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Chemical weathering takes place when water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and other chemical substances react with rock to change its composition. These reactions convert some of the original primary minerals in the rock to secondary minerals, remove other substances as solutes, and leave the most stable minerals as a chemically unchanged resistate .
Tropical weathering is a prolonged process of chemical weathering which produces a wide variety in the thickness, grade, chemistry and ore mineralogy of the resulting soils. The majority of the land area containing laterites is between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn .
[1] [2] Climate is a key extrinsic variable, controlling the water to rock ratio, pH, and alkalinity, all of which impact the rate of weathering. [1] The Goldich dissolution series concerns intrinsic mineral qualities, which were proven both by Goldich as well as preceding scientists to also be important for constraining weathering rates.
Chemical weathering processes probably play a more important role in deserts than was previously thought. The necessary moisture may be present in the form of dew or mist. Ground water may be drawn to the surface by evaporation and the formation of salt crystals may dislodge rock particles as sand or disintegrate rocks by exfoliation.
The regolith of a region is the product of its long weathering history; leaching and dispersion are dominant during the initial phase of weathering under humid conditions. [1] Saprolites form in high rainfall regions which result in chemical weathering and are characterised by distinct decomposition of the parent rock's mineralogy. [5]
Denudation incorporates the mechanical, biological, and chemical processes of erosion, weathering, and mass wasting. Denudation can involve the removal of both solid particles and dissolved material. These include sub-processes of cryofracture, insolation weathering, slaking, salt weathering, bioturbation, and anthropogenic impacts. [4]
Many desert features once attributed to wind abrasion, including wind caves, mushroom rocks, and the honeycomb weathering called tafoni, are now attributed to differential weathering, rainwash, deflation rather than abrasion, or other processes. [7] Yardangs are one kind of desert feature that is widely attributed to wind abrasion. These are ...
On million-year time scales, the carbonate-silicate cycle is a key factor in controlling Earth's climate because it regulates carbon dioxide levels and therefore global temperature. [3] The rate of weathering is sensitive to factors that change how much land is exposed. These factors include sea level, topography, lithology, and vegetation ...