2.

Temperature changes can also contribute to mechanical weathering in a process

called thermal stress. Changes in temperature cause rock to expand (with heat) and
contract (with cold). As this happens over and over again, the structure of the rock
weakens. Over time, it crumbles.

3. Plant roots, plant roots can grow in cracks.

4. Human activities can speed it up. For example, certain kinds of air pollution increase
the rate of weathering. Burning coal, natural gas, and petroleum releases chemicals
such as nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere.

5. A. Mass wasting - mass wasting, also known as mass movement, is a general term
for the movement of rock or soil down slopes under the force of gravity. It differs from
other processes of erosion in that the debris transported by mass wasting is not
entrained in a moving medium, such as water, wind, or ice.

B. Rock fall and debrisfall - when a large mass of rock fails and the resultant fall
spreads out into a debris fan, it is referred to as a rockslide or even a debris avalanche.
Rockfalls can be very dangerous depending on where they occur, the size of the rocks
involved, and how fast the rocks fall or bounce downslope.

C. Landslide - landslide is the mass movement of rock, soil, and debris down a slope
due to gravity. It occurs when the driving force is greater than the resisting force.It is a
natural process that occurs in steep slopes. The movement may range from very slow
to rapid.

D. Flows - the gradual permanent deformation of a solid under stress, without melting.

E. Solifluction - solifluction, flowage of water-saturated soil down a steep slope.

Because permafrost is impermeable to water, soil overlying it may become
oversaturated and slide downslope under the pull of gravity. Soil that has been opened
and weakened by frost action is most susceptible.

F. Debris flow - debris flows are geological phenomena in which water-laden masses of
soil and fragmented rock rush down mountainsides, funnel into stream channels, entrain
objects in their paths, and form thick, muddy deposits on valley floors.

G. Mudflow - a fluid or hardened stream or avalanche of mud.

H. Creep - the gradual downward movement of disintegrated rock or soil due to

gravitational forces.

I. Earthflow - an earthflow (earth flow) is a downslope viscous flow of fine-grained

materials that have been saturated with water and moves under the pull of gravity. It is
an intermediate type of mass wasting that is between downhill creep and mudflow.