MW - Weathering & Mass Wasting Flashcards
Identfiy:
Differential Weathering?
Identify:
Denudation?
3 Types of Activities? And Definitions?
The disintegration, wearing away, and removal of rock material
1. Weathering: Breaking of rocks into smaller pieces over time
2. Mass Wasting: Broken rocks move downhill by gravity. Controlled by angle of repose, water, clay, and permafrost. Depends on moisture and slope of plane.
3. Erosion: Transporation of materials over a distance over time.
- Rivers wearing down a region over time
- Fluvial and Aeolian Processes
Explain:
Weathering?
Types? Joints? Faults?
Breaking of rocks into smaller pieces over time
Joints: = Cracks
Faults = Displacement
Mechanical = Physical Weathering
Biological = Weathering caused by organisms
Chemical = The chemical breakdown
Differential Weathering: Rocks weather at different rates
Identify:
Mechanical Weathering?
Physical Weathering
The physical disintegration of rock material without any change in its chemical composition
Identify:
Frost Wedging?
Type of Weathering?
When water seeps into cracks and freezes forces rocks to split due to FROST SHATTERING
Large Cracks: Can Create Large Boulders
Small Cracks: **Granulates the rock into sand and dust particles (Granular Disintegration)
Mechanical Weathering
Identify:
Salt Wedging?
Type of Weathering?
When salt crystallizes out of solution as water evaporates
Less intense than frost wedging
Dry Climates: The water is often drawn upward in rock openings by Capillary action
Happens along the coastlines and sealines
Mechanical Weathering
Identify:
Temperature Changes?
Type of Weathering?
The fluctation of temperature causes minute changes in the volume of minerals,
- Forcing expansion when the rock that contains them is heated
- Contraction when the rock is cooled, and weakening the coherence of the mineral grains.
Mechanical Weathering
Identify:
Exfoliation?
Type of Weathering?
Sheets of rock released due to decreasing pressure, formed dome like structures (Such as Half Dome in Yosemite)
Mechanical Weathering
Define:
Chemical Weathering?
Identify:
Oxidation?
Type of Weathering?
When rocks with lots of iron are exposed to air, it can cause them to rust make them crumble.
Chemical Weathering
Identify:
Hydration?
Type of Weathering?
Chemical Bonds in the mineral changed as it interacts with water
Chemical Weathering
Hydrolysis?
Type of Weathering?
Breakdown of rock by acidic water
Chemical Weathering
Carbonation?
Type of Weathering?
The mixing of carbon dioxide and water to make carbonic acid which dissovles rock (Karst Topography)
Chemical Weathering
Spheroidal Weathering?
Type of Weathering?
Combination of weathering that results in spherical, onion like rock
Chemical Weathering
Identify:
Climate & Weather?
Weathering?
Tropical (A Climates): Chemical Weathering
Desert (B Climates): Mechanical Weathering
Boreal (C Climates): Mechanical and Chemical Weathering
Tundra (F Climates): Mechanical Weathering
A specific climate a given region relates directly to the weathering
