Weathering

Weathering: the disintegration, or breakdown of rock material

Mechanical Weathering: no change in chemical composition--just disintegration into smaller pieces

Chemical Weathering: breakdown as a result of chemical reactions

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CaCO₃+CO₂+H₂O ---> Ca²⁺ + 2HCO^3-

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What is currently eroding this butte?

USE YOUR GEOLOGIC EYE TO

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1. SEE AND DESCRIBE WHAT THIS LANDSCAPE USED TO LOOK LIKE.
2. What agent of erosion weathered this?

`wind

`water (frost wedging)

`glacier

When this river was flooded it moved these big boulders.

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High Velocity Water:

Moves BIG BOULDERS

LOW VELOCITY:

SMALL SEDIMENTS DEPOSITED

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Create a graph labeled: Water Velocity to Particle Size carried.

Mechanical Weathering

Physical breakup

• pressure release
• water: freeze - thaw cycles
• crystallization of salt in cracks
• thermal expansion and contraction

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All this increases the total surface area exposed to weathering processes.

Mechanical Weathering

Exfoliation:

Rock breaks apart in layers that are parallel to the earth's surface; as rock is uncovered, it expands (due to the lower confining pressure) resulting in exfoliation.

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Weathering

Mechanical Weathering

Sheet Joints�(Exfoliation)

Stone Mountain, GA

Half Dome, Yosemite, CA

Exfoliated Domes, Yosemite

Stone Mountain, GA

Stone Mountain, Georgia, showing the product of exfoliation due to unloading

Frost Wedging: rock breakdown caused by expansion of ice in cracks and joints

Shattered rocks are common in cold and alpine environments where repeated freeze-thaw cycles gradually pry rocks apart.

Weathering

Thermal expansion due to the extreme range of temperatures can shatter rocks in desert environments.

Repeated swelling and shrinking of minerals with different expansion rates will also shatter rocks.

Role of Physical Weathering

1. Reduces rock material to smaller fragments that are easier to transport

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2) Increases the exposed surface area of rock, making it more vulnerable to further physical and chemical weathering

Surface Area and Weathering

Rates of weathering

Joints in a rock are a pathway for water – they can enhance mechanical weathering

Chemical Weathering

Definition: transformation/decomposition of one mineral into another

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Mineral breakdown

• carbonate dissolves
• primary minerals --> secondary minerals (mostly clays)

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Net loss of elements retained in the soil.

• Water is the main operator:
• Dissolution
• Many ionic and organic compounds dissolve in water
• Silica, K, Na, Mg, Ca, Cl, CO₃, SO₄
• Acid Reactions
• Water + carbon dioxide <---> carbonic acid
• Water + sulfur <---> sulfuric acid
• H⁺ effective at breaking down minerals

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Chemical Weathering

Dissolution

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H₂O + CO₂ + CaCO₃ --> Ca⁺² + 2HCO₃^-

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water + carbon dioxide + calcite

dissolve into calcium ion

and bicarbonate ion

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Biological activity in soils

generates substantial CO₂

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Bicarbonate is the dominant

ion in surface runoff.

• Oxidation
• Oxygen dissolved in water promotes oxidation of sulfides, ferrous oxides, native metals

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• Organic Activity
• Plant material makes H⁺ ions available

Chemical Weathering

• Hydration: attachment of water molecules to crystalline structure of a rock, causing expansion and weakness

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• Hydrolysis: combination of hydrogen and oxygen in water with rock to form new substances

Chemical Weathering

Solution: process by which rock is dissolved in water

• Is strongly influenced by pH and temperature
• When water becomes saturated, chemicals may precipitate out forming evaporite deposits.
• Calcium carbonate (calcite, limestone), sodium chloride (salt), and calcium sulfate (gypsum) are particularly vulnerable to solution weathering.

Chemical Weathering

Bowen’s

Reaction

Series

Goldrich

Stability

Series

First to

Crystallize

Last to

Crystallize

Slow�Weathering

Fast�Weathering

Resistance to Weathering

Olivine/pyroxene to clay

+ H₂CO₃ (acid)

Feldspars to clay

+ H₂CO₃ (acid)

Quartz to quartz (!)

+ anything

Calcite to …….

nothing

+ anything

This photo of Lime Sink was taken on 20 July 1932, over a week after the drawdown, which occurred over the night of 9-10 July.

‘Karst’ landforms develop in areas underlain with limestone

Biological Weathering

Can be both chemical and mechanical in nature.

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• roots split rocks apart

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• roots produce acids

that dissolve rocks.

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• tree throw

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• burrowing animals

Rates of weathering

• Climate
• Temperature and moisture characteristics

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• Chemical weathering
• Most effective in areas of warm, moist climates – decaying vegetation creates acids that enhance weathering
• Least effective in polar regions (water is locked up as ice) and arid regions (little water)

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• Mechanical weathering
• Enhanced where there are frequent freeze-thaw cycles

Weathering

Mechanical and Chemical Weathering

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• Fracturing, disintegration caused by mechanical weathering exposes more surface area.

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• Greater surface area, means more places for chemical action to occur.

Alaska

Altiplano

Amazon

Seattle

Erosion

EROSION

EROSION

EROSION

EROSION

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EROSION

Glacier Erosion