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Frost weathering is the collective name for those forms of physical weathering that are caused by the formation of ice within rock outcrops. It was long believed that the most important of these is frost wedging , which is the widening of cracks or joints in rocks resulting from the expansion of porewater when it freezes.
Saprolite (from Greek σαπρος (sapros) = putrid + λιθος (lithos) = rock) is a chemically weathered rock (literally, it means "rotten rock"). More intense weathering results in a continuous transition from saprolite to laterite. Saprolites form in the lower zones of soil horizons [1] and represent deep weathering of the bedrock surface ...
The grazing activity of these ecosystem engineers disrupts the limestone, resulting in the weathering and the subsequent formation of soil. [113] They have a significant effect on the region: the population of snails is estimated to process between 0.7 and 1.1 metric ton per hectare per year of limestone in the Negev desert. [113]
This figure describes the geological aspects and processes of the carbonate silicate cycle, within the long-term carbon cycle. The carbonate–silicate geochemical cycle, also known as the inorganic carbon cycle, describes the long-term transformation of silicate rocks to carbonate rocks by weathering and sedimentation, and the transformation of carbonate rocks back into silicate rocks by ...
Frost weathering is a collective term for several mechanical weathering processes induced by stresses created by the freezing of water into ice. The term serves as an umbrella term for a variety of processes, such as frost shattering, frost wedging, and cryofracturing.
In the winter, melting snow, in the form of water, seeps into the cracks and then freezes at night. When water freezes, it expands by almost 10%, prying open the cracks bit by bit, making them even wider, similar to the way a pothole forms in a paved road. In addition to frost wedging, rain is another weathering process causing erosion.
As a result, they occur as families of joints that form recognizable joint sets. Typically, exposures or outcrops within a given area or region of study contains two or more sets of systematic joints, each with its own distinctive properties such as orientation and spacing, that intersect to form well-defined joint systems. [2] [4]
Spheroidal weathering of a dolerite dyke, Pilbara, Western Australia. Spheroidal weathering is a form of chemical weathering that affects jointed bedrock and results in the formation of concentric or spherical layers of highly decayed rock within weathered bedrock that is known as saprolite.