Friday, May 31

Physical Weathering of Rocks


Introduction to Weathering:

Weathering is a process where the earth’s rocks, soil, and mineral break down due to the direct contact with the planet’s atmosphere. The weathering occurs due to no movement, this is called as ‘situ’. The man-made structures also face weathering problems due to atmospheric exposure. Weathering is of two types, physical weathering, here the breakdown of the rocks and soil is due to the atmospheric conditions such as ice, water, heat, and pressure.Another type is chemical weathering, it is a process where the earth’s rocks and soil breaks down due to the effect of the earth’s atmospheric chemical directly on them.Please express your views of this topic Internal Energy Equation by commenting on blog.


Physical Weathering:


In physical weathering abrasion is the primary process, the physical and chemical process are inter related, as the cracks created by the physical process are increased in the surface area by the chemical reactions on it.


Type in physical weathering:

Thermal stress: Thermal stress weathering is process which causes due to the expansion and contraction of the rocks as a result of temperature change. This is more common in the desert and the regions where the temperature is higher in the day time and cooler at the night.
Frost weathering: This type of weathering is common in the regions where the temperature is nearer to or around the freezing point of water. Here the soil or rocks get cracked due to the low temperatures
Pressure release: Here the materials which is not necessarily rocks having a heavy mass are removed or it is also known as unloading of overlaying materials. This is done by some erosion or other processes. As these over laying materials are heavy they create pressure on the underlying materials.
Hydraulic action: This action occurs in the rock face when the water rushes rapidly in the cracks. At the bottom of the crack the water and a layer of air gets trapped, this causes explosion when the wave retreats which results in crack widening.

No comments:

Post a Comment