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[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.
Uluru (Ayers Rock) is a large sandstone formation in Northern Territory, Australia.. Sedimentary rocks can be subdivided into four groups based on the processes responsible for their formation: clastic sedimentary rocks, biochemical (biogenic) sedimentary rocks, chemical sedimentary rocks, and a fourth category for "other" sedimentary rocks formed by impacts, volcanism, and other minor processes.
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains, cemented together by another mineral. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. [1] Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar, because they are the most resistant minerals to the weathering processes at the Earth's ...
Metamorphic rocks are formed by subjecting any rock type—sedimentary rock, igneous rock or another older metamorphic rock—to different temperature and pressure conditions than those in which the original rock was formed. This process is called metamorphism, meaning to "change in form". The result is a profound change in physical properties ...
The ZTR index is a method of determining how weathered, [1] both chemically and mechanically, a sediment (or a corresponding sedimentary rock) is. The letters in ZTR stand for three common minerals found in ultra-weathered sediments: zircon , tourmaline , and rutile .
Salt crystallization (also known as salt weathering, salt wedging or haloclasty) causes disintegration of rocks when saline solutions seep into cracks and joints in the rocks and evaporate, leaving salt crystals behind. As with ice segregation, the surfaces of the salt grains draw in additional dissolved salts through capillary action, causing ...
Sedimentary rocks that contain large amounts of feldspar indicate that the sediment did not undergo much chemical weathering before being buried. This means it was probably transported a short distance in cold and/or dry conditions that did not promote weathering, and that it was quickly buried by other sediment. [34]
The aim of sedimentology, studying sediments, is to derive information on the depositional conditions which acted to deposit the rock unit, and the relation of the individual rock units in a basin into a coherent understanding of the evolution of the sedimentary sequences and basins, and thus, the Earth's geological history as a whole.