Chapter 3 Rocks and Weathering Flashcards
What is the difference between chemical and physical weathering? (2)
Chemical weathering changes a rock’s mineral composition while physical weathering doesn’t change a rock’s mineral composition, and chemical weathering uses acid to weather rocks while physical weathering uses force.
How is chemical weathering similar to physical weathering?
Both break down rocks.
What are two types of physical weathering?
Two types of physical weathering are ice wedging and plant roots.
What chemical conditions on the Earth surface are different from those inside the Earth?
Chemical conditions on the earth surface are different from those inside the Earth because there is a lot of HEAT and PRESSURE inside the Earth while there are lots of GASES on Earth and no heat or pressure.
What ways can rocks weather?
Physically and chemically.
What effects can climate have on weathering?
Cold temperature can freeze ice faster and more often which will cause rocks to break faster, deserts can have a lot of sand blasting which can break down rocks faster, etc.
Do rocks weather the same way?
No, rocks do not weather the same way because they do not have the same mineral composition and it also depends on it’s surroundings and location.
Why is weathering an important part of the rock cycle?
Weathering breaks down rocks into sediment which continues the rock cycle and makes new rocks, without weathering the rock cycle wouldn’t continue.
How is the hydrosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and atmosphere connected to weathering? (carbon dioxide, carbonic acid in clouds, physically breaking rocks, exhaling, decaying, lichens, plant roots, fossil fuels, etc.)
When 1) an animal exhales, 2) fossil fuels burn, or 3) an organism decays, it produces carbon dioxide which gets into the air and that then gets into the water or clouds. Acid called carbonic acid or acidic rain can dissolves rocks then. Lichens can also dilute rocks slowly from the weak acid they produce, an animal can physically break a rock, or plant roots can grow in a rock and break it in half.
What is the process of weathering by which chemical reactions break down mineral particles in rocks into new minerals, and also chemicals in solution, at or near the Earths surface?
Chemical weathering process.
Define physical weathering process.
Physical weathering process is the process of weathering by which rock is broken down by physical forces or processes, including gravity, water, ice, wind, or human actions at or near the Earth’s surface.
What is the atmosphere?
The atmosphere is the layer of gas that surrounds the Earth. The atmosphere is a mixture of several gases.
What is bedrock?
Bedrock is solid rock that is connected continuously down into the Earth’s crust, rather than existing as separate pieces or masses surrounded by loose materials.
What is that word that describes, “in areas of limestone bedrock, a kind of topography, with steep-sided local depressions and small, steep hills, that is formed by dissolution, of the limestone by percolation of rainwater into the subsurface, to form open cracks, caves, and collapsed rock?
Karst topography.
What does biosphere mean?
The biosphere is the part of the Earth system that includes all living organisms (animals and plants) and also dead and decaying organic matter.
