Weathering

7. Weathering
• The minerals making up the igneous rocks crystallize
at relatively high temperatures and sometimes at
high pressures as magma and lava cool
• Although these minerals are stable when they form,
most of them are not stable during prolonged
exposure at the earth’s surface
• The rocks are susceptible to mechanical weathering
(physical disintegration) and chemical weathering
(decomposition) as they are attacked by various
atmospheric agents
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• Rocks exposed at the earth’s surface are constantly
being altered by water, air, changing temperature,
and other environmental factors
• The term weathering refers to the group of
destructive processes, both mechanical and
chemical, that change the character of rock at or
near the earth’s surface
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• Mechanical weathering (or physical disintegration)
includes several processes that break rock into
smaller pieces
• The change in the rock is physical; there is little or
no chemical change
• Chemical weathering is the decomposition of rock
from exposure to water and atmospheric gases
(principally carbon dioxide and water vapor)
• As rock is decomposed by these agents, new
chemical compounds form
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• Mechanical weathering breaks up rock but does not
change the composition
• A large mass of granite may be broken into smaller
pieces by frost action, but its original crystals of quartz,
feldspar and mica unchanged
• On the other hand, if the granite is being chemically
weathered, some of the original minerals are
chemically changed into different minerals
• In nature, mechanical and chemical weathering usually
occur together, and the effects are interrelated
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• Weathering is a relatively long, slow process
• Typically, joints or fractures are enlarged gradually by
frost action or plant growth (as roots pry into rock
crevices), and as a result, more surfaces are exposed to
attack by chemical agents
• Chemical weathering initially works along contacts
between mineral grains
• Tightly bounded crystals are loosened as weathering
products form at their contacts
• Mechanical weathering then proceeds, until a once tough
rock slowly crumbles into individual grains
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• Apart from the role of weathering in the development
of soils, it plays a significant role in altering the
engineering properties of intact rock and rock masses
• Weathering may influence all rock types, the degree
being depend on the rock type, the kind of weathering
processes, the new environment to which the rock is
subjected, the climate, and the time
• Because almost all engineering excavations are near the
surface, they involve rocks weathered to some degree
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• Many engineering geologists have encountered a
situation where it is necessary to differentiate
between soil and bedrock
• In order to understand soil/bedrock contacts, it is
necessary to study weathering and soil–forming
processes
• The contact may be gradational or very sharp
• However, the gradational change of bedrock to soil
is due to weathering
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7.1. Mechanical Weathering
• When a rock undergoes mechanical weathering it is
broken into smaller pieces, each retaining the
characteristics of the original material
• In nature four important processes lead to the
fragmentation of rock; frost wedging, expansion
resulting from unloading, thermal expansion, and
organic activity
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• Frost wedging alternate freezing and thawing is one of
the most important processes of mechanical weathering
• Water has the property of expanding about 9% as it
freezes
• Hence when water freezes it exerts tremendous outward
force
• In nature water works its way into cracks or voids in rock
and upon freezing, expands and wedges the rock apart
• Frost wedging is most pronounced in mountainous
regions in the middle latitudes where a daily freeze-thaw
cycle often exists
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• Unloading During erosion, underlying rocks
experience reduced pressure as overburden is
removed
• The rocks expand as pressure is released, a process
called unloading
• Accompanying the unloading, the other layers
expand more than the rock below, and thus
separate from the rock body
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• In certain rocks, particularly massive intrusive
igneous rocks (e.g. granite) and massive sandstone,
the process of unloading causes large joints
(sheeting) to develop
• These joints tend to be oriented parallel to the
general slope of the terrain
• On slopes, gravity may cause the rock between
such joints to spall off or break loose in concentric
slabs from the underlying rock mass
• This process of spalling off is called exfoliation
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• Sheeting may have considerable engineering
significance
• For instance, in a vertical cut into a granite
mountainside, joints caused by unloading that dip
at an angle parallel to the slope of the
mountainside form perfect avenues along which
failure can occur
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• An engineering geologist should be aware that any
excavation can trigger unloading to occur
• Natural erosion of overlying rocks have already
induced unloading stresses in any exposed rocks
• Further removal of material by man can create rapid
strain
• Railroad cuts slowly heave together over the years
and quarries may shrink in size due to unloading
• During the construction of tunnels, unloading may
cause spalling rock or “popping rock”
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• Thermal expansion The daily cycle of temperature
change is thought to weaken rocks, particularly in
hot, dry regions where daily variations may exceed
30 °C
• Heating a rock causes expansion and cooling causes
contraction
• Repeated swelling and shrinking of minerals with
different expansion rates should exert some
stresses on the rock’s outer shell
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• Organic activity Weathering is also accomplished by the
activities of organisms, including plants, burrowing animals,
and man
• Plant roots in search of minerals and the water grow into
fractures, and as the roots grow, they wedge the rock apart
• Burrowing animals further break down rock by moving fresh
material to the surface, where physical and chemical processes
can more effectively attack it
• Further, decayed organisms produce acids which contribute to
chemical weathering
• Where rock has been blasted in search of minerals or for road
constructions, the impact of man is quite noticeable.
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7.2. Chemical Weathering
• Chemical weathering involves the complex process that
alter the internal structures of minerals by removing
and/or adding elements
• During this transformation, the original rock decomposes
into substances that are in equilibrium, or balance with
the surface environment
• Water is the most important agent of chemical
weathering
• The major processes by which water decomposes rock
are solution, oxidation and hydrolysis
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• Solution is the process of easiest type of decomposition
• One of the most water – soluble minerals is halite
(composed of Na and Cl ions) which decomposes into
these ions in water
• The mineral calcite (CaCO3), which composes the
common building stones marble and limestone is easily
attacked by even a weakly acidic solution:
CaCO3 + 2[H(H2O)]  Ca + CO2 + 3H2O
Calcium Carbonate + Aqueous Acid  Calcium ion + Carbon Dioxide + Water
(insoluble)
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• During this process, the insoluble CaCO3 is transformed into
soluble products
• In nature, over periods of thousands of years, large quantities
of limestone are dissolved and carried away by groundwater
• This activity is evidenced by the large number of subsurface
caverns
• Site exploration in such terranes must be designed to located
areas of potential subsidence, irregular bedrock surfaces, or
leakage problems if the place cannot be avoided
• Monuments and buildings made of limestone and marble are
also subjected to the corrosive work of acids, particularly in
industrial areas that have smoggy, polluted air
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• Oxidation is the process of rusting which occurs
when oxygen combines with iron to form iron oxide
as follows:
4Fe + 3 O2  2Fe2O3
Iron + Oxygen  Iron Oxide (Hematite)

• This type of chemical reaction called oxidation

occurs when electrons are lost from one element
during the reaction
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• Oxidation is very important in decomposing such ferromagnesian
minerals as olivine, pyroxene, and hornblende, oxygen combines
with the iron in these minerals to form the reddish –brown iron
oxide called hematite (Fe2O3) or in more extreme cases a
yellowish- colored rust called limonite (FeO(OH))
• These products are responsible for the rusty color on the surfaces
of dark igneous rocks, such as basalt, as they being to weather,
another important oxidation reaction occurs when sulfide minerals
such as pyrite decompose, in a moist environment chemical
weathering of pyrite yields sulfuric acid and iron oxide
• The acid may dissolve carbonate matrix of rocks, there by
weakening the rocks
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• Iron oxide structurally weakens the rocks and is
cosmetically distracting when exposed, as in Portland
cement concrete structures
• In many mining localities, this weathering process
creates a serious environmental hazard; particularly in
humid areas where abundant rainfall infiltrates spoil
banks (waste material left after coal or other minerals
are removed)
• This so called mine acid eventually makes its way to
streams, killing fish and making the water unfit for
human consumption
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• Hydrolysis is the reaction of any substance with water
• In nature water contains other substances that contribute
additional hydrogen ions, there by greatly accelerating
hydrolysis
• The most common of these substances is CO2, which
dissolves in water to form carbonic acid, H2CO3
• Rain dissolves some CO2 as it falls through the atmosphere,
additional amounts, released by decaying organic matter,
are acquired as the water percolates through the soil
• In water carbonic acid ionizes to form H ions and
bicarbonate ions (HCO3)
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• The chemical weathering of granite, consisting of quartz and K feldspar is
as follows:
2KAlSi3O8 + 2(H + HCO3) + H2O  Al2Si2O5(OH)4 + 2K + 2HCO3 + 4SiO2
Potassium Feldspar + Carbonic Acid + Water  Kaolinite + (Potassium Ion + Bicarbonate Ion + Silica) in solution

• The most abundant by-product of the chemical breakdown of K-feldspar

is the clay mineral kaolinite
• Clay minerals are the end product of weathering and are very stable
under surface conditions
• Clay minerals make up a high percentage of the inorganic material in
soils
• Further the sedimentary rock shale, is also composed of clay minerals
• The weathering of K-feldspar generates a residual clay mineral, a soluble
salt (potassium bicarbonate), and some silica which enters into solution
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• Quartz is very resistant to chemical weathering;
hence it remains substantially unaltered when
attacked by weakly acidic solutions
• As a result, when granite weathers, the feldspar turn
to clay, releasing the quartz grains, which still retain
fresh, glassy appearance
• Although some of the quartz remains in the soil,
much is transported to the sea, where it becomes the
main constituent of sandy beaches and in the time is
converted to the sedimentary rock, sandstone
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7.3. Rates of weathering
• Several factors influence the type and rate of rock
weathering
• Most important of these are;
⁻ Rock structure
⁻ Climate
⁻ Topography
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• Rock structure Rock structure encompasses all of the chemical
characteristics of rocks, including mineral composition and solubility
as well as physical features that may be present, such as fractures,
bedding planes and voids
• The variations in weathering rates attributable to the mineral
constituents can be demonstrated by comparing old headstones
carved from different rock types
• Headstones made of granite, which is composed of silicate minerals,
are relatively resistant to chemical weathering
• This is not true of the marble headstone which shows signs of
extensive chemical alteration over a relatively short period
• Recall that marble is composed of calcium carbonate, which readily
dissolves even in a weakly acidic solution.
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• The most abundant mineral group the silicates weathers in the
order shown in Bowen’s Reaction Series
• The order in which the silicate minerals weathers is essentially the
same as their order of crystallization
• The minerals that crystallize first form under much higher
temperatures than those that crystallize last
• Consequently, the early-formed minerals are not as stable at the
earth’s surface, where the temperature and pressure are drastically
different from the environment in which they formed
• By examining Bowen’s reaction series, we see that olivine
crystallizes first and is therefore the least resistant to chemical
weathering, while quartz, which crystallizes last is the most
resistant
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• Climate Climatic factors, particularly temperature
and moisture are of primary significance to the rate
of rock weathering
• These climatic elements largely determine the
weathering rate and indirectly determine the kind
and amount of vegetation present
• Regions with lush vegetation generally have a thick
mantle of soil rich in decayed organic matter from
which chemically active fluids such as carbonic and
humic acids are derived
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• The optimum environment for chemical weathering
is a combination of warm temperatures and
abundant moisture
• In polar regions chemical weathering is ineffective
because frigid temperatures keep the available
moisture locked up as ice, whereas in arid regions
there is insufficient moisture to foster rapid
chemical weathering
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• Topography greatly influences the amount of rock
exposed to the forces of weathering
• In addition, the topographic setting may indirectly
determine the amount of precipitation as well as
influence the kind and amount of vegetation
present
• Angular topography with large rock outcrops is
most prevalent in arid regions whereas more
subdued topography mantled with soil and
vegetation is found in humid areas
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• These differences are often attributed to the
predominance of chemical weathering in a humid
region and mechanical weathering in an arid region
• It is probably more correct to say that chemical
weathering is more important in both
environments while the effects of mechanical
weathering are relatively more significant and thus
more obvious in an arid setting
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7.4. Products of weathering
• The table list the weathering products of some of
the most common silicate minerals
• Remember that silicate minerals make up most of
the earth’s crust and that these minerals are
essentially composed of only eight elements
• When chemically weathered, the silicate minerals
yield, sodium, calcium, potassium and magnesium
ions that form soluble products which may be
removed by groundwater
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• The element iron combines with oxygen, producing
relatively insoluble iron oxides, most notably
hematite and limonite which give soil a reddish –
brown or yellowish color
• Under most conditions the three remaining
elements, aluminum, silicon and oxygen, join with
water to produce residual clay minerals
• However, even the highly insoluble clay minerals
are very slowly removed by subsurface water
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7.5. Transport and Deposition
• Weathered debris and exposed rock at the earth’s
surface are subjected to erosive attack and transport
by various agent of erosion and transportation whose
tendency is always to move material downslope and
laterally
• The principal transporting agents, apart from humans,
are direct gravitational action resulting in mass
movement by falls, slumps, slides, and flows and
gravity induced fluid flows of air, water or ice that
erode and transport debris.
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• Gravitational mass movement includes all of those
downslope phenomena in which a fluid phase is usually an
important, but not necessarily a major component of the
moving mass
• Included are rock falls, which may accumulate as fragments,
or scree at the base of the slopes and often form conical
deposits of Talus; slumps of poorly consolidated material to
more stable attitudes; and surficial slides flows or creeps of
soil or rock
• Aside from natural causes, downslope mass movements
may be triggered by poor design of engineering works and
thus constitute a significant hazard
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• The size of particles transported by different agents
varies
• The largest wind-suspended particles being 0.2 mm
in diameter, direct water-borne material seldom
exceeding a few tens of cm in diameter and ice
being competent to carry blocks measurable in tens
of meters
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• Winds can only move dry particles so it is only an
effective erosive agent in arid regions
• Only dust particles can be carried in suspension in
air and regions far downwind from source areas
may receive thick accumulations of loess composed
of fine airborne particles
• Volcanic ash is another wind – transported material
• Wind can move sand-size material by saltation, and
sand grains tend to accumulate in dunes on the lee
edge of deserts or behind beaches
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• Streams can carry large loads but are less capable
of fine sorting
• Transported particles tend to be rounded by
abrasion
• Because of the wide range of flow conditions in the
streams, due to variable discharge and the
migration of its channel, the deposits are complex
• Therefore, within stream channels the general
form of their deposits is interfingering lenses of bed
load materials