weathering Crystal growth Salt weathering Crystal growth Hydration Wetting and drying Hydration Water absorption Insolation weathering Thermal stress Fire weathering Thermal stress Exfoliation, sheeting Unloading or Stress Release Compressive weathering Loading Unloading & Exfoliation Continued weathering causes rock slabs to separate & fall
HALF DOME YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK (California) Granodiorite intrusion cut by glacial activity
“exfoliation domes” Frost Wedging Chemical Weathering • Processes that break rock components and internal structures of minerals, making new minerals Chemical weathering Dissolution May be congruent or incongruent Hydration Incorporation of water molecules into structure of a compound Hydrolysis Chemical reaction of water with rock, involving breaking of oxygen-hydrogen bonds Carbonation Reaction of CO2 dissolved in water with rock Oxidation and reduction Removal or addition of (REDOX) electrons from elements which possess different oxidation states Formation of Soil • Product of both physical and chemical weathering “good soil:” Made of: decomposed rock 45% + decayed animal/plant life (“humus”) 5% + water 25% + air 25% Important Soil-Forming Factors • Climate – Temperature & precipitation
• Time – Longer time = thicker soil
• Plants/Animals – Organic matter
• Slope – If too steep, little/no soil - erosion Soils and Climate • Soil formation is directly linked to climate that soil forms in
