What if erosion and weathering stopped

Pollutants, such as sulfur and nitrogen, from fossil fuel burning, create sulfuric and nitric acid. Sulfuric and nitric acids are the two main components of acid rain, which accelerate chemical weathering figure 7.

Acid rain is discussed in the Human Actions and the Atmosphere chapter. Figure 8. When iron rich minerals oxidize, they produce the familiar red color found in rust. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that takes place when oxygen reacts with another element. Oxygen is very strongly chemically reactive. The most familiar type of oxidation is when iron reacts with oxygen to create rust figure 8.

Minerals that are rich in iron break down as the iron oxidizes and forms new compounds. Iron oxide produces the red color in soils. Now that you know what chemical weathering is, can you think of some other ways chemical weathering might occur? Chemical weathering can also be contributed to by plants and animals. As plant roots take in soluble ions as nutrients, certain elements are exchanged.

Plant roots and bacterial decay use carbon dioxide in the process of respiration. Weathering rates depend on several factors. These include the composition of the rock and the minerals it contains as well as the climate of a region. Figure 9. Different rock types weather at different rates.

Certain types of rock are very resistant to weathering. Igneous rocks, especially intrusive igneous rocks such as granite, weather slowly because it is hard for water to penetrate them. Other types of rock, such as limestone, are easily weathered because they dissolve in weak acids.

Rocks that resist weathering remain at the surface and form ridges or hills. As the surrounding less resistant rocks were worn away, the resistant center of the volcano remained behind. Different minerals also weather at different rates. Some minerals in a rock might completely dissolve in water but the more resistant minerals remain.

When a less resistant mineral dissolves, more resistant mineral grains are released from the rock. Climate is determined by the temperature of a region plus the amount of precipitation it receives. Climate is weather averaged over a long period of time. Chemical weathering increases as:. So how do different climates influence weathering? A cold, dry climate will produce the lowest rate of weathering.

A warm, wet climate will produce the highest rate of weathering. Repeated swings in temperature can also weaken and eventually fragment rock, which expands when hot and shrinks when cold.

Such pulsing slowly turns stones in the arid desert to sand. Likewise, constant cycles from wet to dry will crumble clay. Bits of sand are picked up and carried off by the wind, which can then blast the sides of nearby rocks, buffing and polishing them smooth. On the seashore, the action of waves chips away at cliffs and rakes the fragments back and forth into fine sand. Plants and animals also take a heavy toll on Earth's hardened minerals.

Lichens and mosses can squeeze into cracks and crevices, where they take root. As they grow, so do the cracks, eventually splitting into bits and pieces. Critters big and small trample, crush, and plow rocks as they scurry across the surface and burrow underground. Plants and animals also produce acids that mix with rainwater, a combination that eats away at rocks.

Rainwater also mixes with chemicals as it falls from the sky, forming an acidic concoction that dissolves rock. Back up on the mountains, snow and ice build up into glaciers that weigh on the rocks beneath and slowly push them downhill under the force of gravity. Together with advancing ice, the rocks carve out a path as the glacier slumps down the mountain.

When the glacier begins to melt, it deposits its cargo of soil and rock, transporting the rocky debris toward the sea. Every year, rivers deposit millions of tons of sediment into the oceans.

Asphyxiation is the most common cause of death by an avalanche. Property Damage. Transportation Disruptions. Communication and Utility Disruptions. Crop Failure. Flash Floods. Adverse Impacts on the Local Economy. How can we prevent avalanches? Don't hike right after a storm. Assess a slope's angle before traveling across or below it: Slopes pitched less than 25 degrees are safest, while to degree slopes are most avalanche-prone.

Where do Avalanches mostly occur? Avalanches release most often on slopes above timberline that face away from prevailing winds. This is because leeward slopes collect snow blowing from the windward sides of ridges.

Avalanches can occur, however, on small slopes well below timberline, such as gullies, road cuts and small openings in the trees. What are the 2 types of weathering? Weathering breaks down and loosens the surface minerals of rock so they can be transported away by agents of erosion such as water, wind and ice.

There are two types of weathering: mechanical and chemical. Mechanical weathering is the disintegration of rock into smaller and smaller fragments. What is an example of erosion? The rock cycle occurs because the Earth is a dynamic planet and there are many rock-forming environments. Plate interactions cause the uplift of mountain ranges, a process that leads to weathering, erosion, and sediment production. Plate interactions also generate settings in which metamorphism occurs, where rock melts, and where sedimentary basins develop.

At the surface of the Earth, the gases initially released by volcanism collect to form the ocean and atmosphere. Heat from the Sun and gravity drive convection in the atmosphere and oceans, leading to wind, rain, ice, and currents, the agents of weathering and erosion.