Unit 2: Weathering and Erosion

Question 1

Define Frost Wedging

Answer 1

Water freezes and thaws in cracks of the rocks, forcing it apart

Question 2

What is mechanical weathering and its agents

Answer 2

The physical breakdown into smaller pieces

-Decrease in pressure from the removal of overlying rock (exfoliation)
-Frost wedging
-Wind and water erosion
-Formation of salt crystals with in the rock
-Cracking from roots and burrowing animals

Question 3

What is chemical weathering and its agents

Answer 3

chemical changes to minerals that become unstable when exposed to surface conditions

Dissolution - production of ions that end up in solution
Oxidation - Rusting
Hydrolysis - chemicals in rocks interacting with water

Question 4

What are the 4 primary agents of erosion

Answer 4

Wind: Aeolian
Water: Rivers/Streams
Ice: Glaciers
Gravity: Landslides

Question 5

How to mechanical weathering and chemical weathering work together?

Answer 5

Mechanical weather removes materials to promote chemical weathering to take effects, and chemical weathering weakens rocks to allow for mechanical weathering

Question 6

What mineral is the most stable on the earths surface?

Answer 6

Quartz (silica)

Question 7

What is less stable? Mafic or Felsic?

Answer 7

Mafic minerals