GEOL 1330 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Pedogenesis, Parent Material, Silicate Minerals
19 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
Weathering is the physical and chemical processes that break down rocks. Physical weathering processes that physically break apart a rock. Frost wedging occurs when water freezes in the cracks of rocks. As water freezes it expands, and can cause the rocks to break. Sheeting/exfoliation occurs due to a decrease in pressure. Allows rocks to expand, leads to cracking. Biologic activity can wedge rocks apart as plant roots grow in cracks (root wedging) Can also create acids to chemically weather rocks. Other: tectonic stresses, thermal stresses, freezing and thawing, abrasion by wind/water, powerful wave action at the shoreline, salt crystallization in cracks, Chemical weathering chemical transformation of a rock into new compounds. Dissolution happens when a solid (rocks and minerals) is dissolved into. Water is actually a great solvent (so is acid) Water with a lot of dissolved ions is referred to as hard water.
