Weathering Flashcards
Taking a rock and creating little tiny particles known as sediment
Weathering
Moving sediment
erosion
Softer rocks indicates
quicker weathering
Harder rocks indicates
slow weathering
Two types of weathering
Mechanical weathering, chemical weathering
Beating rock with physical processes that create smaller pieces from a bigger pieces
Mechanical Weathering
Decomposing of a rock with a chemical process
chemical weathering
types of mechanical weathering
frost wedging, Pressure release, thermal expansion and contraction, salt wedging
water expands when frozen;
frost wedging
rocks forming at depth under high pressure and the outward expansion from pressure release makes it exposed at the surface
Pressure release
Rock volume changes with temperature; expands when heated creating sheet joints
thermal expansion and contraction
widens cracks and similar to frost wedging; easy in porous rocks
Salt wedging
Types of Chemical Weathering
Dissolution (by Water)
Oxidation (rust)
Breaking solutions to form cations and anions due to water’s polarity
Dissolution by water
Occurs to due to heavy water, snow, or ice; forms oxidize
Oxidation
how do minerals break down?
Opposite of their formation
Percentages of soil minerals
25% air, 25% water, 45% minerals, 5% organic matter
Soil layers top to bottom:
O, A, E, B, C
Controllers of soil formation
Type of landscape, composition of bedrock, Climate
Soil in wet climate
Laterite
Soil in dry climate
Pedocals
Temperature climate soil
Pedalfers
Warm, rains a lot; top soil is thin;not a lot of organic materials
Wet Climate
Very thin A layer = not true top soil, very little vegetation
dry climate
Any process that reduces the quality of the soil is known as
Soil degradation
Soils degradation occurs through
erosion, physical ways. biological ways, chemical ways
