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Spheroidal weathering of a dolerite dyke, Pilbara, Western Australia. Spheroidal weathering is a form of chemical weathering that affects jointed bedrock and results in the formation of concentric or spherical layers of highly decayed rock within weathered bedrock that is known as saprolite.
Watson Lake in the Granite Dells The Peavine Trail Dells Granite showing spheroidal weathering.. The Granite Dells is a geological feature north of Prescott, Arizona.The Dells consist of exposed bedrock and large boulders of granite that have eroded into an unusual lumpy, rippled appearance.
It is quite common for spheroidal weathering, a form of chemical weathering, to occur as groundwater circulates through orthogonal joint sets in the near-surface. [10] This process results in the alteration and disintegration of bedrock adjacent to the joints.
Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals ... Spheroidal weathering – Form of chemical weathering that affects jointed bedrock;
Although sometimes confused with weathering rinds, spheroidal weathering is a different type of chemical weathering in which spherical layers of weathered material progressively develop in situ around blocks of jointed bedrock beneath the Earth's surface, rather than in reworked and transported clasts such as cobbles and boulders. [4] [5]
The well-rounded shapes of the individual blocks were formed by spheroidal weathering (Wollsackverwitterung) in the tropical, humid climate of the Cenozoic era. Over the course of time they were left behind as the ground around was eroded; they became unstable and began to shift.
Exfoliating slabs of granite, on Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, USA. Exfoliating granite is a granite undergoing exfoliation, or onion skin weathering (desquamation).The external delaminated layers of granite are gradually produced by the cyclic variations of temperature at the surface of the rock in a process also called spalling.
Spheroidal weathering of exposed sections of the dykes has focussed on cooling joints present within the body of intrusive rock. Radiometric dating of the dykes has returned ages of around 52 million years for their emplacement though an older age of around 61 million years has also been suggested by measurements.