WEATHERIN

G
BY
MUHAMMAD USAMA

FA18-CVE-012
 WEATHERING
Weathering of rocks describes the process of weakening and breaking
down of rocks and minerals at the earths surface by the action of both living and
non living factors such as temperature changes , plants, animals , acids, salts and water .It
does not involve the removal of rock material.
AGENTS OF WEATHERING
WATER
ICE
WIND
PLANTS

ANIMALS
CHANGES IN TEMPERATURE
 WATER
Water plays an important role in weathering and breaking down rock. Rocks are hard and
strong, but they do not stay that way forever. Forces like wind and water break down rocks
through the processes of weathering.
CHANGES IN TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE
 ANIMALS
 Burrowing animals can also cause weathering. By digging for food or creating a hole to live,
the animal may break rock apart.
PLANTS
Plants grow into cracks and fissures. The expanding roots, uptake of
chemicals and release of chemicals into rocks causes weathering.
WIND
Wind can shape and loose fragments thus progressively weathering
the rocks.
TYPES OF WEATHERING
There are three basic types of weathering

Mechanical Weathering

Biological Weathering

Chemical Weathering
 MECHANICAL WEATHERING
Physical weathering is also referred to as mechanical weathering. It is the weakening of
rocks followed by disintegration due to the physical or mechanical forces including the
actions on the rocks by abrasion, frost chattering, temperature fluctuations and salt crystal
growth. The process is sometimes assisted by water.

Mechanical Weathering consists of

Frost Wedging or freeze thaw

Expansion and contraction
Effect of vegetation
 FROST WEDGING OR FREEZE THAW
Frost wedging is a form of physical weathering caused by the repeated freeze-thaw.
Freeze-thaw occurs when water continually seeps into cracks, freezes during night and
expands at day time, eventually breaking the rock apart.
 Expansion and contraction
As any substance is heated, it expands. As it cools, it contracts.
During day time, the rocks get heated up by the sun and expand. At night, the temperature
falls and the rocks get cooled and contract. This alternate expansion and contraction
weakens the surface of the rock and crumbles it because the rocks do not conduct heat
easily.
 EFFECT OF VEGETATION
Mechanical weathering occurs when roots grow and cause the rock to break (just like the
roots that crack the sidewalk).  Roots can force their way into even the tiniest cracks, and
then they exert tremendous pressure on the rocks as they grow, widening the cracks and
breaking the rock.
CHEMICAL
WEATHERING
Chemical weathering is the weakening and subsequent disintegration
of rock by chemical reactions. These reactions include oxidation, hydrolysis,
dissolution ,carbonation and leaching. These processes either form or destroy minerals,
thus altering the nature of the rock's mineral composition. It is caused by rain water
reacting with the mineral grains in rocks to form new minerals (clays) and soluble
salts. These reactions occur particularly when the water is slightly acidic.
 DISSOLUTION
 Rocks can also be subjected to dissolution, the process by which a mineral completely
dissolves in water. Dissolution is an especially effective method of chemical weathering in
rocks that contain either magnesium carbonate or calcium carbonate, two substances which
are easily dissolved by water or other acidic solutions. (Most commonly, the weak acid in
question is carbonic acid, the result of a reaction between carbon dioxide and water.

In a dissolution reaction, the mineral is broken into its constituent ions in solution:

calcite) +   (carbonic acid)   →   (calcium ion) +  (bicarbonate ion)

DISSOLUTION
 HYDROLYSI
S
Chemical weathering can also result from exposure to water. Hydrolysis occurs when
silicate minerals react with water so that the mineral recombines with the water molecule
to form a new mineral. For example, consider the mineral potassium feldspar. Potassium
feldspar is a fairly common mineral and can be found in igneous, metamorphic and
sedimentary rocks. When potassium feldspar reacts with slightly acidic water, it can be
transformed into kaolinite, a clay mineral.

4KAlSi3O8  +      4H+  +    2H2O    →       4K+  +Al4Si4O10(OH)8 +    8SiO2

(potassium feldspar) +  (hydrogen ion) +  (water)  → (potassium ion)  +   (kaolinite) +    (silica)
HYDROLYSIS
LEACHING
The removal of soluble material from a substance, such as soil or rock, through the
percolation of water. Organic matter is typically removed from a soil horizon and soluble
metals or salts from a rock by leaching.  The materials lost are carried downward and are
generally redeposited (illuviated) in a lower layer. This transport results in a porous and
open top layer and a dense, compact lower layer. 
LEACHING
BIOLOGICAL WEATHERING
 Biological weathering is a type of weathering brought about by various activities of living
organisms. Despite their minute size  some microorganisms can also break down the
largest of rocks and hardest of soil. The minerals in rocks are liberated when a fungus
releases chemicals that can break them down. Such minerals are then consumed by the
alga, further causing the wearing and development of cracks and gaps on the rock. As a
result, cracked rocks become more prone to disintegration.
BIOLOGICAL WEATHERING
 EROSION
Erosion is the geological process in which earthen materials are worn away and transported by natural forces such
as wind or water. Most erosion is performed by liquid water, wind, or ice (usually in the form of a glacier). If the wind
is dusty, or water or glacial ice is muddy, erosion is taking place. The brown color indicates that bits of rock and soil are
suspended in the fluid (air or water) and being transported from one place to another. 
TYPES OF EROSION
Attrition

Solution 

Abrasion

Hydraulic action
 Solution 
 This is when sea water dissolves certain types of rocks. In the Uk, chalk and limestone cliffs
are prone to this type of erosion.
HYDRAULIC ACTION
 This is the sheer power of the water as it smashes against the river banks. Air becomes
trapped in the cracks of the river bank and bed, and causes the rock to break apart.
 Most generally, it is the ability of moving water (flowing or waves) to dislodge and
transport rock particles.
 ABRASION
Abrasion is a process of erosion which occurs when material being transported wears away
at a surface over time. Objects transported in waves breaking on coastlines cause abrasion.
And, finally, abrasion can be caused by wind transporting sand or small stones against
surface rocks. The intensity of abrasion depends on the hardness, concentration, velocity
 and mass of the moving particles.
ATTRITION
 Attrition is a form of coastal or river erosion, when the bed load is eroded by itself and
the bed. As rocks are transported downstream along a riverbed, the regular impacts
between the grains themselves and between the grains and the bed cause them to be
broken up into smaller fragments.  Attrition can also occur in glaciated regions, where it
is caused by the movement of ice with embedded boulders over surface sediments.
ATTRITION