CEG 225-Engineering Geology, Lecture Series on Rock Weathering/Prof. E.O.

Longe/2018-2019/Academic Year

ROCK WEATHERING AND EROSION

Weathering is the breakdown of material at or near the Earth’s surface, due to the influence of physical,
chemical, and biological processes acting separately or, more often, together to achieve the
disintegration and decay of rock material.

This distinguishes it from the physical and chemical alteration of rock through metamorphism, which
usually takes place deep in the crust at much higher temperatures.

Weathering differs from erosion in that erosion usually includes the transportation of the disintegrated
rock and soil away from the site of the degradation, by the agency of surface water, wind, ice,
groundwater, or gravity.

1. PHYSICAL WEATHERING
This is the gradual disintegration of rocks by mechanical processes into its constituent minerals or
particles with no decay of any rock-forming minerals. It requires the application of force. The principal
agents of physical weathering are:

i. Frost Action: the alternate freezing and thawing of water between cracks and fissures within
rocks and crystal growth within rocks. The force of crystallization at about 22 0C is about 22 bars
(kg/cm2), which is enough to burst steel pipes.

 Frost Wedging: causes water contained in rock cavities to expand in volume on

freezing, breaking the rock.

 Frost heave: takes place in fine-grained regolith when water contained in the void
space freezes in winter, causing the material to expand and bulge on the surface,
which are clearly visible at the end of winter.

ii. Exfoliation: is the separation, during weathering, of successive shells from a usually jointed rock,
with release of confining pressure. The peeled-off layers may be flat or curved and of variable
thickness. Exfoliation is a major factor of many dome-shaped rock outcrops, e.g. Zuma Rock.
The separated sheets may be that or curved, paper thin or metres thick.

CAUSES OF WEATHERING
Thermal expansion and contraction: repeated heating and cooling, caused by lightning strikes,
forest and bush fires may cause rocks to flake off in thin sheets repeated heating and cooling of a rock
that causes its break-up a process called spalling.

Biogenic activity: burrowing animals and plant roots create openings in rocks and regolith,
enhancing infiltration of water into the soil/rock. This aids disintegration. Potassium ions and other
nutrients go into solution in the openings so created, leading to further crowding by plants and also
further breakdown of rock material.

Purpose of Physical Weathering: physical weathering causes the breakdown of rocks, increasing the
surface area and enhancing the activity of the agents of decomposition (chemical weathering).

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CEG 225-Engineering Geology, Lecture Series on Rock Weathering/Prof. E.O. Longe/2018-2019/Academic Year

2. CHEMICAL WEATHERING
This is the chemical alteration (change, reorganization, or redistribution of component
minerals) of the rock that usually leads to the formation of new minerals. It is the major
factor in rock disintegration. It may occur at depth or at or close to the surface. The minerals
are exposed to solution, carbonation, hydration, and oxidation by circulating waters.

Agents of Chemical Weathering

Minerals present in a “parent” rock are attacked by agents of chemical weathering to produce sediment
made up of new minerals, rock fragments and dissolved ions. The principal agents of chemical
weathering are rainwater, oxygen, carbon dioxide and organic acids.

Water is seen as crucial element in the process of chemical weathering.

Carbon dioxide: - A principal agent of mineral alteration reacts with rainwater to form carbonic acid, a
mild acid that dissolves calcite in a process called carbonation.

H2 O + CO2 H2CO3 H+ + (HCO3 )

Rainwater carbon dioxide Carbonic acid Hydrogen ion Bicarbonate ion

This process creates a sink for carbon dioxide by pulling it from atmosphere.

Other acids – organic (tannic, citric, etc.) acids are produced in soils through biogenic activities.
Weathering on sulphide rock terrains (e.g. with pyrite present) produces sulphuric acid. This is common
in coal mining areas like Enugu (Usi and Okaba Coal Mines) where sulphides may accompany coal
deposits. When acids attack the primary silicate minerals in a process called hydrolysis, secondary clay
minerals are produced. An example is the alteration of feldspars to form clay minerals (illite,
montmorillonite) and quartz.

Oxygen in a process called oxidation, iron-bearing primary minerals (e.g. pyrite, FeS,) may be oxidized
to form iron oxide (hematite, Fe2O3) and liberate sulphur, which forms sulfuric acid. This is typical in
coal mining areas (e.g. Enugu) where acid drainage may become an acute environmental problem.

CaCO3 Ca++ + CO3-

Calcite ion

FACTORS AFFECT RATE OF EWATHERING

Factors affecting the rate of weathering are: Surface area, Rock type, Climate and Time.

Type of rock
The mineralogical composition of a rock rate determines the rate of disintegration, while the texture
affects the type of weathering that us most likely to occur, Fine-grained rocks are usually more prone to
chemical alteration but less susceptible to physical disintegration. The presence of joints, fractures and
fissures in a rock may provide an avenue for water to penetrate, making fractured rocks more prone to
weathering than massive rocks.

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CEG 225-Engineering Geology, Lecture Series on Rock Weathering/Prof. E.O. Longe/2018-2019/Academic Year

Surface Area and Slope

A steep sloping surface leads to a faster erosion of weathered material, thus exposing fresh material to
further weathering. On the contrary a gently sloping surface would retain the weathered material, and this
may accumulate as much as up to 50m thick.

Climate
Climate controls the type and rate of weathering by affecting the freeze-thaw and heat-moisture cycles
and the chemical reaction. Different types of weathered products characterize different climate zones. In
cold and dry climatic zones weathering by FROST action is a dominant, but in the humid tropical region
chemical decomposition is dominant.

Time
Weathering rates are quite variable, being dependent on rock type and climate, and even on topography.
Chemical weathering is , for instance, quite rapid in the humid tropics compared to the arid tropical
deserts where it proceeds much slower. In fact weathering is slowest in hot arid climates.

The Role of Solubility in Chemical Weathering

Some elements are more soluble than others. Ca, Mg, Na, K, Fe2+ are very soluble while A1, Si, Fe3+ are
quite insoluble and form the major components of residual end product of chemical weathering.

PRODUCTS OF WEATHERING
Igneous and metamorphic rocks, unlike sedimentary rocks, were formed under conditions totally different
from the temperatures and pressures o f the earth’s surface. Most of their minerals are unstable under
these new conditions, giving rise to new minerals that form the soils found on these “parent” rocks. The
weathering process may be explained using the example of Granodiorite.

Weathering of Granodiorite
Granodiorite consists of minerals that differ in their compressibility, thermal expansion and chemical
stability. Thus they react differently to temperature and pressure changes and the rock tends to
disaggregate into a mass of non-coherent mineral grains. Minerals that form early during magmatic
cooling area less stable under surface conditions than those that form later at lower temperatures. For
instance biotite and amphibole decay more at greater depths than potassium feldspar, due to their greater
susceptibility. While amphibole alters a little more readily than biotite, their products are quite similar,
and may be illustrated (in a simplified form) by that of biotite. Quartz is deemed to be stable chemically,
being extremely slow to dissolve.

When granodiorite decomposes under warm, humid conditions it yields quartz grains embedded in newly
formed clay. Most of the K, Na, Ca and Mg are carried away in solution. In arid conditions leaching is
much slower. The retention of potassium in the clay soils crucial to plant life and agriculture.

2KMg2Fe(OH)2AISi3O10 + ½O2 + 10H2CO3 + nH2O

Biotite oxygen carbonic acid water

2KHCO3 + 4Mg (HCO3)2 + Fe2O3 – H2O + AI2( OH)2Si4O10- nH2O + SiO2 + 5H2O
potassium magnesium limonite clay mineral quartz water
bicarbonate bicarbonate (iron rust) (soluble silica)
(soluble) (soluble)

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CEG 225-Engineering Geology, Lecture Series on Rock Weathering/Prof. E.O. Longe/2018-2019/Academic Year

Plagioclase, a solid solution of anorthite and albite, is next most susceptible of the granodiorite
minerals, the more so the higher the anorthite content.

CaAl2Si2O - 2NaAlSi3O8 + 4H2CO3 + 2(nH2O) =

anothite albite carbonic water
acid
Ca(HCO3)2 + 2NaHCO3 + 2Al2(OH)2SiO10 – nH2O
calcium sodium clay mineral
bicarbonate bicarbonate
(soluble) (soluble)
(The groups indicated as soluble do not actually form, but their components remain as ions).
Potassium feldspar, next to quartz the most resistant mineral of the granodiorite, slowly weathers
somewhat similarly:

2KAlSi3O8 + H2CO3 + nH2O K2CO3 + Al2(OH)2Si4O10 – nH2O + 2SiO2

Potassium carbonic water potassium clay mineral soluble hydrated
feldspar acid carbonate silica or quartz
(Soluble)

Table 1: Chemical Weathering of Granite and Basalt

EXAMPLE: GRANITE
Primary Constituents Weathering Products
Minerals Cations colloids Secondary minerals Persistent
formed from colloids and Minerals
ions
Feldspar K+, Na+ Silica Clay Minerals - Na+. K+
Alumina

Quartz - - Quartz
Micas K+. Fe2+. Silica, Clay Minerals Some Mica
Mg2+ Alumina
Ferromagnesians Mg2+. Fe2+ Silica, Clay Minerals Mg2+
Alumina
Mg2+. Fe2+ Iron Hematite, “Limonite” Mg2+
Ferromagnesians oxides
EXAMPLE: BASALT
Primary Constituents Weathering Products
Feldspar Ca2+. Na+ Silica, Clay Minerals Ca2+. Na+
Alumina
Ferromagnesians Mg2+. Fe2+ Silica, Clay Minerals Mg2+
Alumina
Magnetite Fe2+ Iron Hematite, “Limonite” Mg2+
oxides

N. B.: “LIMONITE” Goethite = hydrous ferric oxide (Fe2O3.H2O): Hematite= Fe2O3

Soil is a product of geological process of rock weathering

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CEG 225-Engineering Geology, Lecture Series on Rock Weathering/Prof. E.O. Longe/2018-2019/Academic Year

Soil is an organized body of weathered, unconsolidation rock material mixed with some organic matter. It
is divided into soil horizons, called a soil profile. The 0-horizon, found only in moist climates, consists of
the plow zone and contains plant and animal litter. The A-horizon or “topsoil” is a zone of leaching that is
rich in organic matter. The B-horizon or “accumulation zone” is rich in clay. In dry climates it may be a
zone of hardpan or caliche. The C-horizon is the zone of fractured and weathered bedrock. Soil fertility is
controlled by availability of essential elements like N, C, Ca, K and P. extensive weathering may cause
residual deposits of economic importance such as laterite or bauxite to accumulate.

In Engineering, soil is any loose, unconsolidated, non-organic material, such as sands, silts and clays in
contrast to the stronger rocks, siltstones, sandstones, limestones basalts and many others. The application
of the term is related to the development of soil mechanics.

EFFECTS OF WEATHERING
i. Causes disintegration and decomposition of rock.
ii. Compressive strength of hard rocks after weathering is lowered due to drop in cohesion, caused by
increase in jointing of the rock man. – present of clay content.
iii. Effects on the bearing captivity of structure foundation i.e. bridge abatements composed of
weathered rocks.
iv. They also increase rock pressure in tunnels driven in weather beds.
Solution: drop in bearing capacity of foundations composed of weathered rocks require that
pressure on the sub-grade be reduced or that the depth of the foundation be measured to ensure total
stability of bridge abatements and lower settlement.
v. Weathered metamorphic rocks exhibit low bearing capacity i.e. shales etc.
vi. Weathering process leads sudden and dramatic drop in the strength bearing capacity.