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Physical weathering, also called mechanical weathering or disaggregation, is the class of processes that causes the disintegration of rocks without chemical change. Physical weathering involves the breakdown of rocks into smaller fragments through processes such as expansion and contraction, mainly due to temperature changes.
This figure describes the geological aspects and processes of the carbonate silicate cycle, within the long-term carbon cycle. The carbonate–silicate geochemical cycle, also known as the inorganic carbon cycle, describes the long-term transformation of silicate rocks to carbonate rocks by weathering and sedimentation, and the transformation of carbonate rocks back into silicate rocks by ...
At a temperature of -22 °C, ice growth is known to be able to generate pressures of up to 207MPa, more than enough to fracture any rock. [6] [7] For frost weathering to occur by volumetric expansion, the rock must have almost no air that can be compressed to compensate for the expansion of ice, which means it has to be water-saturated and ...
Rocks exposed to the atmosphere are variably unstable and subject to the processes of weathering and erosion. Weathering and erosion break the original rock down into smaller fragments and carry away dissolved material. This fragmented material accumulates and is buried by additional material.
Sedimentary rocks are formed by diagenesis and lithification of sediments, which in turn are formed by the weathering, transport, and deposition of existing rocks. Metamorphic rocks are formed when existing rocks are subjected to such high pressures and temperatures that they are transformed without significant melting.
Glacially abraded rocks in western Norway near Jostedalsbreen gntration. Abrasion is a process of weathering that occurs when material being transported wears away at a surface over time, commonly occurring with ice and glaciers. The primary process of abrasion is physical weathering.
Honeycomb weathering typically develops in siliceous, either coarse-grained sedimentary or coarsely crystalline plutonic rocks.It can be found in all climate types, but is most prolific in salt-rich environments, such as deserts and coastal zones.
Case hardening is a weathering phenomenon of rock surface induration.It is observed commonly in: felsic alkaline rocks, such as nepheline syenite, phonolite and trachyte; pyroclastic rocks, as pyroclastic flow deposit, fine air-fall deposits and vent-filling pyroclastic deposits; sedimentary rocks, as sandstone and mudstone.