10 Questions
What is the process called when rocks are broken down into smaller pieces by physical forces without changing their chemical makeup?
Mechanical weathering
What is the result of sedimentation, when water or wind transports weathered materials?
Soil formation
What is the primary cause of weathering that changes the chemical makeup of rocks?
Chemical reactions
What happens to small particles when water carries them away?
They become silt
What is the term for the breaking down of rocks and minerals?
Weathering
What is the result of continuous weathering on large rocks?
They become smaller rocks
What is responsible for the breaking of rocks?
Agents of weathering
What is the result of mixing sand, silt, or clay with organic material?
Soil formation
What is an example of mechanical weathering caused by human activity?
Construction activities
What is the term for the process of rocks being broken down into smaller particles?
Weathering
Study Notes
Weathering and Its Effects
- Weathering is the breaking down of rocks and minerals, a slow and continuous process that affects rocks and minerals.
- Weathering crumbles rocks over time, breaking large pieces into smaller ones, common on mountainsides, rivers, and seashores.
Weathering Processes and Outcomes
- Large particles become gravel, medium-sized particles become sand, and small particles become clay due to weathering.
- Water carries small particles away, forming silt.
- When sand, silt, or clay mix with organic material, they become soil.
- Soil forms through sedimentation, where water or wind action transports weathered materials.
Types of Weathering
- There are two types of weathering: mechanical weathering and chemical weathering.
- Agents of weathering, such as gravity, water, wind, ice, plants, animals, people, and chemical reactions, break rocks.
Mechanical Weathering
- Mechanical weathering breaks rocks into small pieces by physical forces without changing their chemical makeup.
- Gravity, water, people, wind, plants, and animals are agents of mechanical weathering.
- Gravity exposes new surfaces of rocks to weathering agents like wind and water, causing huge rocks to roll downhill.
- Evidence for gravity's action includes the rolling of rocks downhill.
Learn about the process of weathering, the breaking down of rocks and minerals, and how it affects Earth's surface, producing rocks of various sizes.
Make Your Own Quizzes and Flashcards
Convert your notes into interactive study material.
Get started for free
