CHP 4:

WEATHERING OF ROCK
nov 2017
 LESSON OUTCOMES
• Student should be able to: CO2 – PO1

- distinguish the processes of weathering

and recognize the products

- explain about rate of weathering

Rock Weathering

• Weathering is the in-situ (in place) breakdown of rock material. It

differs from erosion which involves removal of material away
from a site.

• It is due to exposure to atmosphere, water, and organic matter. It

produces regolith --- lacks texture of original rock --- downward
into the earth the weathering decrease from residual soil to fresh
rock

• Weathering occurs by both chemical (decomposition) and

mechanical processes (disintegration). Common chemical
weathering processes are hydrolysis, dissolution, and oxidation.

• Mechanical weathering always involves fracturing--but that can

occur by a whole host of causes.
• Chemical weathering tends to weaken rock, thereby making
it easier to break. Likewise, physical or mechanical
weathering creates additional surface area that is prone to
chemical attack. In this way, the two processes work
together.

• chemical weathering vs physical weathering --- chemical

reactions produce new minerals --- physical -breakup of
material.
• Weathering is controlled largely by climate.
• The more water available, the more likely that chemical
processes can proceed.
• Additionally, if temperatures are warm, then chemical
weathering can proceed even faster. Then, mechanical
weathering can move more quickly also.
• In arid climates, however, weathering processes move
very slowly.
• Mechanical weathering will be the dominant process in
arid climates; however, because of its reliance on
chemical weathering, it will also be quite slow.
TYPES OF WEATHERING
A. Physical or mechanical weathering
• The breakdown of solid rock into fragments by physical processes with
no changing in chemical compositions.
• Physical weathering occurs when energy is exerted on a rock
• A variety of agents can be responsible for breaking up rocks including
water and wind.
• Tree and plant roots often push rocks apart, especially when they grow
in areas with little topsoil. If water freezes into cracks in a rock it will
expand as it freezes, opening the crack even more.
• Large amounts of ice were responsible for physical weathering of rocks
during the last Ice Age scraping the surface of vast areas of the land,
removing bits of the rocks they moved across.
• Smaller glaciers continue this process in some areas of the Earth today.
The processes that may cause mechanical rupture are:

Frost wedging

• the freezing of ice in a confined opening within a rock,

causing the rock to be forced apart. Water expands when
it freezes .
• Occurs when the crystal growth --- crystallization of ice
or salt within pores or fine cracks causes disintegration of
rock. --- water expands by 9% upon freezing.
• This causes frost wedging. --- temperature of ---5o to ---
15oC is best for frost wedging:
• At a temperature closer to 0oC, it is difficult to achieve
crystallization by transferring heat. At a temperature colder
than ---15oC, it is unlikely that liquid water will be available
to enter a crack. --- efficiency of process depends upon
number of freeze---thaw cycles per year .
Exfoliation or unloading -
• rock breaks off into leaves or sheets along joints which
parallel the ground surface;
• caused by expansion of rock due to uplift and erosion;
removal of pressure of deep burial; This process
produce:
1. Joints - cracks along which no motion has occurred ---
extend downward less than 50 m --- occur as parallel
sets -- - usually form because erosion removes load of
overlying rock and the release of pressure allows for
expansion and cracking.
2. columnar joints --- joints alternatively form during
cooling of a sheet of igneous rock, e.g. lava flow, sill, dike,
or welded tuff bed. --- resulting pattern is set of hexagonal
columns: columnar jointing .
example: Stone Mountain, Georgia.
Thermal expansion

• repeated daily heating and cooling of rock; heat causes

expansion; cooling causes contraction.
• different minerals expand and contract at different rates
causing stresses along mineral boundaries.
• heating of rock --- forest fire causes spalling of rock, either
because moisture boils within cracks or because heated
outer layer of rock expands away from deeper layers of
rock.
Chemical Weathering

• Chemical weathering involves the alteration of the chemical

and mineralogical composition of the weathered material. A
number of different processes can result in chemical
weathering. The most common chemical weathering
processes are hydrolysis, oxidation, reduction, hydration,
carbonation, and solution.
• Hydrolysis is the weathering reaction that occurs when the
two surfaces of water and compound meet. It involves the
reaction between mineral ions and the ions of water (OH-
and H+), and results in the decomposition of the rock surface
by forming new compounds, and by increasing the pH of the
solution involved through the release of the hydroxide ions.
Hydrolysis is especially effective in the weathering of common
silicate and alumino-silicate minerals because of their
electrically charged crystal surfaces.
Silicate minerals weather by hydrolysis to form CLAY.
Feldspar alters to clay (kaolinite) plus dissolved materials (ions)

Feldspars are stable at high temperatures and pressures (but not at the
temperatures and pressures of the Earth's surface)
Clays are stable under conditions at the Earth's surface
Feldspars and clays are similar in composition.
Feldspar readily alters to clay when in contact with acid and water.

Kaolin mine, central Georgia

Iron-bearing silicate minerals weather to form clays by hydrolysis (in addition to iron
oxides)

Spheroidal weathering in jointed basalt, Culpeper Basin, Virginia

• Oxidation is the reaction that occurs between compounds and
oxygen. The net result of this reaction is the removal of one or
more electrons from a compound, which causes the structure to
be less rigid and increasingly unstable.
• The most common oxides are those of iron and aluminum, and
their respective red and yellow staining of soils is quite common
in tropical regions which have high temperatures and
precipitation.
• Reduction is simply the reverse of oxidation, and is thus caused
by the addition of one or more electrons producing a more
stable compound.
• Hydration involves the rigid attachment of H+ and OH- ions to a
reacted compound. In many situations the H and OH ions
become a structural part of the crystal lattice of the mineral.
Hydration also allows for the acceleration of other
decompositional reactions by expanding the crystal lattice
offering more surface area for reaction.
• Carbonation is the reaction of carbonate and bicarbonate
ions with minerals. The formation of carbonates usually
takes place as a result of other chemical processes.
Carbonation is especially active when the reaction
environment is abundant with carbon dioxide. The formation
of carbonic acid, a product of carbon dioxide and water, is
important in the solution of carbonates and the
decomposition of mineral surfaces because of its acidic
nature.
• Water and the ions it carries as it moves through and
around rocks and minerals can further the weathering
process. Geomorphologists call this phenomena solution.
The effects of dissolved carbon dioxide and hydrogen ions
in water have already been mentioned, but solution also
entails the effects of a number of other dissolved
compounds on a mineral or rock surface. Molecules can
mix in solution to form a great variety of basic and acidic
decompositional compounds.
• The extent, however, of rock being subjected to solution is
determined primarily by climatic conditions. Solution tends to
be most effective in areas that have humid and hot climates.
• The most important factor affecting all of the above
mentioned chemical weathering processes is climate. Climatic
conditions control the rate of weathering that takes place by
regulating the catalysts of moisture and temperature.
• Experimentation has discovered that tropical weathering
rates, where temperature and moisture are at their
maximum, are three and a half times higher than rates in
temperate environments.
Factors that Influence Weathering
--- rock type --- quartz-rich rocks resist chemical weathering. --- quartzite
--- granite (potassium feldspar and muscovite weather much more readily
than quartz but are moderately resistant).
--- clay-rich rocks weather readily. --- interbedded sandstone-shale
sequence therefore exhibits differential weathering.
--- structure --- closely spaced joints may make a rock susceptible to frost
wedging, even if quartz-rich
--- slope --- weathered products are quickly removed on a steep slope,
exposing fresh rock to weathering and enhancing the weathering rate. ---
on gentle slopes, the weathering products may accumulate to 50 m
thickness.
--- climate --- weathering extends to depths of 100 m or more in the
tropics.
--- only physical weathering is apparent in polar regions.
--- burrowing animals --- ants and termites
--- time --- scratches on rock surfaces by glaciers 10,000 years ago are
perfectly preserved all over New England and Scandinavia so weathering
must be very slow where the climate is temperate. --- once some soil
accumulates, the weathering rate slows. --- millions of years have been
available for weathering in the flat Amazon basin so weathering there
reaches 100 m deep.
What happens when granite is weathered?
•First, unweathered granite contains these minerals:
•Na Plagioclase feldspar
•K feldspar
•Quartz
•Lesser amounts of biotite, amphibole, or muscovite
•The feldspars will undergo hydrolysis to form kaolinite
(clay) and Na and K ions
•The Na and K ions will be removed through leaching
•The biotite and/or amphibole will undergo hydrolysis to
form clay, and oxidation to form iron oxides.
•The quartz (and muscovite, if present) will remain as
residual minerals because they are very resistant to
weathering.
 Disintegration of granite
Quartz grains may be eroded,
becoming sediment. The quartz
in granite is sand- sized; it
becomes quartz sand. The
quartz sand will ultimately be
transported to the sea (bed load),
where it accumulates to form
beaches.
Clays will ultimately be eroded
and washed out to sea. Clay is
fine-grained and remains
suspended in the water column
(suspended load); it may be
deposited in quiet water.
Dissolved ions will be
transported by rivers to the sea
(dissolved load), and will become
part of the salts in the sea.
unweathered granite contains these
minerals:
•Na Plagioclase feldspar
•K feldspar

 
•Quartz
•Lesser amounts of biotite,
                                 
amphibole, or muscovite
  
 Lesson Outcomes
Student should be able to: CO2 – PO1

- Describe the types of mechanical, biochemical

and chemical weathering
- Weathering grade in accordance to BS 5950:
1999 code of practice for site investigation
Weathering Profiles of Granite

Ipoh.Perak
Weathering profile of Granite rock mass
Puchong Quarry
Weathering profile of Granite rock mass
Lembah Klang
Weathering profile of Granite rock mass
Hulu Langat-Semenyih
 Weathering Profiles of
Metasedimentary bedrock
 Weathering Profiles of
Metasedimentary bedrock

Cyberjaya
 Schematic diagram of weathering
profiles (Fookes, 1997)

Granite Metamorphic Carbonate

 BS 5930

Clause 44 – pp 132, 1999 Clause 44,pp 112,1981

 Lesson Outcomes
Student should be able to: CO2 – PO1

• Define the regolith and enumerate the

components of soil
• Explain the concept of soil horizons and how
each horizon develops
 FORMATION OF SOIL

Soil consists of:

•minerals and weathered rock fragments
•organic matter
•gases
•water
•living organisms
Regolith is minerals and weathered rock fragments
Humus is decayed organic matter.
How does soil form?
There are five factors influencing soil formation:
•Climate
•Parent rock
•Organisms
•Relief (slope, topography)
•Time
What is a soil profile?
A soil profile consists of several soil horizons. They are numbered
roughly alphabetically, beginning at the ground surface, going downward:
•O horizon
This is the layer of humus on the ground surface.
•A horizon
Top soil.
Rich in organic matter. Typically has dark color.
• Also called zone of leaching.
•B horizon
Subsoil.
Also called zone of accumulation.
May contain soluble minerals such as calcite in arid climates
(caliche).
•C horizon
Weathered bedrock or saprolite (rotten rock).
Bedrock lies below the soil profile.
                                               

                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                       
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What are the major soil types?
•Pedalfer
These soils are rich in Al and Fe.
They form in humid climates, such as the southeastern U.S.
•Pedocal
These soils are rich in Ca.
They form in arid climates, such as the southwestern U.S.
These soils commonly contain caliche (or hardpan), a calcium
carbonate deposit which accumulates in the soil.
•Laterite
These soils have been depleted of nearly all elements except iron
and aluminum oxides.
Laterites are derived from the weathering of basalt (mafic parent
rock).
They form in tropical climates with very high rainfall.
The high rainfall has caused leaching of most of the elements and
nutrients from the soil.
This is the soil typical of a tropical rainforest. When used for
agriculture, the small amount of nutrients is quickly depleted, and the
soil dries to become as hard as a brick.
WEATHERING PRODUCT (CLASSIFICATION
OF SOILS)

2 types of weathering product:

• Residual soil
• Transported soil
 Residual Soil
• Soil which stay in place of their formation and cover
the rock surface from which they derived
• Their characteristics depend on the kind of bedrock
from which they are derived
• Fine-grained soil is founded at the surface ---- the
grain size increases with depth
• Angular rock fragments founded at greater depth
• Soil deposits in humid tropical countries
 Transported Soil
• Surficial deposits which accumulate due to the erosion, transportation
and deposition of weathered residual soil
• Divide into several group depending on their mode of transportation
and deposition:
1. Glacial soil – formed by transportation and deposition of glasiers
2. Alluvial soil – transported by running water and deposited along
streams
3. Lacustrine soil – formed by deposition quite lakes
4. Marine soil – formed by deposition in the seas
5. Aeolian soil – formed by transported and deposited by wind
6. Colluvial soil – formed by movement of soil from its original place by
gravity, such as during landslides
Soil Erosion

• Soil may be eroded due to the action of water (runoff) or wind.

(Please note that weathering and erosion are two different things).
• Soil is transported by streams, and most will eventually be deposited
on a floodplain or at the mouth of the river in a delta. (Today, much
eroded soil will be trapped behind dams across rivers, filling
reservoirs.)
• Loss of sediment transport to the coast also depletes beaches of
sand, and can lead to accelerated beach erosion.

How can we slow soil erosion?

• Contour plowing
• Terraces
• Planting groundcovers; roots hold the soil. (What is kudzu?)
• Windbreaks
Figure 2: Rock slope failure at Bukit Lanjan, from left; a year after construction, during the collapse and after rehabilitation work.