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Exfoliating slabs of granite, on Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, USA. Exfoliating granite is a granite undergoing exfoliation, or onion skin weathering (desquamation).The external delaminated layers of granite are gradually produced by the cyclic variations of temperature at the surface of the rock in a process also called spalling.
Spheroidal or woolsack weathering in granite on Haytor, Dartmoor, England Spheroidal weathering in granite, Estaca de Bares, A Coruña, Galicia, Spain Woolsack weathering in sandstone at the Externsteine rocks, Teutoburg Forest, Germany Corestones near Musina, South Africa that were created by spherodial weathering and exposed by the removal of surrounding saprolite by erosion.
Exfoliation joints are sets of flat-lying, curved, and large joints that are restricted to massively exposed rock faces in a deeply eroded landscape. Exfoliation jointing consists of fan-shaped fractures varying from a few meters to tens of meters in size that lie sub-parallel to the topography. The vertical, gravitational load of the mass of a ...
Thermal stress weathering is an important mechanism in deserts, where there is a large diurnal temperature range, hot in the day and cold at night. [14] As a result, thermal stress weathering is sometimes called insolation weathering, but this is misleading. Thermal stress weathering can be caused by any large change of temperature, and not ...
Exfoliation joints following the topography of inclined valley walls, bedrock hill slopes, and cliffs can create rock blocks that are particularly prone to sliding. Especially when the toe of the slope is undercut (naturally or by human activity), sliding along exfoliation joint planes is likely if the joint dip exceeds the joint's frictional ...
Exfoliation (or onion skin weathering) is the gradual removing of spall due to the cyclic increase and decrease in the temperature of the surface layers of the rock. Rocks do not conduct heat well, so when they are exposed to extreme heat, the outermost layer becomes much hotter than the rock underneath causing differential thermal expansion .
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Tafoni at Salt Point State Park, Sonoma County, California.. Tafoni (singular: tafone) are cavities that develop in granular rock.. Although various definitions [example needed] can be found [by whom?] in the scientific literature, tafoni are commonly defined as small (less than 1 cm (0.39 in)) to large (greater than 1 meter (3.3 ft)) cavity features that develop in either natural or manmade ...