What type of weathering is there

Biological Weathering Biological weathering is, of course, weathering done by living things. I suppose it could really be called a special case of either physical or chemical weathering, but it is kind of neat that life on the planet can weather rocks.

Some examples: Tree roots Tree roots grow into cracks and widen them, which helps physical weathering. Bacteria Some bacteria and other organisms secrete acidic solutions, which helps chemical weathering. Different Weathering Types Help Each Other Keep in mind that you really can't separate physical from chemical or biological weathering, because all three proceed at the same time though not at the same rates, necessarily. With more surface area exposed, chemical reactions happen faster.

Think of dissolving sugar in water. Sugar lumps will dissolve more slowly than the same amount of sugar which is granulated because the surface area is higher for the granulated sugar.

Try it if you don't believe me. Also, if slopes are flattened by physical weathering, water and soil can build up and thus speed chemical weathering. Chemical weathering helps physical weathering by weakening the mineral grains which make up rocks. This makes the rocks easier to break up by mechanical means.

Weathering is the name given to process by which rocks are gradually worn away by the action of the weather. In physical weathering the rocks are broken down into smaller pieces, but the chemical composition of the rock remains the same.

Hot temperatures can give rise to thermal expansion in rocks and cool temperatures can cause rocks to contract. In areas such as deserts where the temperature is hot during the day, rocks get hot and can expand by a small amount.

During the night the temperature can drop significantly making it very cold and so the rocks contract. This continuous expansion of the rock during the day and contraction during the night exerts stress on the rock and cracks form eventually causing pieces of the rock to fall away.

Water expands when it freezes. So when water enters the cracks in a rock and freezes it expands and pushes the cracks further apart. When the water melts in can travel further into the bigger cracks making the cracks even bigger when the water freezes again. This process occurs continuously until the crack is big enough to break a piece of the rock off.

Wind can carry small particles or sand and rocks such as in sandstorms in deserts. When these particles collide with rocks they can wear them away. For instance, cracks exploited by physical weathering will increase the surface area that is exposed to chemical action, thereby increasing the rate of disintegration. In places where there is little soil and few plants grow, such as mountain regions and hot deserts, physical weathering occurs especially.

Either by repeated melting and freezing of water mountains and tundra or by expanding and shrinking the surface layer of rocks baked by the sun hot deserts. Chemical weathering changes rock composition, often transforming them into different chemical reactions when water interacts with minerals. Chemical weathering is a gradual and ongoing process as the rock mineralogy adjusts to the environment near the surface.

The oxidation and hydrolysis processes are most important in this. Chemical weathering is enhanced by geological agents such as water and oxygen, as well as biological agents such as microbial and plant-root metabolism acids.

These chemical processes require water and occur faster at higher temperatures, so it is best to have warm, humid climates. The first stage in soil production is chemical weathering especially hydrolysis and oxidation. Removal of rock by acidic rainwater in solution. In particular, dissolved CO2-containing rainwater this process is sometimes referred to as carbonation weathers calestone. Rock breakdown by oxygen and water, often giving a rusty — colored weathered surface to iron — rich rocks.

Biological weathering is the weakening and subsequent breakdown by plants, animals and microbes of rock. Growing roots of plants can put stress or pressure on rock. Even though the process is physical, a biological process i. Biological processes can also produce chemical weathering, such as when organic acids are produced by plant roots or microorganisms that help dissolve minerals.

Microbial activity breaks down rock minerals by altering the chemical composition of the rock, making it more weather sensitive. One example of microbial activity is lichen ; lichen is a symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae. Fungi release chemical substances that break down rock minerals ; the algae consume the minerals thus released from rock. Holes and gaps continue to develop on the rock as this process continues, exposing the rock to physical and chemical weathering.

Burrowing animals can move fragments of rock to the surface, exposing the rock to more intense chemical, physical, and biological processes, thereby indirectly enhancing the weathering process.