Mechanical Weathering

Weathering Basics

100

This process breaks down rock and other substances at Earth’s surface.

weathering

200

This principle states that geologic processes operating today worked the same way in the past.

The Principal of Uniformitarianism

300

There are 5 causes of weathering.  Name them.

heat, cold, water, ice, and gases

400

This process removes and transports rock particles after they have been broken down.

erosion

500

These two processes work together to reshape Earth’s surface over millions of years — but can also cause rapid changes like sinkholes and avalanches.

weathering and erosion

Mechanical Weathering

100

This type of weathering physically breaks rock into smaller pieces without changing its composition.

mechanical weathering

200

This process occurs when wind or water causes small particles to strike and wear away rock surfaces.

abrasion

300

This process happens when water freezes in cracks of rock and expands, widening the cracks.

frost wedging

400

These two forces can crack rock over time by expanding in cracks or by putting stress and pressure on rock.

plant roots and gravity

500

This mechanical process explains why potholes grow larger after repeated freezing and thawing cycles.

frost wedging (freeze-thaw weathering)

Chemical Weathering

100

This type of weathering breaks down rock through chemical changes and often forms new minerals.

chemical weathering

200

During chemical weathering, this mineral in granite changes into clay.

feldspar

300

When iron combines with oxygen in the presence of water, this reddish-brown substance forms.

rust

400

When dissolved in water, carbonic acid weakens and weathers what type of sedimentary rock made from skeletal fragments, shells, and coral from marine organisms.

limestone

500

This human activity increases air pollution, leading to more acidic rain and faster chemical weathering.

burning fossil fuels

Rates of Weathering

100

These two factors determine how quickly weathering occurs.

rock type and climate

200

Rocks weather faster when their minerals have the ability to what?

dissolve in water

300

This term describes rocks that have tiny spaces allowing water to pass through, increasing surface area for weathering.

permeable (or permeability)

400

Chemical weathering occurs more quickly in climates that are both this temperature condition and this moisture condition.

hot and wet conditions

500

This explains why marble gravestones may weather faster than slate gravestones, even if the slate is older.

marble’s minerals dissolve more easily than slate's

The Rock Cycle

100

Starting from the outside and working your way in, name the four layers of the earth.

crust, mantle, outer core, inner core

200

This type of igneous rock forms below Earth’s surface and has larger crystals because it cools slowly.

intrusive igneous rock

300

This process changes rock’s shape and mineral arrangement due to intense heat and pressure.

deformation

400

Energy from this part of Earth drives volcanic eruptions, creates metamorphic rock, and helps power plate tectonics.

Earth's interior

500

A rock forms from cooling magma deep underground. Over millions of years, it is uplifted, weathered into sediment, buried, and later exposed to intense heat and pressure without melting. Which ONE of the 3 types of rock is it now?

metamorphic rock