Chapter 6: Weathering and Soils

Key Questions
How does rock change as it weathers
physically?
How does rock change as it weathers
chemically?
What factors influence the intensity of
weathering?

bauxite
caliche
carbonic acid
dehydrate
dissolution
exfoliation
frost wedging
goethite
hematite
hydration
hydrolysis
joints

kaolinite
laterite
leaching
paleosol
regolith
secondary enrichment
soil horizon
soil profile
spall
spheroidal weathering
weathering rind

Weathering
Mechanical breakdown and chemical alteration
of rocks or sediments in situ when exposed to
air, moisture and organic matter.
Integration of physical and chemical processes.
A major process to the formation of soil.

Physical Weathering
Mechanical breakdown as a result of
changes in pressure or temperature.
Plate tectonic movement.
Loading and unloading of glaciers.
Heating and cooling
Wedging by ice or plants.
Crystal growth.
Activity of organisms.

Development of Joints
Joints occur as a widespread set or sets of parallel
fractures.
Rocks break at weak spots when they are twisted,
squeezed, or stretched by tectonic forces.
Removal of the weight of overlying rocks releases
stress on the buried rock and causes joints to open
slightly, thereby allowing water, air, and microscopic
life to enter.
When dikes, sills, lava flows, and welded tuffs cool they
contract and form columnar joints (joints that split
igneous rocks into long prisms or columns).

Crystal Growth
Water moving slowly through fractured rocks
contains ions, which may precipitate out of
solution to form salts.
The force exerted by salt crystals growing
can be very large and can result in the
rupture or disaggregation of rocks.
The effects can often be seen in deserts.

Frost Wedging
Wherever temperatures fluctuate about the
freezing point, pore water periodically
freezes and thaws.
As water freezes to form ice, its volume
increases 9 percent, forcing rocks apart.
Frost wedging probably the most effective
at temperatures of -5o to -15oC.
Frost wedging is responsible for most of
the rock debris seen on high mountain.

Daily Heating and Cooling

Surface temperatures as high as 80oC
have been measured on desert rocks.
Daily temperature variations of more than
40o have been recorded on rock surfaces,
No one has yet demonstrated that daily
heating and cooling cycles have
noticeable physical effects on rocks.

Chemical Weathering
Chemical reactions transform rocks and
minerals into new chemical combinations.

Dissolution.
Hydrolysis.
Leaching.
Oxidation.

Dissolution
Chemicals in rocks are dissolved in water.
Halite (NaCI) is a mineral that can be
removed completely from a rock by
dissolution.
Calcite (CaCO3), if carbonic acid is present,
dissolves rapidly in rainwater

Hydrolysis
Any reaction involving water that leads to the
decomposition of a compound is a hydrolysis
reaction.
Hydrogen ions produced by the ionization of
carbonic acid most commonly cause hydrolysis.
For instance, hydrogen ions decompose
potassium feldspar and create kaolinite.
Hydrolysis is one of the chief processes involved
in the chemical breakdown of common rocks.

Leaching
Leaching is the removal, by water solution, of
soluble matter from bedrock or regolith.
Soluble substances leached from rocks
during weathering are present in all surface
and ground water. Sometimes their
concentrations are high enough to give the
water a distinctive taste.

Oxidation of Iron
Oxidation involves the removal of electrons from an
atom, increasing the oxidation number of an element.
In the presence of oxygen, a ferrous ion (Fe2+). is
oxidized, by giving up an electron, to a ferric ion (Fe3+).
The incorporation of water in a mineral structure is
called hydration.
The hydrolysis and oxidation of ferrous iron
compounds will form ferric hydroxide (Fe(OH)3).

Oxidation of Iron (2)

The ferric hydroxide may dehydrate, meaning it will
lose some water, to form goethite (FeO.OH).
Goethite may dehydrate still further to form hematite
(Fe2O3).
The colors of ferric hydroxide, goethite, and hematite,
ranging from yellowish through brownish red to brick
red, can provide clues to the degree or intensity of
weathering.

Combined Reactions
Chemical weathering often involves more
than one reaction pathway.
Dissolution plays a part in virtually all
chemical weathering processes.
The effects of dissolution, hydrolysis, and
leaching of carbonate rocks are widely
seen in the landscapes underlain by
carbonate rocks.

Chemical Weathering Reactions

Biological Weathering ?
Indirect Action by Plants and Animals (Chemical)

rotting vegetation releases chemicals which are leached

down to rocks underground. The chemicals attack the rock.
animal urine is washed away by rainwater - the acids in this
cause chemical weathering with the rocks it comes into
contact with.

Direct Action by Plants and Animals (Physical)

plant roots invading cracks in rocks. As the plant grows, its

roots expand, putting pressure on the rock. This causes
pieces to break off. A photograph of this is shown below:
animals burrowing.

Factors Influencing Weathering (1)

Mineralogy
The resistance of a silicate mineral to
weathering depends on:
Chemical composition of the mineral.
Extend to which the silicate tetrahedra
in the mineral are polymerized.
Acidity of the waters with which the
mineral reacts.

Order of Stability of Common Minerals

under Chemical Weathering
Ferric oxides and hydroxides. - Most stable
Aluminum oxides and hydroxides.
Quartz.
Clay minerals.
Muscovite.
Potassium feldspar.
Biotite.
Sodium feldspar (albite-rich plagioclase).
Amphibole. Pyroxene.
Calcium feldspar (anorthite-rich plagioclase).
Olivine.
Calcite.
- Least stable

Mineral stability
The stability of minerals can be predicted using the Bowen's reaction series,
however, in the case of the weathering series this is known as the Goldich
Dissolution Series:
Olivine
Mg Pyroxene
Calcic Plagioclase
Mg-Ca Pyroxene
Calcic-Alkalic Plagioclase
Amphibole
Alkalic-Calcic Plagioclase
Biotite
Alkalic Plagioclase
Potassium Feldspar
Muscovite
Quartz
Those less polymerized minerals that crystallize at higher temperatures will be
the least stable at the surface. It is obvious that quartz will be the most stable
mineral in the weathering environment, and will be a dominant constituent of
sediments and sedimentary rocks.

Factors Influencing Weathering (2): Rock type and structure

Differential weathering: differences in the composition and
structure of adjacent rock units can lead to contrasting rates of
weathering.
Examples: hillcrest, cape. Differential weathering can etch away

erodible mudstone or shale from between layers of harder siltstone

or sandstone.

Factors Influencing Weathering (3)

Slope angle.

On a steep slope, solid products of weathering

move quickly away, continually exposing fresh
bedrock to renewed attack.
On gentle slopes, weathering products are not
easily washed away and in places may
accumulate to depths of 50 m or more.

Factors Influencing Weathering (4)

Climate: moisture and heat promote chemical reactions.
Weathering is more intense and generally extends to
greater depths in a warm, moist climate than in a cold,
dry one.
In moist tropical lands, like Central America and
Southeast Asia, obvious effects of chemical weathering
can be seen at depths of 100 m or more.
Limestone and marble are highly susceptible to
chemical weathering in a moist climate and commonly
form low, gentle landscapes; In a dry climate, however,
they form bold cliffs as little carbonic acid is present to
dissolve carbonate minerals.

Factors Influencing Weathering (5)

Burrowing animals.

Large and small burrowing animals bring partly

decayed rock particles to the land surface.

Although burrowing animals do not break down

rock directly, the amount of disaggregated rock
they move over many millions of years must be
enormous.

Factors Influencing Weathering (8)

Time

Weathering processes are speeded up by

increasing temperature and available water, and
by decreasing particle size.

The rate of weathering tends to decrease with

time as the weathering profile, or a weathering
rind, thickens.

Key Questions
How are weathering and soil formation
related?
How have human activities accelerated
the rate of soil erosion?
What evidence can geologists use to
infer a relationship between weathering
and plate tectonics?

Soil: Origin And Classification

Soils support the plants that are the basic
source of our nourishment.
Soils store organic matter, thereby influencing
how much carbon is cycled in the atmosphere
as carbon dioxide.
Soils are derived from (1) physical and
chemical weathering processes, (2) decay
of dead plants and animals.

Soil Profile

As a soil develops from the surface downward, a succession of

horizontal weathered zones, called soil horizons, forms.
The uppermost horizon may be a surface accumulation of
organic matter (O horizon).

The A horizon is the mixture of dark

humus (decomposed residue of plant
and animal tissues) with mineral
matter.

The B horizon is enriched in clay

and/or brownish or reddish iron and
aluminum hydroxides.

The C horizon is the deepest

horizon and consists of rock in
various stages of weathering

Soil Types
Different soils result from the influence of six formative
factors:
Climate.
Vegetation cover.
Soil organisms.
Composition of the parent material.
Topography.
Time.

Mineral Deposits Formed by Weathering

Limonite and Hematite: Iron-rich Laterite
Formed by leaching of other minerals from ironrich sedimentary rocks under warm and rainy
tropical climate.
Limonite (FeO.OH) and hematite (Fe2O3), the
least soluble minerals, form an iron-rich crust of
laterite during chemical weathering.
Secondarily enriched deposit of limonite and
hematite contains high concentration of iron.

Mineral Deposits Formed by

Weathering Bauxite: aluminous laterite
Formed by leaching of clay minerals.
Silica is removed in solution and a residue of
Gibbsite (Al(OH)3),
, remains.
Gibbsitic bauxites are the major mineral
deposits of aluminum.

Rate of Soil Formation (1)

In southern Alaska retreating glaciers
leave unweathered parent material.

Despite the cold climate, within a few

years an A horizon develops on the newly
exposed and revegetated landscape.
As the plant cover becomes denser,
carbonic and organic acids acidify the soil
and leaching becomes more effective.

Rate of Soil Formation (2)

After about 50 years, a B horizon appears

and the combined thickness of the A and
B horizons reaches about 10 cm.
Over the next 150 years, a mature forest
develops on the landscape and the O
Horizon continues to thicken (but the A
and B horizons do not increase in
thickness).

Soil Erosion
It may take a very long time to produce a
well-developed soil but destruction of soil
may occur rapidly.
Rates of erosion are determined by:
Topography.
Lithology
Climate.
Vegetation cover.
Human activity.

Erosion on Slopes
On a 1 percent slope, an average of 3 tons of
soils are lost per hectare each year.
On a 5 percent slope loses 87 tons per
hectare.
On a 15 percent slope, 221 tons per hectare
per year are lost.
Terracing can reduce the loss of soil on
farmed slopes.

Soil Erosion Due to Human

Activity
In many third world nations, population growth has forced
farmers onto lands of steep slopes or semiarid regions
that foster rapid soil erosion.
Planting of profitable row crops that often leave the land
vulnerable to increased rates of erosion.
Deforestation has accelerated rates of surface runoff and
destabilization of soils due to loss of anchoring roots.
When the O and A horizons are eroded away, the fertility
and the water-holding capacity of the soil decrease.

World Crisis on Soil Erosion

Farmers in the United State are now losing about 5
tons of soil for every ton of grain they produce.
In India the soil erosion rate is estimated to be more
than twice as high.
The worlds most productive soils are being depleted
at the rate of 7% each decade.
Increased farming in the region above a dam in
Pakistan has reduced the dam life expectancy from
100 to 75 years.

Global Weathering Rates and High

Mountains (1)
These following three rivers deliver about 20
percent of the water and dissolved matter
entering the oceans:

The Yangtze River, which drains the Tibetan

Plateau of China.

The Amazon River, which drains the northern

Andes in South America.

The Ganges-Brahmaputra river system which

drains the Himalayas.

Global Weathering Rates and High

Mountains (2)
High mountains forces moisture-bearing winds to rise,
resulting in large amounts of precipitation, high rates of
runoff and erosion.
Evidence from ocean sediments points to an increase
of dissolved matter reaching the oceans in the past 5
million years.
Sediments shed from the rising Himalayas coarsen
from silts deposited about 5 million years ago to
gravels about 1 million years old.

Rivers draining the mountains gained increasing energy.

Mountain slopes or stream channels became steeper.

Homework:
Spheroidal weathering
Laterite
A horizon
Hydrolysis
Paleosol
*