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Weathering and Erosion Notes

Weathering and erosion are processes that break down and wear away rock at Earth's surface. Weathering involves the breakdown and decomposition of rock through physical and chemical processes like temperature changes, water, and biological activity without removing material. Erosion is the removal and transport of rock fragments by forces like wind and water. There are different types of weathering including biological, mechanical, and chemical weathering which use various means like plant and animal activity, salt crystal growth, and acid reactions to break down rocks over time.

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186 views7 pages

Weathering and Erosion Notes

Weathering and erosion are processes that break down and wear away rock at Earth's surface. Weathering involves the breakdown and decomposition of rock through physical and chemical processes like temperature changes, water, and biological activity without removing material. Erosion is the removal and transport of rock fragments by forces like wind and water. There are different types of weathering including biological, mechanical, and chemical weathering which use various means like plant and animal activity, salt crystal growth, and acid reactions to break down rocks over time.

Uploaded by

Elisa Friggieri
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Weathering and Erosion

Weathering

• The general term applied to the combined action of all processes


that cause rock to disintegrate physically and decompose chemically
because of exposure near the Earth's surface.
• Such processes include the action of rainwater, extremes of
temperature, and biological activity.
• It does not involve the removal of rock material (erosion).
• Erosion is a process by which fragments of rocks and minerals are
transported.
Erosion

• Minerals in rocks close to the surface react with substances in


rainwater and dissolve.

• Rocks at the surface are heated, chilled, and battered by rain and
wind.

• These processes break the rock into ever smaller fragments.

• Together, they are called weathering.

• Erosion is the removal of rock by wind or water.


Biological Weathering

• Biological weathering is a type of weathering brought about by


various activities of living
organisms.

• Living organisms can contribute to the process of weathering by


physical means or by chemical and organic compounds.

• By physical means - this occurs when a force or pressure is applied


to break rocks apart or degrade the minerals in them.

• Increasing the exposed surface area of rocks makes it possible for


other physical factors to speed up their degradation.

• Roots of trees or plants can biologically weather rocks by growing


into the cracks and fractures of rocks and soil.

• Animals like mice, ants and wild rabbits burrow rocks, under rubble
walls, trees or shrubs to build their nests.

• When animals like birds forage for seeds and earthworms, they
create holes and erode the upper
surface of the soil,

• Lichens cause a chemical reaction on the surface of the rock where


they live which weakens the rock.
Mechanical Weathering

Salt Crystal Growth

• Known as Haloclasty

• Responsible for many of the niches, shallow caves, and rock arches
seen in sandstone formations.

• Rocky shorelines and arid regions are common settings for this
process.

• Sea spray from breaking waves or salty groundwater (capillary


action) penetrates crevices and pore spaces in rock.small amounts of
CaCOz.

Plant Roots

• The growth of plant roots can wedge joint blocks apart.

• Example concrete sidewalk blocks can be uplifted and fractured by


the growth of tree roots.

• Even fine rootlets in joint fractures can cause the loosening of small
rock fragments and grains.
• When the roots decompose, they release acids that dissolve the
surrounding rock and widen the spaces.

Freeze-thaw/Frost wedging

• One of the most important mechanical weathering processes in


cold climates is frost action, the repeated growth and melting of ice
crystals in the pore spaces of soil and in rock fractures.
• In contrast to most other liquids, water expands when it freezes.

• Water that freezes deep inside crevices reacts with minerals that
wash away when the ice melts, widening the cracks.

Exfoliation (onion-skin)

• When the surface layer of rock is heated, it expands and detaches


from the layer beneath.
• Where rock surfaces exposed daily to the intense heating of the
Sun alternating with nightly cooling, the resulting expansion and
contraction exert powerful disruptive forces on the rock.
Chemical Weathering

• The process of disintegration and chemical alteration of rocks


• Dominant processes of chemical change affecting silicate mineral
are oxidation, hydrolysis, and carbonic acid action (carbonation)
• Hydrolysis is the breakdown of rock by acidic water to produce clay
and soluble salts.
• Oxidation is the breakdown of rock by oxygen and water, often
giving iron-rich rocks a rusty-coloured weathered surface.
• Carbonation is when CO, in the air reacts with water to form
carbonic acid. When it precipitates, this weak acid enters the cracks
in rock chemically reacting with it.
• When rainwater (H,O) passes through the air, it collects amounts of
CO, and it turns slightly acidic as carbonic acid (H,CO,). This acid
weathers the rock, until it is broken down into small pieces.
• Chemical processes like these can be seen when balustrades,
columns, statues, buildings and single stones are hollowed and turn
to dust.
• High temperatures, air pollution and humidity increase this process
especially in such places as Malta where the stone is calcareous.
• The pointed and razor shaped rocks on the garrigue or on lower
coralline limestone coasts were formed by this chemical weathering
process.
• Stalactites and stalagmites form when surface water dissolves cO,
from the atmosphere or soil to form carbonic acid.
• Percolating downward through limestone strata, this weak acid
dissolves small amounts of CaCO2.
• On reaching an open cave below, the Caco, precipitates out (due to
degassing of carbon dioxide)
• As water drips from cavern cellings, this precipitation of CaCo,
forms stalactites, which hang from cave ceilings.
• At the drip point directly beneath the growing stalactites, the same
process causes stalagmites to build upwards from the cave floor.
• Blological agents - by releasing different acids, mosses and lichens
can dissolve the rack they grow on.
• A lichen is not a single organism. It is a symbiosis between an algae
and a fungus. The minerals in rocks are liberates when a fungus
releases chemicals that can break them down. Such minerals are
then consumed by the alga, further causing the wearing and
development of cracks and gaps in the rock.
• As a result, cracked rocks become mare prone to disintegration.
• Lichens get the food they need to survive directly from the air.
Because lichen rely on the atmosphere for all of their nutrients, they
can grow almost anywhere.

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