Name Rizza M.
Pacheo BEED - 2
Topic: Weathering and Soil Erosion
Concept Wheel
Mechanical weathering (also
called physical weathering)
breaks rock into smaller pieces.
These smaller pieces are just
like the bigger rock, just smaller.
That means the rock has
changed physically without
changing its composition.
Weathering is the breaking down of
rocks, soil, and minerals as well as
wood and artificial materials through
contact with the Earth's atmosphere,
water, and biological organisms.
WEATHERING
AND
Soil erosion is a naturally occurring
process that affects all land forms. In
SOIL EROSION
agriculture, soil erosion refers to the
wearing away of a field's topsoil by the
natural physical forces of water and wind
or through forces associated with
farming activities such as tillage.
Causes of Soil Erosion:
Land Use – includes
deforestation, grazing, arable
land use, faulty farming systems,
high crop intensity, housing
construction, mining etc.
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Date
Organic or Biological weathering is
the disintegration of rocks as a result of
the action by living organisms. Trees
and other plants can wear away rocks
since as they penetrate into the soil
and as their roots get bigger, they exert
pressure on rocks and makes the
cracks wider and deeper.
Chemical weathering happens when
rocks are worn away by chemical
changes. The natural chemical reactions
within the rocks change the composition
of the rocks over time. Because the
chemical processes are gradual and
ongoing, the mineralogy of rocks changes
over time thus making them wear away,
dissolve, and disintegrate.
Landforms – Slope gradient, slope
length and shape of slope are the
important variables of landform that
affect erosion processes for all types
of soil erosion, e.g., splash, sheet, rill,
and gully erosion.
Climate – includes water balance,
evapotranspiration, temperature and
relative humidity.
Soil – factors are texture, structure,
water retention and transmission
properties.