Slow Process: Weathering, Types Of Weathering

Introduction:

Earth is the place where we live. Earth is round in shape, and it’s not a solid piece of rock. It is made up of various layers. Earth is also called the water planet or blue planet due to the presence of water on it.

Earth

There are many features on the Earth’s surface, such as plains, mountains, hills, rivers, oceans, etc. These features are called landforms. There are many processes that shape the Earth.

Now look at the following pictures. Do you think it happened slowly, or it happened quickly?

Landslide

Various shapes of rock

True, a landslide and various shapes of rock can appear out of nowhere. However, many factors have been at work on that piece of land for a long time, and one of them is weathering, which has resulted in landslides and various shapes of rock.

The landslide and various shapes of rocks are formed by a slow process. The name of the slow process is ‘WEATHERING.’ There are slow and quick processes that shape the Earth. Most weathering takes hundreds, thousands, or even millions of years to occur.

Weathering and erosion are slow processes.

Volcanoes and earthquakes are quick processes.

Quickfire:

Identify the picture that shows a quick process.

Identify the picture that shows a slow process.

Weathering

Weathering is a slow and natural process of breaking down rock into smaller pieces. Even large rocks can break apart due to weathering (Fig. no. 3). In the future, the rock seen in the image can look very different, or even it may break into pieces due to weathering.

Types of Weathering

There are various factors such as flowing water, living things, rainfall, waves, plants, and chemicals that cause weathering.

There are three types of weathering.

Physical Weathering:

The breakdown of an object into smaller components is called physical weathering.

Physical weathering is also referred to as mechanical weathering.

This type of weathering is caused by plants, animals, wind, freezing water, or moving water.

Chemical Weathering:

It occurs when the rocks are broken down by chemical means. The strong or powerful agents of chemical weathering are water, acids, and oxygen.

Biological Weathering

Biological weathering occurs when living organisms cause the breakdown of rocks.

Plants and animals cause biological weathering.

In this type of weathering, plant roots can enter the rocks through the cracks present in the rock. As the roots of the plants grow, they force the cracks to widen up, and eventually, this force leads to breakdown. In this way, the rock breaks apart.