WEATHERING

Definitions

o Weathering refers to the weakening and breaking down of large rocks

into smaller particles whilst in "situ" leading to soil formation.
o Situ is a Latin phrase which means "stationary"/ "in its original
position."
o For weathering to occur, physical, biological and chemical factors come
into play.

EROSION

o Erosion refers to the washing away of top soil after weathering by

wind, water or ice.
o Erosion produces gullies and dongas.

Difference between weathering and erosion

WEATHERING EROSION
Breaking down of rocks Washing away of soil by wind, water
or ice
Caused mostly by climatic variations Caused by movement of water wind
and ice
Produces Inselbergs and Karst Produces Gullies and Dongas
landforms
Table 1.Differences between weathering and erosion.
TYPES OF WEATHERING

There are generally two types of weathering which are:

1. Physical weatheringthis is the disintegration of rocks into smaller

particles by mechanical means without any changes in the chemical
composition of the rock for example granite rocks.
o Most likely to occur in semi-arid and arid regions such as deserts
and areas that have little or no vegetation.
o Also known as mechanical weathering.
o Breaks down rocks into granular and blocks particles.
o Processes include exfoliation, frost shattering, and thermal
shattering.
2. Chemical weathering this is the weakening and
disintegration of rocks by chemical reactions in the rocks.
o The process of chemical weathering can either create or destroy
minerals in a rock.
o Chemical weathering alters the rocks mineral content.
o Temperature and moisture are critical for the occurrence of
chemical weathering.
o Occurs quicker in hot and humid climatic conditions for example in
the equatorial rainforest.

PHYSICAL WEATHERING

Agents of physical weathering:

1. Temperature change
o Changes in temperature can cause rock disintegration.
 o As temperature rises rocks will expand and as the temperatures
decrease they will contract.
o The repeated change in temperature will cause the rock to crumble.
2. Pressure change
o Causes stress on the inner joints of the rocks.
o Repeated pressure change causes outer parts of rocks to gradually
peel off.
3. Animal action
o Animals dig burrows into the ground allowing more rock to be
exposed. For example animals which include ground squirrels,

prairie dogs, moles, ants and earthworms.

An example of a prairie dog in its burrow.

4. Wind and water.

o The mechanical action of water and wind on the rocks causes them
to disintegrate.
 o Wind can carry small particles or sand and rocks such as in
sandstorms in deserts. When these particles collide with rocks they
can wear them away
o The action of waves as water pounds of rocks in high velocity and
force causes rocks to wear down gradually.
5. Plant growth
o Plant roots might grow in small cracks of rocks.
o As the plants grow bigger so do the roots.
o The plant roots exert more pressure on the rock as they grow, the
rocks then expand and disintegrate.

PHYSICAL WEATHERING PROCESSES

There are five major types of mechanical weathering. Some which may be
further sub-divided into two or more categories.

1)FREEZE-THAW
 Two other sub-categories can be noted under this process.
i. Ice wedging
 In areas which experience winter freezing and spring thawing such as
the periglacial areas and sub-arctic regions, water cyclically changes
from solid to liquid by seasons.
 This change of state of water is responsible for the weakening and
breaking down of rocks.
 When water is in its liquid state it accumulates in rock cracks.
 As temperatures fall, to about 4◦C the water changes to its solid state
thereby occupying more volume by of about 9%, thereby exerting a
lot of pressure on the cracks.
  With time, through the repeated process of freezing and thawing slabs
of rock will be prised off by the ice wedging effect. The slabs fall to the
base of the main rock.
 The end product of ice is called felsenmeer, which is a term which
means exposed angular shattered rock surfaces.

An example of the ice wedging process

ii. Ice crystal growth

 In ice crystal growth, the weathering principle is the same as in ice
wedging
 Water accumulates in pore spaces of rocks where it freezes into ice
crystals when temperatures fall; the ice crystals occupy more space
than liquid water. Therefore the formation of ice crystals creates
stress and strain within the rock causing it to crumble.
 The end product of ice crystal growth is sand.

Freeze-thaw weathering is most effective in areas with temperatures which

fluctuate around 0°C. These areas include polar lands, temperate areas and
snowcapped mountains in the tropics.
2)INSOLATION WEATHERING
In this type of weathering two processes are involved which are exfoliation
and granular disintegration.

i. Exfoliation
 Exfoliation is mainly as a result of alternate heating and cooling of rock
surfaces.
 Alternate heating and cooling therefore results in alternate expansion and
contraction.
 During the day as temperatures are high, insolation from the sun heats
up the surface of the rock which expands outwards.
 Because therock is a poor thermal conductor, only surface layers
expandwhile the inner parts remain cold. This then creates sheet joints
dividing the outer parts of the rock into thin layers like an onion.
 When the temperatures drop at night the outer layers of rocks lose heat
very fast making them to contract at a faster rate than the inside of the
rock thereby creating vertical joints almost at a right angle to the rock
surface.
 The alternate processes of heating and cooling, expansion and cooling
leads to the outer parts of the rocks peeling off in an onion-like manner
from the parent rock.
 The peeled off material falls to the base and accumulates there as scree.
 The end products of exfoliation include exfoliation domes, as well as
angular scree.
Picture showing process of exfoliation

3)SALT CRYSTAL WEATHERING

 In this type of weathering, water which has dissolved many minerals
settles and accumulates in the pores of rocks.
 As the rock is heated, water evaporates into the air leaving behind
dissolved minerals which accumulate and compact as crystals in the
pore spaces.
 Gradually crystals fill up rock pore spaces and exert pressure from
within the rock thereby crumbling the rock in grain or chunk form in
the process.
 Sand is one of the products of the salt crystallisation process.
 This process is of high occurrence in areas of high temperatures and
low rainfall such the hot deserts and semi-arid regions.
 Such conditions ensure that there is movement of water in an upward
direction through the soil by capillary action, bringing rock minerals
towards the surface.
 Rocks must be porous and have cracks for salty water to be able to
penetrate them.

4)PRESSURE RELEASE/ DILATATION

 Also known as unloading.
 A majority of igneous rocks were created underground at much higher
temperatures and pressure.
 As erosion takes place it brings these rocks to the earth's surface
through removal of overburden.
 As a result these rocks become subjected to less pressure. This
unloading of pressure causes the rock to expand outwards creating
vertical and curvilinear joints.
 With more exposure and contributions from other weathering
processes rock slabs begin crumbling and falling off accumulating at
the base of the parent rock as scree.
 The end products of pressure release are joints as well as rock slabs.
 More pronounced in areas of little vegetation cover and very active
erosion like the savannas and semi-arid regions.

Picture showing the process of pressure release weathering

5)BIOLOGICAL WEATHERING
Biological takes two forms that of plant root action and animal
weathering.

There is also a chemical element to the aspect of biological weathering.

i. Plant root action

 Plant roots can grow in rock cracks. As the plants grow older, the roots
grow larger exerting pressure on the rock joints and in the process
breaking the rocks apart.
 As the roots grow, they secrete weak humic acids which react
chemically with rock minerals. These reactions chemically weaken the
rock and with time leading to the disintegration of the rock.

Plant root action on weathering

ii. Animal action

 All the creatures which make burrows underground assist in rock
weathering. For example rodents and rabbits who are renowned for
this.
 As the animals excrete excreta; the waste matter discharged from the
body composed of feaces and urine mixes with soil moisture to form
urea a chemical compound.
  The urea reacts with rock minerals weakening the rock resulting in its
decomposition.

CHEMICAL WEATHERING PROCESSES

There are also five main chemical weathering processes; these include
hydration, hydrolysis, oxidation, carbonation and solution.

1. HYDRATION
 Hydration is also known as the wetting and drying process.
 It is the absorption of water by rocks into their mineral structure.
 When the rocks take in water they expand and increase in volume
thereby weakening their structure and become soft.
 Hydration weathering can also occur as a result of a chemical
combination of water molecules with a particular mineral in a rock
leading to a change in rock structure.
 Sand particles are formed as a result of this process.
 Hydration is mostly active in seasonally humid climates such as the
savannas, temperate interiors, Mediterranean lands and semi-arid
zones.
 It also occurs at reduced levels in the equatorial regions.

2. HYDROLYSIS
 This is said to be the most extensive process of chemical weathering in
terms of coverage.
 All that is required by the process is water and a rock.
 Water changes the size and chemical composition of minerals in a rock
thereby making them less resistant to weathering.
 In this process, hydrogen ions (H+) present in water will chemically
replace metallic acids in a rock and these displaced acids will then
combine with hydroxyl ions -OH in water to form a solution which is
washed out of the rock.
 This way the rock literally crumbles.

Formula for hydrolysis on granite rocks:

(Granite) + (water) (solution) + (sand)

KAI2(Si O4)2 + H2O K-OH + AI22 (Si O3)3

(Potassium aluminum silicate) + water (potassium hydroxide) + (aluminum silicate)

 In the above formula, the hydrogen ions in the water reacts with the
granite rock, removing the mineral potassium from the rock hence
breaking the rock up.
 Potassium then mixes with water to form a hydroxide which is easily
washed out.
 An alumino-silicate remains behind and can be further weathered into
aluminum oxide (bauxite) and silica.
 Hydrolysis leads to the formation of clay.
 Kaolinite and montmorillonite are the most common types of clay.
 Hydrolysis prevails mostly in conditions which include high
temperatures and high rainfall as in equatorial and humid savannah
climates.
 Rocks must have cracks and joints which act as the port of entry for
the water such rocks include granite, gneiss and basalt.

3. OXIDATION
 This is the process that causes rust because of existence of iron oxides
in most rocks.
 This type of weathering can take two forms;

As an addition process

 Whereby oxygen is added to a rock to form molecules. The rock then

expands in volume causing it to crumble as a result.
 Iron tools rusting can illustrate this process.

As a reduction process

 This is whereby oxygen molecules in waterchemically react with iron

minerals which are part of a rock leading to the breaking down the
rock.
 As a result of this process most rocks have a reddish coloration.
 Rust is the most common product of oxidation, hydroxides, clays and
pyrites are also the others.
  Oxidation is most common and active in areas of alternate wetting and
drying.
 For oxidation to occur the environment must have a free supply of
oxygen.
 The presence of cracks and joints enhances the process.

Example of a rock which underwent the oxidation process

4. CARBONATION
 This type of weathering occurs when carbon dioxide dissolves with rain
water to formweak carbonic acid which weakens limestone rocks when
it reacts with their minerals. This is illustrated in the equation below:

CO2 +H2O H2CO3

(Carbon dioxide) + (water) (carbonic acid)

 This type of weathering is important in the formation of caves.

 Limestone rock in its pure original state does not dissolve in water.
However, when it reacts with carbonic acid, it creates calcium
bicarbonate which readily dissolves in water and is washed away in
solution form.
  Carbonation results in numerous products, such as clays and
hydroxide solutions.
 For carbonation to occur, high to moderate rainfall is necessary as well
as low temperatures for example in the formation of Chinhoyi caves.
 The rocks must be calcareous such as limestone, dolomite or chalk and
must be well jointed.
5. Solution/humification
 When water and decayed organic matter combine humic acid is
formed.
 This humic acid is responsible for this type of weathering.
 The humic acids penetrate rocks through joints and cracks
decomposing rocks in the process.
 This produces fine regolith and clays.
 This process prevails mostly under conditions of high rainfalls and
temperatures like in the equatorial regions.
 There must be a lot of decayed vegetation matter which will react with
water to form humic acid which corrodes the rock.

Factors affecting types and rates of weathering

Weathering is not uniform across the earth and even in a localised area. This
is because of factors such as climate, rock type, slope, vegetation type and
density as well as the time factor which all come into play.

Climate

 The average weather conditions of a given area calculated over a long

period of time, usually 30 years is what is called climate.
 The two most important elements of climate which influence
weathering are rainfall and temperature.
 The variations in temperature and rainfall determine the rate and type
of weathering which will be dominant in an area.
 Type of weathering can either be physical or chemical.
 Rate of weathering can either be slight, moderate and strong.
Rock type and jointing

 Some rocks because of their mineral composition and structure are

more susceptible to certain types of weathering.
 For example, granite which is well jointed is prone to plant root
biological weathering.Also due to the same characteristic granite is
also susceptible to frost shattering in cold lands due to ice wedging.
 Some minerals are softer than others; therefore rocks with such
minerals weather more rapidly.
 Calcareous rocks such as limestone, chalk and dolomite are prone to
carbonation. They are also well jointed and therefore are also
susceptible to frost shattering in temperate areas.
 Generally, weak and jointed rocks weather faster than strong and
massive rocks.

Vegetation type and density

 Vegetation cover prevents fast erosion of slopes.

 Chemical weathering is promoted in a vegetated area while physical
weathering occurs faster on bare slopes.
 Vegetation type is also an important factor. Trees have longer and
stronger roots which affect physical weathering as compared to
grasses.
 Trees also produce more humus for humification.
 Therefore under forest cover there is likely to be a deeper soil layer
from both chemical and physical weathering.

Slope

 This refers to the angle of inclination of the ground relative to the

horizontal.
 A steep slope promotes runoff.
 A gentle slope promotes infiltration of water thus allowing enough time
for water to penetrate the rocks to undertake chemical weathering.
 Steep slopes promote the rapid movement and removal of weathered
material thereby exposing the underlying rock to the various
weathering processes.
Time

 Refers to the duration it has taken for a rock to be exposed to

elements of weathering.
 New rocks for example those formed by the solidification of lava have
very thin or no soil layers on them as they have had insufficient
exposure to weathering.
 Older rocks have been weathered to form deeper and finer soil
particles than newer ones. However this depends on the type of rock
and prevailing environmental conditions.
Landforms developed through weathering
Weathering processes often result in the development of landforms in
conjunction with other denudation processes such as erosion and mass
wasting. These include inselbergs, dwalas, karst landforms and mountain
peaks.

Inselbergs

 Inselberg is a German word for "Island Mountain".

 It is an isolated rock hill, ridge or small mountain that rises from a
gently sloping surrounding plane.
 They are hills made up of blocks of rock that rise from an area of
relatively lower terrain.
 If the inselberg is dome shaped and formed from granite it can also be
called a bornhardt.

Common inselbergs in Zimbabwe include castle kopjes, tors, balancing rocks

and conical hills.

Castle kopjes/ tors

 Kopjes and tors are generally the same.

 These are resistant rock outcrops that have been made by weathering.
 These are a result of marginal weathering of domed landforms below
the earth's surface.
 When the rock is exposed rotten parts are washed away by erosion.
 Tors display balancing rock scenery.
 They are usually 5 meters in height.
 Usually found in temperate latitudes.
 Castle kopjes are larger than tors, but display similar characteristics as
tors.
 Castle kopjes show a castellated appearance.
 Examples of castle kopjes/tors include the balancing rocks in Epworth
near Harare, the Nharira Hills near Norton, the Gokomere cross kopje
near Masvingo and a lot more in Matopo Hills.
Picture showing a castle kopje.

Bornhardts

 These are large dome shaped mountains of massive granite.

 Usually made of bare rock vegetated by lichens and mosses but not
higher plant species.
 Can reach heights of 300 meters and have relatively few joints save
for a few curvilinear joints as a result of pressure release.
 Slope angle of bornhardts may be almost vertical.
 These are large rock formations that lie underground and exposed by
erosion.
 Bornhardts were formed through deep weathering processes.
Picture showing a bornhardt landform

Ruware/ Dwala

 These are low lying rock outcrops that slightly rise above ground level.
 Ruware must have been formed from massive granite buried
underground in the form of batholiths. Washing away of topsoil by
erosion removed surrounding rock until the top of the batholiths was
exhumed to form the Dwala.
Picture showing a ruware/ dwala

Karst landforms

When limestone rock is weathered the resultant features and landforms,

developed in cool temperate climates are then collectively termed karst
features. These include features such as swallow holes,grikes and clints and
underground caves. Limestone is resistant to physical weathering; it is
affected by selective weathering at the joints. Landforms in limestone result
mainly from solution.

Swallow holes

 These are developed along vertical joints as the carbonation process

removes and dissolves limestone along these joints.
 Funnel shaped hallows result from this process.
 They are called sink holes because a stream flowing on the surface is
swallowed through this opening and disappears underground.
 Also called sinks or ponors
 Surfaces drainage in limestone areas is diverted this way.
An example of a sink hole

*look for another more appropriate image

Grikes and Clints

 Weathering and erosion on the surface of limestone rock creates a

polished surface called a limestone pavement.
 This feature is however not smooth but is cut across by systems of
channels and ridges called grikes and clints.
 Clints are the ridges and grikes are the channels.
 Carbonation dissolves the rock along vertical joints, joints are widened
and deepened through that process to form a grike.
 If there are two grikes along vertical joints next to each other, the
ridge in between them is what is called a clint.
Picture of Grikes and clints in a limestone pavement.

Underground caves

 These are formed in limestone areas.

 A limestone cave is a natural cavity that is formed underneath the
earth's surface and can range from a few meters to some kilometers in
length and depth.
 Caves are formed from the dissolution of limestone.
 Dissolved limestone drips from the roof of the cavern.
 When the water evaporates, it leaves behind a hanging stump of dried
limestone rock called a stalactite.
 Some of the dissolved limestone drips onto the floor of the cavern
where the water again evaporates to leave behind a feature called a
stalagmite.
 An example of this feature is in the Chinhoyi caves in Zimbabwe.
A picture the Chinhoyi underground caves